Windshield Wipers Icing? Help?

[Orbital Debris]

The wiper de-icer heating elements go up the drivers side edge of the windshield as well, to prevent buildup from the wipers pushing snow to the edge.

Verified on my 2013 Limited. Very good information. It seems to be only on the driver's side, but if you read the manual excerpt posted earlier, it cautions not to touch the areas around the front pillars either (it seems overly cautious, as normal human factors touch temp restrictions are 113F). I will attempt to verify the heat rise in this area with my IR thermometer when I get home.

WRT the original post, I use the lowest temp washer fluid I can find. If you time it right, you should be able to spray the wiper arms as well. This may help reduce ice buildup on the washers.

I tend to turn on the wiper heaters while driving in wet snowy weather. While it is doubtful they will overcome icing when 15 degree air is hitting the windshield at 50 mph, I figure every little bit helps. The other night, I had ice buildup on the upper passenger side despite having the defrost on full. Not a visibility problem, but annoying to hear the wipers scraping across it.

 

[swaycleveland]

For about 25 years or so I lift my blades and arms from the windshield, cover it with a towel and lightly spray them with PAM ( yes the cooking nonstick stuff). Two or three times a winter, got the idea from grandma who did this to the snow shovel to keep snow from sticking. even as/if ice builds a soon a you put them on it slings off.
Works great cost nothing

 

[thzpcs]

Just do the old fashioned windshield wiper salute when parking, saves a lot of effort from deicing them, and makes it a lot easier to scrape off.

 

[Orbital Debris]

Verified on my 2013 Limited. Very good information. It seems to be only on the driver's side, but if you read the manual excerpt posted earlier, it cautions not to touch the areas around the front pillars either (it seems overly cautious, as normal human factors touch temp restrictions are 113F). I will attempt to verify the heat rise in this area with my IR thermometer when I get home.

WRT the original post, I use the lowest temp washer fluid I can find. If you time it right, you should be able to spray the wiper arms as well. This may help reduce ice buildup on the washers.

I tend to turn on the wiper heaters while driving in wet snowy weather. While it is doubtful they will overcome icing when 15 degree air is hitting the windshield at 50 mph, I figure every little bit helps. The other night, I had ice buildup on the upper passenger side despite having the defrost on full. Not a visibility problem, but annoying to hear the wipers scraping across it.

I turned on the wiper heaters this evening and shot them with a IR thermometer. After about 5 minutes the wiper area was 110-120F, and the driver's side near the pillar was about 85-90F. Starting temp of the windshield was about 65F, and Ambient temp in the garage was about 48 F. So, the lines on the side are definitely heating elements, but do have a lower heat flux than the lower wiper heating elements. Not sure if it would do anything if you are driving along at 50 mph with 10 degree air flowing across the windshield.

 

[scanny]

I had to drive in freezing rain few days ago and I was just fine with air blowing on windshield and wipers heater on. I took a picture during a lunch stop, by the time I got to my destination I had bigger build up of ice everywhere including external side of windshield wipers. But windshield was clear - wipers did their job good.

 

[hereinhelena]

Front Wipers Freezing

I have a 2017 TRD-Pro & have had my wiper arms freeze twice now. In both cases, it seems to be that a block of ice develops in the flat area between the hood & the windshield that then locks the arms in place. The blades & the blade arm hinges are free - it is the base rotator that is locked up. It is close to impossible to free up the ice-blockage - even with lots of ice-picking. In both cases, I was doing short "around town" trips - perhaps the deicer would eventually get it, or perhaps the deicer is melting snow & causing the trouble. I haven't been able to figure out exactly where the lock-up is - but I think it is worse on the driver's side. In any case, the wipers are inoperable until the blockage frees up. In both cases, this happened after parking & I was eventually able to remove the big blocks of ice. I haven't had this issue on any other vehicles & am not sure what is going on or what the best practices are to avoid it. Ideas are appreciated.

 

[jk24runner]

one trick i found in my semi is NOT running the defrost. if its cold dry snow having the windshield cold will keep the snow from sticking to it. a hot windshield will make the snow stick and melt to it. found this works best, but not if its a really wet snow. another trick in the jeep world was to replace the washer hose with a longer one and wrap it around the radiator hose to make it heated. may not be as easy in the 4runner.

 

[nb rob]

everyone here seems to really, really like the stock blades, but when it comes to nasty road conditions, all of those bends fill up with sleet and freeze. I switched out to bosch icon winter blades this season, and so far they stand up to freezing rain and sleet much better. There's a good reason why winter blades don't have any exposed joints.

 

[hereinhelena]

Thank you for the ideas - the trouble is not, however, with the washer fluid or the blades, or even the blade arms - The trouble is related to the build-up thick ice (1" thick or more) on that flat area between the hood & the windshield that completely immobilizes the wipers. The ice builds while the vehicle is parked & is nearly impossible to remove mechanically - perhaps it would come out with prolonged use of the heater. I was wondering if anyone else has had this issue, or found a trick to remove it. I suspect it is a consequence of my infrequent driving - but it is still odd that this area doesn't drain better.

 

[Angonemoto]

At some point the best bet is to stop driving.

We recently came home from a trip out west and through Iowa on I80 the weather conditions went from cold (-2 on the dash) to cold with a spit of sleet. The ice built up on the windshield almost immediately from about 2/3rds from the top. The defrost on full couldn't keep the buildup from subsiding, so I kept the wipers running and spraying ant freeze wiper fluid to keep some of the windshield clear. Since we were far from home and it was getting later in the day we decided to just get a room for the night. Headlights were frozen over as well so they were becoming ineffective too.

As you can see in the pic, the entire front of the vehicle has about a 1/8" layer of dirty ice on it. You can also wee the 1/2" thick coating of blue antifreeze windshield washer fluid building up on the roof box. About 70 miles later we pulled off and got a room. No reason to try this at night.

The next day we counted 35 vehicles that had spun out and in some cases rolled in the median and the ditches on either side of the highway.

 

[nb rob]

Ahhh

I get that too. That is one of the many reasons I visit heated wash bays almost every week during the winter.
The wiper defrost button doesn't seem to do a lot for that, unfortunately. You'd expect it to be for that very reason.

The top of my cowl is clear today, but it will likely fill up again soon.

 

[hereinhelena]

OK - well at least I'm not the only one. I looked closer now that there is less snow. It looks like the trouble is due to the wiper pivot shafts being located in a well (for lack of a better word). Water accumulates around the pivot & immobilizes the wiper arm once it freezes. The driver's side is the worse, as the wiper shaft well cannot be easily accessed from the left side. It may be that the defrost heater would clear this out with time - if this is part of the heated area.