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Windscreen washers and sub-zero temperatures

7K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  James_leeds 
#1 ·
So it's cold, (was a mere -3°C) I have appropriately mixed screenwash with de-icer in the washer reservoir.

Try to squirt some water onto the windscreen. Failed. Several times
Try to squirt some water onto the rear windscreen. Worked.

an hour later as the sun rose, both washers are working fine.

It seems to be that when Nissan designed the route for the windscreen washer piping, and the nozzles themselves, they were still designed with a big hot lump of an engine under the bonnet.
 
#3 ·
You'd think heated mirrors and heated washer jets would be standard on an EV. It's like they never think anyone would use one in the winter.

My 20 year old BMW had heated washers. It's not as if this is a new idea at all. It was a soft top too so essentially a summer car but it still had heated mirrors and heated washers.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I don't think this is a Nissan problem, it's an EV problem in general!

I have the same issue with my Ion. In winter I use screen wash with a -10C (or recently -15C!) rating and yet as soon as the temperature gets down to about -3C or less overnight either the front washer or the rear washer (sometimes both!) stop working and can't be persuaded to work for love or money...you can hear the pump pumping away but the nozzles are clearly frozen shut.

Most recently it was the rear washer that decided it wouldn't work but the time before it was the front one! :rolleyes: Short of getting a hairdryer onto the nozzles to see if it helps, once frozen they won't start working until the weather warms sufficiently. In one really cold spell I went for about 3 days without working washers because it was between -4C and -7C the whole time.

I can only assume that pure water condensation from the atmosphere forms on the opening on the nozzle and freezes overnight - thus the nozzles are blocked with ice regardless of what screenwash fluid you have in the car.

On an ICE the heat from the engine bay will warm the front nozzles so while they may not squirt immediately, once the engine bay warms up a bit bonnet mounted nozzles will thaw out. (Nozzles on wiper blades may be more of a problem)

And rear washers on an ICE probably get at least some heat from the exhaust, and also through the glass since people tend to keep the cabin heat cranked up in an ICE and turned down in an EV!

Due to the lack of copious amounts of waste heat I think EV's just need heated nozzles for washers to be reliable in cold temperatures... (n)
 
#6 ·
I guess you didn't read all the posts in the thread properly including the original one ? ;)

It doesn't matter what grade of screenwash you use. I still get the problem even with super strong -15C rated screenwash when the ambient temperature is only about -3C.

Hence my conjecture that the problem is caused by precipitation forming on the nozzles (which will be pure water) and freezing overnight, capping the nozzles closed. Doesn't matter what is sitting in the pipes or washer bottle if the ice on the tip of the nozzles is pure water that freezes at 0C.
 
#12 ·
The -15c concentrate needs to be virtually neat to be effective from what I remember. At most it's 50/50 dilution.
I'm just putting the concentrate in straight without diluting it.

I still get freezing nozzles that won't spray at about -4C. I think the nozzles are just too exposed to radiative cooling overnight on a clear sky and that normal frost that forms on the windows forms on the nozzles too.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Haven't tried that - by the time I notice the nozzles are blocked I'm usually either already on the road (because the window started out clean but got dirty while driving) or I'm in a hurry to leave for work and we're already in the car ready to go.

But next time it's frosty I'll check the washers are working before leaving and give that a try.
 
#18 ·
I think my screenwash pump is poorly. Does anyone know whether it's the same pump serving front and rear? Or two separate ones?

Has anyone replaced the pump/motor?

Sadly I can no longer hear a noise when I operate it.
 
#19 ·
I suspect it is two pumps as (when the screenwash level is getting low) I have found the rear screenwash was not working but the front one was still working - fixed by topping up the screenwash reservoir. This was in summer, so frozen jets was not a problem.

I think it a pity that Nissan did not fit a low screenwash warning light to the Leaf - something that I had learned to appreciate in my V-reg Primera.
 
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