Windshield Washer Freeze
New User
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Hi. I found your group through a search. This is my first post.
This problem, of the freezing nozzles, has been killing me!!! I can not get to the bottom of it!!!
The service manager, at my dealer, even swapped the entire nozzle assembly, from his own truck, into mine. They had been working perfectly, in his truck. Now, they freeze in my truck!
The dealer has no idea what to do next. We have gone through everything that has been stated in this thread. They just freeze, as soon as we thaw them.
This is insane!
Sorry for the rant. Looking for any help I can get.
It's a 2015 F150 s-crew, short box, Lariat, 5.0. Bone stock.
This problem, of the freezing nozzles, has been killing me!!! I can not get to the bottom of it!!!
The service manager, at my dealer, even swapped the entire nozzle assembly, from his own truck, into mine. They had been working perfectly, in his truck. Now, they freeze in my truck!
The dealer has no idea what to do next. We have gone through everything that has been stated in this thread. They just freeze, as soon as we thaw them.
This is insane!
Sorry for the rant. Looking for any help I can get.
It's a 2015 F150 s-crew, short box, Lariat, 5.0. Bone stock.
New User
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Let me start by saying thanks for replying!
I read all that stuff on here. That's the reason I joined this forum. I'm not convinced that this valve is the culprit. That valve was replaced with the part from my service manager's truck. It worked perfectly in his truck, but not in mine. He drives further than I do, and lives quite a bit north of me, where the temperature will actually drop by a few degrees, due to lake effect. I'm living just north of Toronto, Canada.
The shop manager is a friend of mine. He told me that he checked with the Ford hotline. They told him that, said valve, should open at 6 psi. He vacuum checked my old valve AND the functioning valve, from the manager's truck. They both worked perfectly.
Last Friday was cold, my washers froze. I drove directly to the dealer. They went outside (in the cold) and pulled the hose from the outlet side of the valve. It sprayed perfectly. We reconnected it, and the nozzles remained frozen. Doesn't that eliminate the valve?
I read all that stuff on here. That's the reason I joined this forum. I'm not convinced that this valve is the culprit. That valve was replaced with the part from my service manager's truck. It worked perfectly in his truck, but not in mine. He drives further than I do, and lives quite a bit north of me, where the temperature will actually drop by a few degrees, due to lake effect. I'm living just north of Toronto, Canada.
The shop manager is a friend of mine. He told me that he checked with the Ford hotline. They told him that, said valve, should open at 6 psi. He vacuum checked my old valve AND the functioning valve, from the manager's truck. They both worked perfectly.
Last Friday was cold, my washers froze. I drove directly to the dealer. They went outside (in the cold) and pulled the hose from the outlet side of the valve. It sprayed perfectly. We reconnected it, and the nozzles remained frozen. Doesn't that eliminate the valve?
New User
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Let me start by saying thanks for replying!
I read all that stuff on here. That's the reason I joined this forum. I'm not convinced that this valve is the culprit. That valve was replaced with the part from my service manager's truck. It worked perfectly in his truck, but not in mine. He drives further than I do, and lives quite a bit north of me, where the temperature will actually drop by a few degrees, due to lake effect. I'm living just north of Toronto, Canada.
The shop manager is a friend of mine. He told me that he checked with the Ford hotline. They told him that, said valve, should open at 6 psi. He vacuum checked my old valve AND the functioning valve, from the manager's truck. They both worked perfectly.
Last Friday was cold, my washers froze. I drove directly to the dealer. They went outside (in the cold) and pulled the hose from the outlet side of the valve. It sprayed perfectly. We reconnected it, and the nozzles remained frozen. Doesn't that eliminate the valve?
I read all that stuff on here. That's the reason I joined this forum. I'm not convinced that this valve is the culprit. That valve was replaced with the part from my service manager's truck. It worked perfectly in his truck, but not in mine. He drives further than I do, and lives quite a bit north of me, where the temperature will actually drop by a few degrees, due to lake effect. I'm living just north of Toronto, Canada.
The shop manager is a friend of mine. He told me that he checked with the Ford hotline. They told him that, said valve, should open at 6 psi. He vacuum checked my old valve AND the functioning valve, from the manager's truck. They both worked perfectly.
Last Friday was cold, my washers froze. I drove directly to the dealer. They went outside (in the cold) and pulled the hose from the outlet side of the valve. It sprayed perfectly. We reconnected it, and the nozzles remained frozen. Doesn't that eliminate the valve?
New User
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Yeah. It doesn't seem consistent between us. We all have, ALMOST, exactly the same problem....our washers freeze. The weird part is that, some things work for some trucks, and others have different fixes....to the same problem.
I'm just trying to find the fix that my truck likes.
We changed the valve. It has been replaced, from nozzles, to the tank.
It worked in his truck. Not in my truck.
It's such a simple system. I just don't get it.
Grateful for your thoughts! I am at a point where it can't hurt to pull the valve. What choice do I have? The dealer can't fix it. I have to do something.
New User
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Did you guys know that there is a little "spinner" thing, in your nozzle? They don't spray straight through.
Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 2,775
Likes: 7
From: Lewisberry, Penn
So I tried a few thing with my fiesta. Of course I started with the Rain X orange and I thought, maybe if I squirt some right before I shut the car off then it would clean any water that had condensation and replace it with washer fluid. No luck. I wash my car weekly, but I do live on a farm, so there is lots of dust and dirt road driving and I wonder if maybe I have dirt in there that has caused the nozzle to be constricted, and more prone to freezing. Has cleaning had similar results to replacing nozzles?
