DIRECT from Toyota advice?!?

risky to pour warm water on a frozen part?

 

OK OK...PLEASE let me put this HUGE caveat out first......

I've long used WARM water on cold days to de-ice my windshield and I've never had a problem.
This does NOT mean it's safe. It only means I've never had a problem. If you do this...do it at your own risk.

What I've done is I usually start the vehicle and get the defrost going. After a few minutes and while the defrost is going I pour...and this is important...warm water...not HOT..not boiling, just warm water over the windshield. IMO all the water has to be is above freezing.

Recently I googled "Is it OK to pour hot water on your windshield" and guess what?
There's a world of information warning you of the crack risks. The feedback is overwhelmingly NO do not do it.

But what I also discovered is that evidently people are pouring very, very hot water on their windshield. Way hotter than I would. Then they are amazed when their windshield cracks.

I speculate this is the key.

Specifically with this recommendation

I think the key is WARM water...not hot or recently boiling. Also key is the wipe away water to prevent from freezing. You don't want water to get into small micro cracks, then freeze and expand, potentially causing big cracks. Which is why I pre-warm the windshield with my defrost, and keep it on to keep it warm enough that any water poured on it will NOT freeze or refreeze.

I would also guess...that if you are talking about the base of the windshield and simply stuck wipers? And you're just carefully pouring over that area...you're probably pretty safe.

Listen I'm NOT recommending my ritual to anyone else. I'd hate to hear somebody followed my advice and ended up having to replace a whole windshield or developed a horrible crack. Hey...it could happen.

I'm just saying personal small sample size, and my own personal experience? I've been using warm water, on a pre-warming windshield for years and never had a problem.

I might have to log in and update this reality the very next snow or ice storm we have. Because common advice is don't do it.

PS.
When I did my search on the issue it was kind of frustrating because all I could find was people experimenting or saying don't pour HOT water on your windshield.
Even youtube videos of people pouring steaming hot...just boiling water on their windshield...which IMO IS just asking for trouble.
I could find nobody saying "warm" water.

Anyway, don't do what I have done, do not do what I have said.
Your probably safer just using your defroster, being patient and employing an ice scraper.

 

I once got in my Gen 1 after an ice storm, and for some reason needed to roll a power window down. I think the first three I tried wouldn't move. The right rear made a sort of crunch sound when I pressed the button, and I could hear the mechanism whirring nicely down inside the door while the glass stayed right where it was.

I didn't want to leave it that way, figuring eventually the ice was going to thaw and the glass would fall down in the door, so I lifted the button and let the mechanism whirr back up to where I hoped it was at least kind of supporting the glass.

And then I didn't get around to fixing it, until one day, on the way to a matinee of a play, with rain predicted, my sister was sitting in that seat, and rolled the window down. Or the window mechanism, which the glass then fell off of and dropped down in the door.

So we pulled off the highway at a Starbucks where my sister and niece got something to drink while I pulled the door apart and reconnected the glass to the mechanism and rolled it back up. We still made the play.

 

Depends on how cold it gets in your area. If the window or wiper was frozen at 30F, I don't see it is going to do harm on glass by pouring warm water of 50F. I would not pour hot water. If the outside temperature is 0F, that would be a different story. I would not even pour warm water. Personally, I carry de-icer spray in my car all the time during winter.

 

Warm water ..... LOL. Yea that works some times.

Other times you might want to consider a tarp, or a garage.

.

 

What is all that white stuff?

Sea foam?
Styrofoam?
Lots and Lots of shaving Cream?