How to Winterize Washer Fluid

Series Summary

Driving cars in the winter can be dangerous if you're not prepared. Ice, snow, and cold all pose serious safety risks to drivers. Not only can it be dangerous for the driver, the winter can actually damage your car if without the proper measures taken. Unfortunately a lot of people just aren't aware of the simple steps necessary to winterize a car.

In this free video series, watch as expert mechanic Nathan McCullough teaches how to winterize a car. Learn how to prepare wiper blades and fluids for winter, how to get car tires ready, how to test and fill antifreeze, how to prepare coolant, how to put chains on tires, and how to deice and lub doors. Don't let the winter destroy your car...or you. Let the experts at ExpertVillage prepare your vehicle for the winter.

Video Transcript

"NATHAN MCCULLOUGH: Hi, my name is Nate McCullough on behalf of Expert Village. In these clips, we're going to talk about some of the tips and tricks in order to properly winterize your vehicle. In this clip, we're going to talk about washer solvent. In the wintertime, you'll notice that you're going to have ice, snow, frost, things of that nature on your windshield. You're going to use your washer system in order to help break down that ice and snow on your windshield and help wipe it off, just kinda speed up your time to begin driving. What we have here are two different kinds of washer solvent. We have the lower rated De-Icer version. This is what you want to use when the temperature is getting extremely cold. This stuff here is rated for -34 degrees. As you can see, it's nice and liquid. This is what you're going to want to use. What I have is the summertime version. As you can see, it's a solid block. I had this in the back of my truck, just leftover from the summer. Your washer solvent is going to go right inside the washer fluid fill port just right here. As you can see the label on it, it says "washer fluid only". You will notice that when it's extremely cold outside and you try and use this washer solvent, the summertime rated stuff, it will freeze instantly on your windshield. That is going to develop a dangerous driving condition. You can't see through frozen washer solvent at all. So, what you're going to want to do is if you get a real cold snap or--I would recommend in late November, just go ahead and change it out. The easiest way to do that is to just engage the washer pump and let the system pump itself clean and just run it until it no longer comes out of your nozzles then you know the system's empty and it's okay to go ahead and add your wintertime washer solvent. What I have here is a small funnel. It fits right in the hole nicely to avoid spilling any of the liquid on some of the electrical components in your vehicle and just go ahead and top it off. Now, it's okay to use the wintertime solvent all year round. In that way, you can avoid being stuck if there happens to be an off-chance temperature spike. And that's the proper way to change your washer solvent."