With winter looking to arrive in the coming months, your car would need adequate servicing to be able to withstand the cold. Low temperatures have a huge effect on the car and its vital parts, often detrimental in nature. While servicing the engine and other moving parts of the car is often on top of the getting-the-car-ready-for-winter checklist for many, we tend to miss out on taking care of the front windshield glass.
Winter can cause damage to the windshield in the form of cracking and loss of visibility. Here are a few expert tips to prevent such a thing from occurring to your windshield in the cold:
Winter can cause damage to the windshield in the form of cracking and loss of visibility. Here are a few expert tips to prevent such a thing from occurring to your windshield in the cold:
1. Don’t remove ice or snow from the windshield with the wipers.
If you’re living in a snow-prone area, doing so will cause scratches and chip marks on the windshield. Always use an ice-scraper to clear the snow or the ice.
2. Keep the wipers in the raised position when the car is parked outside in the cold.
This will prevent the wiper blades from sticking to the windshield due to the freezing cold, and save you from unnecessary windshield repairs.
3. Use an anti-freeze agent in your wiper fluid.
If you are already using it, then make sure to check if it hasn’t evaporated due to the summer heat. If you are not using the anti-freeze agent, then fill up the windshield washer reservoir with a water-based anti-freeze solution immediately.
4. Defrost the wiper fluid reservoir with a hair dryer.
In case you find the reservoir or the washer fluid to be frozen already, do not panic. A few minutes of the hair dryer treatment should do the trick. If the opening is visible, but the inside is frozen, then adding more anti-freeze solution might help.
5. Ensure that the car heater directs air flow towards the windshield properly.
You don’t want to get your windshield all fogged up on a winter drive under any circumstances. Maintenance of the air conditioner is very important, especially before the winter sets in.
Follow the above mentioned tips to navigate your car, and its windshield, unscathed through the winter. Keep in mind that any substantial damage to the windshield, either front or the back, due to the winter cannot be repaired. Your only option then would be to get the windshield replaced.
2. Keep the wipers in the raised position when the car is parked outside in the cold.
This will prevent the wiper blades from sticking to the windshield due to the freezing cold, and save you from unnecessary windshield repairs.
3. Use an anti-freeze agent in your wiper fluid.
If you are already using it, then make sure to check if it hasn’t evaporated due to the summer heat. If you are not using the anti-freeze agent, then fill up the windshield washer reservoir with a water-based anti-freeze solution immediately.
4. Defrost the wiper fluid reservoir with a hair dryer.
In case you find the reservoir or the washer fluid to be frozen already, do not panic. A few minutes of the hair dryer treatment should do the trick. If the opening is visible, but the inside is frozen, then adding more anti-freeze solution might help.
5. Ensure that the car heater directs air flow towards the windshield properly.
You don’t want to get your windshield all fogged up on a winter drive under any circumstances. Maintenance of the air conditioner is very important, especially before the winter sets in.
Follow the above mentioned tips to navigate your car, and its windshield, unscathed through the winter. Keep in mind that any substantial damage to the windshield, either front or the back, due to the winter cannot be repaired. Your only option then would be to get the windshield replaced.
