Is -25F rated washer fluid good enough?

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Patman

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When I was at a Walmart in Niagara Falls NY a few weeks ago I noticed that they sell the -25F rated washer fluid for only around $2, so I picked up a couple of jugs. I'm wondering if anyone else uses this stuff and does it actually work well or do you find that it's not as good below 0F as the other kinds? I don't ever recall it getting down to -25F here, but it has gone below -10F a few times in recent memory. Will I be ok in my climate using this stuff?
 
It will be fine. It's the lowest temp stuff you can find at a good price without the Rain-X, and it's a pretty purple color too
smile.gif
 
Growing up in fargo ND back in the 60's and 70's, my dad (now long ago deceased) used to always dump in a bottle of drug store alcohol in to the washer fluid reservoir every winter. He added it to the blue stuff which is good to -25. Not sure how much lower it could go with the alcohol, but I know we had at least a few days in the -30 or more range and I dont think the fluid ever froze up. I use the blue stuff and it has never dropped below -25 here as far as I know. For the most part we only use the washer fluid when temps are above about +20 anyway and salt spray and slush needs to be washed off.
 
I would just use it but check the reservoir in 24 hrs to make sure it hasn't froze or gotten slushy. You can always add isopropyl alcohol to lower the freezing point.
 
I snapped a pic for a post on this site last year:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4369784/Re:_ISO_Heet_and_Pink_Windshie



 
It freezes on me once it's about -10F out, with the Walmart blue -20F. So that stuff might freeze at -15F or so.
 
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Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
It will be fine. It's the lowest temp stuff you can find at a good price without the Rain-X, and it's a pretty purple color too
smile.gif



Actually it's pink.


Originally Posted By: Warstud
I would just use it but check the reservoir in 24 hrs to make sure it hasn't froze or gotten slushy. You can always add isopropyl alcohol to lower the freezing point.


I have been keeping the jugs of this stuff in the trunk of my Civic and haven't noticed it getting slushy during our coldest nights. I just wonder if it'll completely freeze over once I spray it on the windshield on a cold morning.
 
In the spray form, the alcohol may evaporate out and leave your windshield appearing frosty.

It won't freeze if just sitting in a jug.
 
Originally Posted By: Patman
When I was at a Walmart in Niagara Falls NY a few weeks ago I noticed that they sell the -25F rated washer fluid for only around $2, so I picked up a couple of jugs. I'm wondering if anyone else uses this stuff and does it actually work well or do you find that it's not as good below 0F as the other kinds? I don't ever recall it getting down to -25F here, but it has gone below -10F a few times in recent memory. Will I be ok in my climate using this stuff?
It was -22F here back a week or so ago.
 
I'm using that pink Supertech fluid currently. Meh, it's OK. It will clear the windshield but it tends to leave a very fine layer of frost when it's really cold. For the price though, it's good enough.
 
I use local stuff that claims -40 celsius. Ive used it to -30 celsius with no issues. I have also used -25 F fluid with no issues. I doubt you will have any issues.
 
Originally Posted By: Patman
When I was at a Walmart in Niagara Falls NY a few weeks ago I noticed that they sell the -25F rated washer fluid for only around $2, so I picked up a couple of jugs. I'm wondering if anyone else uses this stuff and does it actually work well or do you find that it's not as good below 0F as the other kinds? I don't ever recall it getting down to -25F here, but it has gone below -10F a few times in recent memory. Will I be ok in my climate using this stuff?


I'm surprised you purchased that, Patman, (despite the cheap cost) considering the temps we have seen here lately. Experience tells me nothing less that -40 -45 for our winters, even though, until this year, we haven't had hardly any winters.

Costco sells, on sale, occasionally, 4 jugs of their brand for $8.50, which is -45 rated. I am unsure if it is the best I have ever used, but so far so good as far as freezing goes. Keep your eyes out for it and stock up when you see it.
cheers3.gif
 
I was using the pink ST fluid. This morning the stuff froze in one line.
frown.gif

It was -7F this morning at 7:00 a.m. BTW


I spent 20 minutes heating the lines and cleaning goo out of nozzles. Put some safety kleen fluid in from work so all good now


Next time I'll use Prestone stuff
 
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If we're talking about the Supertech house brand, the blue dye in there will clump up and clog your washer pump. Blue and green mixes are affected. If you don't believe me, leave a jug in your garage for a few months and look inside. You'll find blue stringy clumps of dye.
 
I once had to deal with the cloudy mess. This is harder to diagnose with modern cars since they now bury the washer bottle under everything.

When I get clog issues, I disconnect the system and reverse flush all the lines, then drain the bottle and flush it out.
 
Originally Posted By: irv

I'm surprised you purchased that, Patman, (despite the cheap cost) considering the temps we have seen here lately. Experience tells me nothing less that -40 -45 for our winters, even though, until this year, we haven't had hardly any winters.

Costco sells, on sale, occasionally, 4 jugs of their brand for $8.50, which is -45 rated. I am unsure if it is the best I have ever used, but so far so good as far as freezing goes. Keep your eyes out for it and stock up when you see it.
cheers3.gif



I never thought to check Costco, we're making our weekly trip there tomorrow so I'll see what they've got! This afternoon I also picked up two jugs of -35C rated stuff from our Walmart here for $2.88.

When I saw how cheap this stuff was in Niagara Falls I couldn't resist a bargain like that!
smile.gif
I topped up both of our winter driven cars with it today but both cars had at least 75% of the -49C stuff in there as well. So based on the posts I'm seeing here, I think I'll save this -25 stuff for the early spring when we won't see such brutally cold temps.
 
Originally Posted By: Patman
Will I be ok in my climate using this stuff?

You'll be just fine. I can't tell you how many jugs of that -25 stuff I've gone through over the years (most of that bought in the Amherst area), and it seems to react to cold and wind exactly the same as our mix.

I suspect that the -35/-40 stuff we find domestically is a "one size fits all" mix that they can sell anywhere from the far-north to Niagara Falls. In other words, it's overkill for the Great Lakes region.
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
If we're talking about the Supertech house brand, the blue dye in there will clump up and clog your washer pump. Blue and green mixes are affected. If you don't believe me, leave a jug in your garage for a few months and look inside. You'll find blue stringy clumps of dye.


This right here. The ST washer fluids are absolute garbage. As noted by Ethan, they'll leave a gooey mess in the bottom of your reservoir.
 
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