Screen washer frozen

[freelunch]

I use the Halfords -5° screen wash and it worked fine today. Temp was -2° according to the car.

 

Main problem was the (newish) wipers: they were fine on the up-stroke, then scraped/rattled like heck on the down-stroke. Frozen? When it warms up next week, I might have a chance to give them another try, and see if the cold was the problem...

[BriskodaJeff]

11 hours ago, freelunch said:

I use the Halfords -5° screen wash and it worked fine today. Temp was -2° according to the car.

 

Main problem was the (newish) wipers: they were fine on the up-stroke, then scraped/rattled like heck on the down-stroke. Frozen? When it warms up next week, I might have a chance to give them another try, and see if the cold was the problem...

Weirdly my cheapo forecourt wash worked fine yesterday, but not the day before - temps were similar on both occasions (-3c or thereabouts), so just be aware you might not get the same result next time.

 

I've had the same previously re judder on the down-stroke. In my case it is usually my car reminding me I've been lazy with the glass cleaner during the wash process. I have to use a forecourt jet wash, which means invariably some of the polish / shampoo / whatever rubbish they have put into the solution ends up on the glass. I've taken to giving the glass a clean immediately after this to take the worst of it off, then doing it again carefully at the end to completely remove any residue. Seems to work ok. 

 

Unsurprisingly, the judder as the wipers tried to remove non-existent screen wash from the windscreen on Tuesday was spectacular...

[hwr1983]

My Nozzles froze yesterday - but not the Wash itself, (it was trickling out causing blue snow - reminded me of a raspberry slush )

 

A bit of warm water while the engine was running (warmed up) did the trick.  Not sure what they were like this morning though as didn't try

[roo]

I've had my pipes freeze or pop apart.  It's not the washer jets as I have heated ones. The motor is running as I can hear it, but nothing it coming out. The fabia and Octavia had this problem too. 

Does anyone know the pipe routing on a 280 superb?

[Boxerdog1]

4 hours ago, roo said:

I've had my pipes freeze or pop apart.  It's not the washer jets as I have heated ones. The motor is running as I can hear it, but nothing it coming out. The fabia and Octavia had this problem too. 

Does anyone know the pipe routing on a 280 superb?

Not sure of routing but the washer bottle does seem to be located much closer to the jets - pic. 1 of my old 220SE-L / pic 2 of my current 280 Sportline.

[penguin17]

12 minutes ago, Boxerdog1 said:

Not sure of routing but the washer bottle does seem to be located much closer to the jets - pic. 1 of my old 220SE-L / pic 2 of my current 280 Sportline.

 

Isn't the intercooler on the 280 at the front end around the headlight area, perhaps the reason the reservoir is located elsewhere? 

[jonesinamillion]

Purchased some -40 degrees stuff today, unfortunately I've got to burn a few litres of prestone before I can top it up :( 

 

To get the nozzles working isn't easy, first physically removing the ice with the finger then balddering it with low temp de-icer 

[Ootohere]

What is your Prestone ready mix to -10,  not the Prestone Extreme to -23

 

why not just remove some with a pipe and plastic bottle?

 

Warm water on the nozzles works fine, as long as you then make sure you clear that H2o away before it freezes solid again.

& is not freezing in the cars Air Intake vents, which is another story.

Edited 1 March, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[BriskodaJeff]

21 hours ago, roo said:

I've had my pipes freeze or pop apart.  It's not the washer jets as I have heated ones. The motor is running as I can hear it, but nothing it coming out. The fabia and Octavia had this problem too. 

Does anyone know the pipe routing on a 280 superb?

Sorry @roo can't help with pipe routing - but did you find out what the issue was? Freezing I can understand, but coming apart doesn't sound right to me. Is there an SB or some such? Mine was in for service earlier in the week but they didn't mention anything (they did the software update for the lights so they must have been monitoring at least some of the SBs that have been issued). Thanks.

[roo]

@BriskodaJeff yes I've managed to sort it. Luckily it must have been some stubborn ice somewhere in the system. I've now put in a stronger concentration so it should not happen for now.

With the pipes popping off, it's just the back pressure from a clogged/iced pipe, not a real problem that's a design fault, just a pain that could be seen as protecting the screenwash pump if you have not put strong enough screencast in.

I'd get it at least once a year with a mk1 fabia, but the pipe was easy to get to and just reattach. 

 

With the actual routing it looks quite easy. From the nozzles, it goes inside the bonnet to a splitter near the grommet on the right hand side.  The pipe then routes into the scuttle panel until it gets to the washer bottle on the left hand side. 

Access to the washer bottle and the pump is from the rear of the offside front wheel arch lining. 

The hardest part would be removing the scuttle panel as the wiper arms would have to come off.

 

[xman]

http://www.tradeclubparts.co.uk/parts/screenwash/

 

Around £3 for 5 litres iirc, ask at Vauxhall dealer parts dept. for trade club screenwash.

