GgggM CcCancels heated washer fluid option
In a move that might frost your cupcakes, General Motors has dropped the heated windshield washer fluid option on all models. The feature was a big part of Buick advertising in the recent past, but GM has either not had enough takers, or there are issues with the OEM for the system components. Either way, you're going to have to chip the ice off the windshield of your brand new Traverse the same way we've done it since the invention of the wheel: cold, freezing, wet, and swearing.
In all honesty, heated washer fluid is better in theory than in practice. It may help a little bit, but the windshield has a lot of "thermal inertia" and the glass is what really needs to be warmed up. Those of us who thought we were smart wrapping the washer fluid line around a radiator hose back in the day discovered this, and now it seems GM has found out the same thing. Maybe Tata could hook The General up with Range Rover's windshield supplier, and we could all rock Lucernes with defroster grids in the front glass. Obviously, cars already built with the system will hit dealerships so equipped, but any vehicles that are pending will have the option deleted and a price adjustment made. Hit the jump to see which vehicles are stricken.
[Source: ChevyTraverseForum | Image: Picasa]
Affected models:
Buick: Enclave, Lucerne
Cadillac: CTS, DTS, Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT
Chevrolet: Tahoe, Suburban, Avalanche, Silverado, Traverse
GMC: Acadia, Yukon, Denali, Yukon XL, Denali XL, Sierra, Sierra Denali
Hummer: H2
Saturn: Outlook
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
john 7:05PM (9/17/2008)
The hotshot windshield washer system was apart of a huge recall recently.
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brandon 7:16PM (9/17/2008)
That was my immediate thought as well.
Rob 12:48AM (9/18/2008)
Everybody knows the heated parts were made in Mexico anyway!
CDN87 7:06PM (9/17/2008)
Jaguars also have a heated windshield and surprisingly enough the 2006+ Ford Explorer offers it as an option too.
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psarhjinian 8:24PM (9/17/2008)
I've always wondered why heated windshields aren't offered on more cars. It seems like a "well, duh!" feature.
Is there a legal (or technical?) reason why a manufacturer cannot put heating elements in the front or side windows?
That One Person 5:05PM (9/18/2008)
There isn't a specific reason, I think it just comes down to cost and if people actually want it.
A guy I work with has an 07 ST with the heated windshield. Supposedly his wife's Freelander had it, too.
He likes it but says there are certain angles the sun will hit it and you actually get a small reflection off the heating elements.
Personally, I wouldn't want it. I look at the cost to replace a rear window with heating elements and cringe at the idea of what it would cost to get the windshield replaced. I will just get a remote starter and let the car run for five minutes.
Josh 7:12PM (9/17/2008)
My 1990 BMW 535i had heated windshield washer nozzles. My current 328i has this as standard. It actually isn't designed to keep the washer fluid warm as it hits the windshield, rather it is to keep the nozzles warm so they don't freeze shut, has happens on some of the other cars I have owned when the ice is thick.
It works quite well, I have the heater turned on high facing the windshield to keep it from icing back over.
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Joe K. 8:02PM (9/17/2008)
Actually the system in Hummers and Buicks were fluid heaters. Thats part of the problem. It has a line that heats it up and then it sprays and wipes and pulses that way for a minute or so. It was put into Hummers as a component from Starcraft (as in the conversion vans) and it was a hell of a time to replace a switch. That's more likely the reason for the discontinuance, the contract is probably not being renewed... Just hypothesizing.....
G-Meister 10:56PM (9/17/2008)
Josh- many german cars have heated nozzles. It seems that frozen nozzles are a big problem over there (Dad complains all winter) but I would guess its largely because they don't buy washer fluid like we do (pre-mixed) but rather mix stuff together themselves.
The Srinter can be had with a heated windshield as well (good thing since thats a lot of glass).
Kitko 7:13PM (9/17/2008)
Look here, folks, in my country, I can purchase washer fluid that is freeze resistant - there are several varieties available from numerous resellers. -30, -40, -60 or even -80 degrees Celsius. These fluids just do not freeze.
There are other modern days niceties such as windshield defroster that my Japanese hatchback has built-in, Front and Back and on the rear-view mirrors. This can be further helped by directing fan outlets to the windshield. Even in -20 Celsius I'm ready to go ice-free within 5 minutes from starting the engine - that's 5 minutes max when I'm lazy around car.
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bc 9:01PM (9/17/2008)
Fluid freezing in bulk usually isn't the problem. The solution can be liquid in the reservoir and still freeze when it's aerosolized coming out of the spray nozzles. Heating the fluid doesn't really help this effect either. Which is why the windshield being warmed is the critical factor.
brn 10:14AM (9/18/2008)
"in my country, I can purchase washer fluid that is freeze resistant"
Sames goes for my country. I've never had a problem.
"other modern days niceties such as windshield defroster"
I think Ford was doing that in the early 80's. I wonder why they stopped.
That One Person 5:10PM (9/18/2008)
brn...Ford brought back heated windshields. You can get them in the Explorer and Sport Trac (not sure if they offer it in any other models).
If you know off the top of your head, what cars from the 90s from Ford offered this option?
MikeW 7:23PM (9/17/2008)
Didn't the McLaren F1 have a heated windshield, and also the previous generation Audi A8?
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tankd0g 7:30PM (9/17/2008)
Called it.
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Andrew 8:13PM (9/17/2008)
Sounds like it was the new retractable antenna... Built in defrosters are nice, but make replacement windshields insanely expensive. The best bet is to use freeze-resistant fluid. Heated nozzles are a good idea, to keep ice from freezing over and clogging them. But the heated lines or reservoir just don't help much and probably lead people to higher expectations and more complaints (the silly kind of stuff that JD Power records) in the long run.
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Patrick 8:34PM (9/17/2008)
Sounds like something the Marketing Dept got ahold of and started advertising, forcing the designers to incorporate it into the cars, despite them actually working well at all.
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Pete 8:41PM (9/17/2008)
The system is really cool, I've used it in the cold...
At any rate...the supplier of this system went bankrupt...
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CarGuru2x4 8:51PM (9/17/2008)
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2008/08/post.html
There was a big recall on these...
they heated the fluid as it came to the sprayer.
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TKE 9:16PM (9/17/2008)
Funny thing: Hummer was involved in that AS WELL AS another wiper problem affecting 13,000 or so H2s. Weird happenings. http://goodcarbadcar.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-2003-hummer-h2-recalled-for.html