Tuned
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 474
Likes: 4
From: SE Michigan
Let me start by saying thanks for replying!
I read all that stuff on here. That's the reason I joined this forum. I'm not convinced that this valve is the culprit. That valve was replaced with the part from my service manager's truck. It worked perfectly in his truck, but not in mine. He drives further than I do, and lives quite a bit north of me, where the temperature will actually drop by a few degrees, due to lake effect. I'm living just north of Toronto, Canada.
The shop manager is a friend of mine. He told me that he checked with the Ford hotline. They told him that, said valve, should open at 6 psi. He vacuum checked my old valve AND the functioning valve, from the manager's truck. They both worked perfectly.
Last Friday was cold, my washers froze. I drove directly to the dealer. They went outside (in the cold) and pulled the hose from the outlet side of the valve. It sprayed perfectly. We reconnected it, and the nozzles remained frozen. Doesn't that eliminate the valve?
I read all that stuff on here. That's the reason I joined this forum. I'm not convinced that this valve is the culprit. That valve was replaced with the part from my service manager's truck. It worked perfectly in his truck, but not in mine. He drives further than I do, and lives quite a bit north of me, where the temperature will actually drop by a few degrees, due to lake effect. I'm living just north of Toronto, Canada.
The shop manager is a friend of mine. He told me that he checked with the Ford hotline. They told him that, said valve, should open at 6 psi. He vacuum checked my old valve AND the functioning valve, from the manager's truck. They both worked perfectly.
Last Friday was cold, my washers froze. I drove directly to the dealer. They went outside (in the cold) and pulled the hose from the outlet side of the valve. It sprayed perfectly. We reconnected it, and the nozzles remained frozen. Doesn't that eliminate the valve?
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New User
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Warm...I assume. Still doesn't explain why it worked on the other truck, but not mine. OR, why mine worked, outside, but the nozzles didn't....I mentioned that I took the truck to the dealer, while it was frozen. We immediately pulled the hose from the outlet side of "the valve". It sprayed perfectly, through the valve. When the hose was reconnected, the nozzles remained frozen. We took it inside, and it quickly began to spray again. Let it warm up for 20 minutes. Drove it for 10 minutes and it froze again...back to dealership....repeat process....same result. The shop manager did this with me. He says that he does not believe that the valve is the problem. He says that Ford is telling him that they believe the nozzles are the problem. Apparently, this is their 4th generation of the sprayers.
New User
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Ford called me about this.
I lodged a complaint with Ford customer service about this problem. They got back to me immediately. Told me they had "opened a case". They contacted my dealer. The "unavailable" parts will be at my dealer tomorrow morning. It took about 24 hours for this to happen.
Fingers crossed! I will keep you informed.
Thanks everyone!!!
You are all very nice. I think I will stick around.
Fingers crossed! I will keep you informed.
Thanks everyone!!!
You are all very nice. I think I will stick around.
Tuned
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 474
Likes: 4
From: SE Michigan
Warm...I assume. Still doesn't explain why it worked on the other truck, but not mine. OR, why mine worked, outside, but the nozzles didn't....I mentioned that I took the truck to the dealer, while it was frozen. We immediately pulled the hose from the outlet side of "the valve". It sprayed perfectly, through the valve. When the hose was reconnected, the nozzles remained frozen. We took it inside, and it quickly began to spray again. Let it warm up for 20 minutes. Drove it for 10 minutes and it froze again...back to dealership....repeat process....same result. The shop manager did this with me. He says that he does not believe that the valve is the problem. He says that Ford is telling him that they believe the nozzles are the problem. Apparently, this is their 4th generation of the sprayers.
Lead Driver
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 5,891
Likes: 360
From: Mts. S. of San Francisco
Is it clear that they stop at the exact same time? You're not running the washers all the time; only intermittently. So there are probably at least minutes between applications of the spray. And.... at least one report of removing the check valve fixed his problem.
Tuned
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 474
Likes: 4
From: SE Michigan
I was questioning other posters post that dealer is blaming the nozzles, and I was just pointing out that as far as I know no one has reported just one nozzle not working which would be more like a nozzle problem.. Both always stopping points to something common too both like the check valve.
I'm sticking to my story that the problem is the check valve will not open when cold due to a design/material problem.
Lead Driver
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 5,891
Likes: 360
From: Mts. S. of San Francisco
I do find it interesting that a 2015 vehicle might have this kind of problem. I'm mean, how long have we had windshield washers on vehicles in sub-zero weather? A really long time.
Tuned
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 474
Likes: 4
From: SE Michigan
I'm not disagreeing with you. In fact, based on the reports that I've read here, I'm inclined to agree with you. It's also possible that there is more than one issue going on here.
I do find it interesting that a 2015 vehicle might have this kind of problem. I'm mean, how long have we had windshield washers on vehicles in sub-zero weather? A really long time.
I do find it interesting that a 2015 vehicle might have this kind of problem. I'm mean, how long have we had windshield washers on vehicles in sub-zero weather? A really long time.
Unless they are using a more powerful washer motor that can always get to the 6 pounds pressure that this is reported to open at.. But being that my testing points to temperature of check valve being what determines if it opens or not.