On my trip to Philadelphia this past weekend, the temperature was between 28 and 32 degrees. Fairly clear roads on the way there, and my windshield washer fluid refused to spray. It worked in the garage, and a few times at the beginning of my trip. When I most needed it on the Turnpike, it stopped spraying, though I could hear the pump. I stopped at a service plaza and filled the tank with fluid, thinking it had emptied, but still nothing. Sound of pump, no spray.

I parked it in the garage at the Philly Sheraton, and the next day it worked just fine. Came out with pressure washer force.

On the way home, while the roads were not so clear (see photos), the sprayer stopped working again. Nothing to do with the nozzle at the windshield, as it is clear. I've never put plain water in the bottle.

???????????????

 

They were probably frozen at the jets.

 

How would one prevent that from happening? There was no build-up of ice around the area where the fluid shoots out. It was clean.

 

Check fuse 12 in the underhood accessory block - it is for the heated nozzles.

 

Will do. Really wasn't even aware they were heated. I only use the car a few times per year, and unfortunately going to Philly the first week of February is always one of the times I have to use it.
Thanks.

 

My car is a Base, and I think that wasn't a feature available. Am I wrong? There was no fuse, and there doesn't appear to be any circuit a fuse would connect to in slot 12.

 

Yeah, I don't believe base cars had the heated washers but I'm not 100 percent sure.. Also, even if they do, you may need to have the rear defroster on for the heating elements to work. You are better off not having them. They are junk and very problematic. I had to take off the cowl and drill them out to get any water to spray on the windshield. The heated nozzles melted the plastic elements and restricted the jets so eventually no fluid would spray. Luckily I don't have to drive mine in rain or snow but on the occasions when I might need to clean the windshield, I couldn't so I went ahead and fixed them. They aren't perfect but they now get fluid on the windshield so I can clean them if necessary.

 

Heated nozzles were not available on the base models.
If you had fluid with antifreeze in it you should have had no trouble at those temps.
The hoses can get plugged with slime and gunk over time, this can get into the nozzles and plug them, also the gunk can clog the outlet from the bottle if it is a lot.. Working intermittently can be a hard one to cure.
I have had problems on some cars where a little bit of ice gets on the nozzle and blocks it, but two at once, not so common I would suspect.

 

I thought it may have been clogged, too, but after it sat in the Sheraton garage for a night or so, I went down and checked it and it worked. I'm assuming that the fluid I used had antifreeze in it, but maybe I assume too much. Doesn't the blue stuff you get out of the bottle have antifreeze in it? PLUS, the temperature outside was flirting around 30 degrees. I've got it in my garage at home now to let the ice melt off. It's usually around 40 degrees in there during the winter. I guess what I'll do is drain the system and start from scratch.

 

It is freezing at the jets. I would pull the hoses, blow some air down thru them into the tank. This will clear anything that might be shoved up against the jet helping it to freeze. Doesn't take much....as the wind chill is well below freezing....at 30° outside...line needs to be clear all the way to the jets for it to clean out. Tanks are impossible to clean so good luck.

 

Not exactly 'impossible', you just have to take half the car apart, then you can slosh some good ole CLR around in it ( like you do in your coffee pot ) and it will be slicker than snot on a glass door ****.

 

Wind chill only makes you feel colder, it cannot reduce the temperature of anything below the ambient temperature.
I took my tank out and thoroughly cleaned it, it was filled with slime.

Quote:

I'm assuming that the fluid I used had antifreeze in it, but maybe I assume too much.

Blue stuff in a bottle? OK, we can work on this ..............
What did the label say?

 

I bought it at a service plaza on the Turnpike. Threw the bottle away. Didn't take the time to read the label.

 

I had to laugh....it isn't the handiest water tank to get to.....vacuum it out would work.... My big rig nozzles freeze up from time to time....I spray the jets with alcohol...and they will usually break free... My new rig is in....not on the road yet....heated tank, heated wipers.... wait till you see this tractor....I went all black...I must be crazy...black and chrome...565hp...cummins

 

Well, now that the ice man has goneth, my sprayer works like a pressure washer. I guess I need to be more careful about what type of fluid I put in the tank.

 

180 I can say a sustained wind on hoses and fuel lines does affect temps. You feel colder because you are colder. We have trucks idling around the yard and do fine, and soon as they leave, get on the road up to speed, fuel lines freeze. But, I am sure you know better than me and my 3 million miles dealing with this crap. WP....glad they work for you now. Some of the cheap stuff isn't made to go down to the temps we have been having lately.

 

You missed the point, blow a -100°F wind on something and it will go down to the same temperature. Your face feels cold because it will get down to the same temperature in the end.
An idling trucks is warmer than when it's barreling down the highway as it is in its little cocoon of warmer air.

 

Yea, yea, but will it do :

KW ? Pete ?

Cost = approx 8-10 Crossfires