I do about 25000 miles a year in an 95 Audi A6. In the UK here we get a few cold days where everything freezes i.e. the washer bottle making driving hazardous due to salt film on the windscreen. Now unless I pour 100% strength additive into it, it freezes up and never seems to defrost on my journey. Pouring 100% additive in is very expensive. Anybody got any tips for stopping the water bottle from freezing ? It could of course also be the water jets so any tips there would be useful. What do you people do in the colder areas of say Canada ?
Ok, not Canada, but Austria does get cold too at times :-))
Sorry, but adding additive is the thing I do. Mostly 50/50. Instead of additive you can also use spirit. It smells a bit different but you can get it in large quantities for a lower price. Basically it's the alcohol which keeps the water from freezing.
And yes, mine too would not defrost just by itself while driving. The additive has to be in there from the start. Btw. the nozzles are heated on my 99 A6, so there I never have a problem.
In the northern States you can buy a gallon jug of pre-mixed washer fluid that'll stay liquid down to at least -20°F for around one US dollar (probably two Loonies for our monetarily-challenged neighbors to our north ;-)
It should be noted that four liter bottles of drinking water would cost at least twice as much as the gallon of washer fluid...
Something's wrong with this picture. Apparently, the additive you're using is pure detergent and *no* antifreeze (Something I don't think I've ever seen in the US; *all* commercial additives and mixtures I know of are antifreeze compounds.). Under those circumstances, *of course* it will freeze up! You need an additive or mixture that has a freezing point below your lowest temperatures.
Well, 'tripper is right. I flicked the rear washer on the Jeep last night at 0F and it 'spewed' just fine. I thought about trying it this morning at -11F, but I know from last night that the wiper blade is still frozen stiff at the wrong curvature. >:^[
However, if you *had* some stuff in your system that froze up, you need to
*purge the lines* when you get the good stuff into the reservoir. Otherwise, it *still* won't work. In the extreme case, I've pulled the lines so I could take them into the house and get them warmed up and emptied out.
FWIW, I'm using the RainX fluid that costs about *twice* as much (unless you find Walmart closing it out at $.75/gal. like I did when I bought a 15 gallon, ~10-year supply!). I also use RainX on the glass, so three things work in my favor. First, I don't need to use the wipers nearly as much because most liquid, including salt mixtures, just rolls off (snow and ice chips off much easier, too); second, the fluid remains liquid; and third, it replenishes the RainX coating as I use it.
I add a pint of alcohol to the gallon of the -20F fluid to avoid the problem of the premix fluid freezing due to wind chill after being sprayed on a cold windshield.
Up here in the Big Bad North (Canada) we go to our local Canadian Tire store an pick up a 4L jug of pre-mixed windscreen wash that's good down to -45C. Haven't tried it at that temp but have down to -25C, only last week.
Most of the failures so far have been in the older A8s, (97s and 98s). The current line of thinking is to ignore Audi's recommendation that the fluid in the tranny is a lifetime fluid and have it and the tranny filters replaced at 50,000 miles.
Checking the tranny filter magnet for metal shavings is a good indication of wear on the ZF tranny.
Anyways, there are good stories of fluid changes which solve alot of these issues and more than likely the whole notion of lifetime fluid is in fact the culprit. Keep the fluid clean and the tranny will last a very long time.
BTW, You should have come up to the Texas Audi State meet last year in Salado. Older Audis needed representation. We had three 83 quattros and then nothing until 1997 A4s... Thats bizarre.
[Wondering why my server is dropping every other message, but I can reply to a reply.]
Fourteen below twice last week and no problems. Finally hit freezing on Sunday.
Frankly, I really like the Jaguars. The X-Type is a little small, but I also like the S-Type (sharing a bodyshell and drivetrains with Lincoln's LS and styling with the old 3.4/3.8 'saloons'). Judging by eBay selling prices, the S offers a bit more than a comparable E39 BMW 5 series. If for no other reason than styling, I prefer both the BMW and the Jag over Audis these days. It's the 'character thing' that Audi doesn't seem to have. I find them perfectly competent (especially in snow - not that you have a big problem with that) but somewhat dull. If I'm looking at a big autobox sedan, it wouldn't be an A8. If I were restricted to Audi, I'd probably be looking at an A6 or an S of some kind and with a manual gearbox. Of course, both the BMW and the Jag are/were actually available (if hard to find) with manual gearboxes, too. ;^)
Thanks for the reply. I follow the Audiworld A8 form, and noticed the trans fluid change issues there.
Personally, I believe in changing transmission fluid every 30K, and engine oil every 3K. Brake fluid and coolant are changed every two years. This may be overkill, but that's how I got to 275K on the 89 100 with no overhauls.
But the prospect of having to pay $6-7K for a Tiptronic overhaul really puts me off. I notice that you have a very nice A8 indeed, that is about what I am looking for. I plan to look only at the 2000 model year or newer.
PS - I would be happy to display the old car along with other Audi owners. When/where is the next meet? I have avoided Audi clubs locally because they appear to be populated mostly with modded A4s.
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