[Vestas]

This is on a 2019 Ceed Sportswagon, don't see any reason why it wouldn't affect hatchback models though....

Recent cold(ish) weather (-4C) in central England has shown up what I consider a design defect for the front screenwash.

Basically (as you'd expect) the rear screen wash freezes until the roof warms up. This is a 10-15 minute annoyance at worst with 25-50% screenwash mix.

However the front just will not defrost inside an hour unless I use stupid amounts of screenwash - like 75% mix which isn't right for anything above -10C.

The reason appears to be that the hose for the front screenwash is factory fitted pretty much tight to the driver side front wing and as such is about the last thing in the engine bay to warm up - it even refreezes while driving on short trips, presumably as the wing is freezing cold.

Anyone else noticing this?

I'm tempted to simply put some gaffer tape around it to hold the hose off the wing & see if I'm right (easy enough to remove if not) but thought I'd ask

 

[oldhenry]

I cannot understand why your wash fluid is fezing wherever it is if it is a -15C one. We have not had those temeratures for years , unlessyou live in Scoland. The only fluid I had freeze was in 2010/11 when my -5C stuff froze and teh pump was forcedout teh washer bottle. Ok then melted but not a KIA. Perhaps try a different fluid? Or try a bit in the freezer to see if it is up to scartch?

 

[47594]

On a similar topic, does anyone know if the washer jets are heated? Mine’s a 2020 level 3 hatch.

 

[Vestas]

Indeed and I'm using something that claims to work down to -22C (100% concentration presumably).

It works fine in the wife's Fiesta (same location) and worked fine on previous cars.

Its not the jets (or the tank) which are frozen either - its definitely the hose running along the drivers side wing.

 

[Gregoir]

That doesn't stack up. Try changing your washer fluid or up the concentration and flush the old stuff through.. The wing can't be colder than the ambient temperature. What temperatures are you experiencing?
I occasionally had washer jets freezing up when I lived in Buxton, Derbyshire but never in the past 25 years. I currently use a 50% mix of winter washer fluid

 

[iuygoig]

Agree with Gregoir, the coldest the pipes can be is ambient temperature. I suspect this is not freezing but sludge formation caused by mixing incompatible screenwash types.

Put a hosepipe into the screenwash bottle and put right down to the bottom. Run tap water through (let it overflow) until you are sure what is overflowing is clean. Then run front washers until they are producing only clean water (you might have to give teh pump motor a rest occasionally to stop it overheating). Repeat with the rear washer. Continue with both until reservoir is empty. Now fill with the screenwash of your choice.

I don't think KIAs have heated washer jets. IME with other cars these are just a fault waiting to happen anyway and very expensive to replace..

 

[Jack Daniels]

The only safe fix is using concentrated fluid. Relying on various components to be heated is unsafe, If it is - 5 ambient temperature outside, then it could be - 20 with windchill on the motorway so the fluid needs to handle that condition without instantly freezing to a messy glaze on the windscreen blinding the driver.
Isopropanol based fluid works well, usually blue. When sommer arrives, just add water to dilute it out.

As mentioned above, Vacuum the tank, refill with - 20 Isopropanol based, and purge all the hoses/jets.

 

[iuygoig]

Windchill does not affect inanimate objects, it is a measure of how cold it feels not how cold it is.

 

[Joey1]

Wind chill effects the cooling rate of warm things, I run heated old veg oil, the pipes run at 85-90c, if the pipes are not protected from the wind the temp drops to 20c in this weather, i.e. the cooling rate of the wind out does the heating effect of the HE. I think the op is referring originally to the metal wing preventing the pipe warming from the warmer air from the engine, insulating it from the metal wing would/could allow the pipe to warm up better than if attached to what in effect is a heat sink, wind chill (or cold air in effect entering under the bonnet etc) would offset this "warming" effect from the engine. It's not so much how the temp feels (like in respect to a human) as the volume of cooler air preventing any heat build up, my intercooler shows 20c output temp when stationary this morning, as soon as 40mph is achieved it fell to 4c even though the air entering the intercooler rose from 20c to 60c. Personally if the fluid is freezing at that temp I would change the fluid type,/concentration, easy to test the fluid in the freezer with a thermometer as to the temp it freezes at, I do it all the time with the veg oil as that goes solid depending on the type and fat content.

 

[iuygoig]

Wind chill effects the cooling rate of warm things, I run heated old veg oil, the pipes run at 85-90c, if the pipes are not protected from the wind the temp drops to 20c in this weather, i.e. the cooling rate of the wind out does the heating effect of the HE. I think the op is referring originally to the metal wing preventing the pipe warming from the warmer air from the engine, insulating it from the metal wing would/could allow the pipe to warm up better than if attached to what in effect is a heat sink, wind chill (or cold air in effect entering under the bonnet etc) would offset this "warming" effect from the engine. It's not so much how the temp feels (like in respect to a human) as the volume of cooler air preventing any heat build up, my intercooler shows 20c output temp when stationary this morning, as soon as 40mph is achieved it fell to 4c even though the air entering the intercooler rose from 20c to 60c. Personally if the fluid is freezing at that temp I would change the fluid type,/concentration, easy to test the fluid in the freezer with a thermometer as to the temp it freezes at, I do it all the time with the veg oil as that goes solid depending on the type and fat content.

Yes of course air velocity will affect cooling rate, but my point is no matter how hard the wind is blowing it cannot possibly cool to a temperature lower than the air temperature

 

[SiW]

Best solution is to flush all the old screen wash out then top up with decent screen wash.
I use the concentrated stuff from Halfords which is meant to be good up to -20c.
I’ve never had a problem.

 

[iuygoig]

Best solution is to flush all the old screen wash out then top up with decent screen wash.
I use the concentrated stuff from Halfords which is meant to be good up to -20c.
I’ve never had a problem.

See post #6

 

[Vestas]

I used an infrared temperature sensor to check this and when the wing is heavily iced over its at least 4C below ambient air temp and doesn't warm up to ambient for at least 45 minutes driving. So on the day in question the hosepipe was at -9C.

Used some gaffer tape wrapped around the hosepipe every couple of inches as a standoff from the wing and 50% mix now defrosts it as you'd expect. Flushing mix out as suggested made no difference.

 

[SiW]

I used an infrared temperature sensor to check this and when the wing is heavily iced over its at least 4C below ambient air temp and doesn't warm up to ambient for at least 45 minutes driving. So on the day in question the hosepipe was at -9C.

Used some gaffer tape wrapped around the hosepipe every couple of inches as a standoff from the wing and 50% mix now defrosts it as you'd expect. Flushing mix out as suggested made no difference.

Why are you only using a 50% screen wash mix?
With temperatures at low as they are and the issues you have, surely you should use the max concentration?

 

[Vestas]

Why are you only using a 50% screen wash mix?
With temperatures at low as they are and the issues you have, surely you should use the max concentration?

Simply because that's been fine for every car I've had in the 22 years I've lived here. It was even fine during the winter of 2010-11 when we recorded -14C at the back door on xmas day. Clearly its not fine on a Ceed Sportswagon when the hosepipe is in contact with the wing for most of its routing.

Edit - there's absolutely no reason to use more than 50% when temps are above -5C, even with cheapo mix.