I think my washer fluid has frozen

[dparm]

Since my car has spent its whole life in California, it probably doesn't have the cold weather washer fluid. This morning, I went to spray the window and got about 1 second of fluid before it just stopped completely. No warning light about fluid being low, and I noticed that the stuff I did spray turned to ice/slush very quickly on the window. So now I'm left with the dilemma of how to thaw the existing fluid. It won't be above freezing for at least a week.

One idea I had was to buy a bottle of fluid, get it as hot as possible, then pour it into the fill hole and hope that it starts to melt and "dilute" the stuff that's already there. I'd then run the washer fluid until the tank was dry, and refill it with the correct cold weather fluid.

The tank itself is in the fender and you can't get it out without removing the entire fender and wheel from what I've read on here. Perhaps I can just get a hair dryer/heat gun and try to soften it that way?

Thoughts?

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by dparm

Since my car has spent its whole life in California, it probably doesn't have the cold weather washer fluid. This morning, I went to spray the window and got about 1 second of fluid before it just stopped completely. No warning light about fluid being low, and I noticed that the stuff I did spray turned to ice/slush very quickly on the window. So now I'm left with the dilemma of how to thaw the existing fluid. It won't be above freezing for at least a week.

One idea I had was to buy a bottle of fluid, get it as hot as possible, then pour it into the fill hole and hope that it starts to melt and "dilute" the stuff that's already there. I'd then run the washer fluid until the tank was dry, and refill it with the correct cold weather fluid.

The tank itself is in the fender and you can't get it out without removing the entire fender and wheel from what I've read on here. Perhaps I can just get a hair dryer/heat gun and try to soften it that way?

Thoughts?

One thing...watch out! when using a hair dryer on your washer tank,when it is frozen the ice can work inside the washer tank....result the washer tank can crack...bursting !

[dparm]

Problem solved. I bought two bottles of the -20 F stuff and heated it as much as possible using a hair dryer. Poured it in which helped to melt whatever was in there, then ran the washers until the tank was dry and then filled it up.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Dashman

You didn't need to heat it. The alcohol in the cold weather fluid would automatically lower the freezing point and thaw things out.

You need to be careful with this because when water freezes it expands. I would check the reservoir and lines for cracks from the swelling.

Why anyone would not use the cold weather fluid makes no sense to me. The alcohol in it also cleans the windows better

In California, where my car was originally from, the cold weather formulas are actually illegal (there's a whole page about it on the CARB website). They actually classify it as a VOC! An exception is made for certain mountainous regions that obviously need it, but if you live in LA, you can't get fluid that's good below freezing.

[JEllis]

CA and their rules! Glad you got it worked out....

[go4gr8]

I too had this problem the past few days and I'm in the Northeast.

Today's sunny day and warmer temperatures thawed it out so I ran the washer fluid dry and filled it in with the proper blue stuff.

I drove the car to California this summer and didn't anticipate the fluid to freeze! Next time, I'll keep the blue stuff on me in my travels.

Lesson learned.