Motorists were told what to do if the “non-freeze” froze

Car owners often purchase “anti-freeze,” which is designed for temperatures down to minus 30 degrees Celsius, in the hope that their windshield washer system is capable of working in severe frost. However, in practice it turns out that the glass washer refuses to work even with not very severe frost. Pavel Sidorov, director of service for one of the divisions of the Avilon Group, spoke about this in an interview with the PRIME agency.

According to him, there are several parameters that must be considered when choosing an antifreeze fluid. The first is the temperature range for which it is designed.

As the expert emphasized, it is necessary to understand well that if the “anti-freeze” is designed, for example, at minus 20 degrees, then in such a frost it will most likely freeze, because this is its maximum temperature for which the manufacturers tested and designed it. In this regard, Sidorov recommended taking liquid with a margin – that is, if the frost is about 20 degrees outside, then it is better to purchase an “anti-freeze” designed for operation in more severe frosts – at minus 30 degrees.

The second thing the specialist drew attention to is that if it was indicated on the washer fluid that it would not freeze at minus 30 degrees, but at minus 20 it still froze, then in fact we are dealing with poor quality product.

“Perhaps, it contains substances on which the manufacturer saved or used some other raw materials, and so on. In this case, the miser pays twice, so you should not buy “anti-freeze” somewhere on the roadsides, in random stores or buy “from cars”. There is a great chance that all this will freeze, but what is even more unsafe is that a low-quality product may contain industrial alcohol, some types of which are toxic substances. This can have an extremely negative impact on the health of the driver, because the vapors enter the passenger compartment through the ventilation system, ”the expert explained.

Thus, he pointed out, one should be extremely careful when choosing an “anti-freeze”. Sidorov advised to buy it only from official dealers or in large stores, because they are regularly checked, including by Rospotrebnadzor for product quality, they take it for analysis, and so on. You can also use the so-called “native” glass washer fluid recommended by the manufacturer of the car itself – that is, these are “anti-freeze” products that this or that car brand sells under its logo.

“As for the actions of the car owner in a situation where the glass washer fluid is frozen, the most acceptable, efficient and safe way to solve the problem is to move the car to a warm room (heated garage, parking lot or car wash), where after some time to replace the “anti-freeze” with a high-quality “, – said the expert.

He also added that modern cars have difficult access to the washer reservoir, and the specialist would not recommend trying to open it.

Some owners still use pure alcohol to warm up, but you need to understand that if you pour pure alcohol on ice that has already been bound, then the time it takes to liquefy (or reduce the thickening consistency to a more fluid state so that the pump can pump it) is very significant, and this will not solve the problem so that you can drive in 5-10 minutes. Therefore, as Sidorov once again emphasized, the most appropriate and safe way out of the situation is to move the car to a warm room.