 

Alternatively 

https://tps.trade/screenwash-de-icer/quantum-premium-fan-jet-concentrate-screenwash-5l

 

However more hassle find and get to a TPS centre and some are known to refuse non trade customers.

Edited 2 March, 2018 by xman

[juux]

Just been out, temperature has risen to -4C from an overnight low of -11C and the car was covered in a thick layer of frozen rain due to a temperature inversion. Amazingly the washer jets still worked!

 

None of the external sensors were functioning though, dashboard was like an orange Christmas tree.

 

 

[xman]

4 minutes ago, juux said:

Just been out, temperature has risen to -4C from an overnight low of -11C and the car was covered in a thick layer of frozen rain due to a temperature inversion. Amazingly the washer jets still worked!

 

None of the external sensors were functioning though, dashboard was like an orange Christmas tree.

 

 

 

Considering -25C is quite common in east European winters, I'm surprised your sensors didn't work. Maybe Skoda will say its the wrong type of frost!

[juux]

1 minute ago, xman said:

 

Considering -25C is quite common in east European winters, I'm surprised your sensors didn't work. Maybe Skoda will say its the wrong type of frost!

 

It's not the temperature that's stopping them working, more the 3mm of ice! Same thing when you drive though a snowstorm, snow builds up on the radar and proximity sensors and when they start throwing lots of funky readings the car disables them and shows a warning on the dash.

[penguin17]

11 minutes ago, juux said:

 

It's not the temperature that's stopping them working, more the 3mm of ice! Same thing when you drive though a snowstorm, snow builds up on the radar and proximity sensors and when they start throwing lots of funky readings the car disables them and shows a warning on the dash.

Same for me on Weds morning, but to a lesser extent.  It was -6C and the two front sensors either side of the reg plate needed to be cleared of ice.   Some of the icicles on the lower bumper were pretty impressive 

[penguin17]

Oh and this thread has prompted me to add heated washer nozzles to my order.  For £55 I thought it best (well for the 1-2 days per year that they will be justified) 

[facet edge]

7 hours ago, penguin17 said:

Oh and this thread has prompted me to add heated washer nozzles to my order.  For £55 I thought it best (well for the 1-2 days per year that they will be justified) 

Thank you. That should keep the snow away for a few years. 

[Mattster]

I think I may have popped the fuse as the washers are still not working today, and I right in saying it’s fuse 42? It’s a 2016 s3 technology

[Rainmaker]

On 02/03/2018 at 11:10, xman said:

http://www.tradeclubparts.co.uk/parts/screenwash/

 

Around £3 for 5 litres iirc, ask at Vauxhall dealer parts dept. for trade club screenwash.

 

Alternatively 

https://tps.trade/screenwash-de-icer/quantum-premium-fan-jet-concentrate-screenwash-5l

 

However more hassle find and get to a TPS centre and some are known to refuse non trade customers.

 

Great tip about the Vx stuff, that's very cheap indeed. Even diluted 50/50 that should cope with just about anything in the UK, for pittance compared to most screen wash prices. I picked up a 5 litre bottle in Costco today. They used to always carry Holts but now it's Prestone 5 litres (effective to -23) for £5, so not too bad. Next time I'm passing Vx I'll be sure to get a few bottles of their stuff, however. Thanks for the heads up.

[ohellik]

I live in Norway and here we have cold clima version with heated nozzels. Still my 07/2017 Superb Estate 190 DSG 4x4 had problems this winter. One day I flushed my front window, and my  rear window also got flushed. This continued every time i flushed front window...

At the dealer they found out that the pumpengine had a crack and changed it.... 

Ive been in and out of dealer from two weeks after I bought the car.

Loads of problems.... worst car Ive ever had...

Is this the quality Skoda delivers today ? 

 

[mrburns]

On 3/2/2018 at 11:48, penguin17 said:

Oh and this thread has prompted me to add heated washer nozzles to my order.  For £55 I thought it best (well for the 1-2 days per year that they will be justified) 

I had them fitted at factory and one cold day the washers were frozen despite having suitable antifreeze in :(

 

I will have to ask the wife to help me check if they are warm or not.  I do not seem to be fast enough to pull lever, run, feel the water.

 

[PSM]

I believe it is only the very tip of the nozzle that is heated so the water can and does freeze in the pipe before the nozzle. The entire pipe would need to be heated for the feature to be really useful.

[ohellik]

Never had any trouble this winter with nozzle freezing. Not even in -25°C. 

[BriskodaJeff]

Mine only froze once. At the time I was really hacked off - the temperature wasn't so low (-2c or -3c) and I figured the screenwash should have coped with it. In hindsight it was my fault for not realising that dealer rubbish fluid plus my rubbish fluid was asking for trouble. Lesson learned - I reckon just one litre of decent stuff added neat would likely have stopped it happening. Next October it will go onto winter mix and that will hopefully be that.

 

I do find it odd though that a company that manufactures in a country that regularly sees -20c and sells into even colder territories didn't decide to offer a fully heated system anywhere.