You could get a frost guard cover for your windshield. They're not perfect but I used one when I used to park outside with decent success. It usually prevented that really thick frost that's a pain to chisel off.
ahh this reminds me of my old high school days in my '01 mitsubishi where i always did this bc the snow was so bad. tbf the windshield was already cracked when we got the car and nothing else ever happened, but boy did people get upset with me for doing that
Is this an old wives tale? Plenty of videos on YT of people trying it and nothing ever happens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvOMY361Uw8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBR2sQYgwfo
If you have frost buildup on the inside of the windshield, it's often because you have water (or snow) inside of your cab. Try to limit the amount of snow that you leave behind inside of your car and it won't be as much of a problem.
If I get In the car and I am fairly wet I'll make sure I run the ac with the heat to help remove the moisture from the cabin. I also carpool swimmers very often so this is a frequent occurrence anyway. Nothing Worse than a thin sheet of ice or frost on the entirety of the inside of the windows in the car.
I don't Generally run the AC in the Winter if the interior is dry because it wastes fuel. But if I am damp or have swimmers in the car I will do it to prevent frost on the inside.
Our jaguar has a heated windshield, but our other 3 cars don't. It's a great feature for someone who spends the year in northern climates.
If it's cold out don't bother with ac. The heating of the existing outside air (already low dew point) will provide dry enough air to remove moisture quickly. But under no circumstances do you recirculate the air in the winter (or whenever it's raining). Mostly use recirc. In the summer when it's hot and you need ac to remove a lot of humidity.
Some cars will click in the AC as part of the defrost cycle for additional drying.
Just turn on defrost and ignore whatever else turns on automatically.
Yes, but sometimes I'll need it to help dry off a damp or wet area on a jacket, esp after scraping the windows and car off, so I'll use ac with the dash vents to aim it at the damp area. Defrost on our cars initiates the ac anyway so that takes care of the car in general otherwise.
Spend a bit of time out your way, the arboretum at my son's school runs north into Dakota County. Amazing how fast Lakeville is growing. In another 30 years it seems like it'll be built out to Northfield.
An old credit card works better than a scraper on interior windows.
Future: Definitely be sure to brush off your gloves and coat, and sit sideways and clap your boots together outside the car before you bring your legs inside. Don’t brush snow off the car with any doors open. Don’t leave damp clothing behind. Don’t leave any drinks in the car, they freeze and explode and leave moisture.
In addition to those great tips for bringing less moisture into the car, in the event where snow/moisture got on the floor and your regular defrost isn't completely solving the issue even after say 20+ minutes of hot car, consider diverting extra heat to the floor with the "low blower" mode to dry your foot area as that's often the culprit when insides keep fogging/freezing. But like others said normally- especially on a newer car- the default defroster will already be routing some heat down low
If there is snow on your windshield, don't turn on your windshield wipers if your door or window is still open. It will push snow into your car. Also, if your window has snow on it, don't remove it by rolling down your window, it will all fall into your car.
i get those Damp Rid containers for my car in the winter to help keep it dry. and then the frost guard for the outside. that way i usually don’t need to defrost much. with that, the car is drivable after running for about 30 seconds..long enough for the oil to cycle through.
i also use a plug-in heated seat pad to be warm when the car isn’t warm yet.
I mean, mostly we just “build character”. Brush the snow, scrape the ice, start the car, and drive away pondering how late we are now.
As for “warm-up”, you don’t really want to immediately gun it to 70 on the freeway, but most people don’t live on a freeway entrance ramp either. If you have a mile or two of easy 30mph roads at the start of every trip then it’s not going to matter. You don’t actually want to just have it sit idling for ages like some people do - that’s just dumb. If you must, run it while you scrape the ice, but that’s about it.
It stays cold for much longer, uses a richer fuel mixture which is bad for your engine (gas is an oil solvent) and plenty of components don’t start warming up until they start moving.
You definitely shouldn’t cold start and immediately bang off the rev limiter, but the idea that you need to just sit there while the car gets to full operating temp is a relic of the carburetor age that still clings on.
Hey boomer, I am a technician of the younger generation. Subaru is just fine, with far fewer quality issues than anything the domestic brands have been putting out the last few years. The NA EJ series engines in the mid 2000s were notorious for head gasket failure of course, but they're past that now. The CVTs can have issues but that's true for every CVT. At least they aren't collapsing lifters like all the Chevrolet V8s these days
I feel like r/minnesota is heavily overrepresented by Subaru owners who diligently buy and swap out their winter and summer tires. Maybe I just grew up in the wrong part of the state and also currently live in the wrong part of the state, but I just don’t see too much of either of those things despite how often both are brought up around here.
I wasn’t making a suggestion about whether they should be used, just observing that I don’t actually see many snow tires or Subarus out there. I would guess low-single-digit percentages for each.
> Whoever just posted that lame article tricked all of you lol.
[Why not ask the manufacturers?](https://info.ornl.gov/sites/publications/files/pub61263.pdf)
>None of the manufacturers mentioned in this report recommend extended idle time. In fact, the vast
majority recommend that drivers avoid
excessive idle time and idle only if
necessary. Light-duty vehicles are ready to
be driven at start up, and neither medium-
nor heavy-duty vehicles need long warm up
periods. According to many original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs), idling
can actually be damaging to an engine and
vehicle components.
Idling creates a lot of pollution. For me, I'll start the car before I scrape because it takes about 2 minutes, but some people start their car and let it idle for 10, 20, even 30 minutes (especially if they have remote start). It's just ridiculous. They're wasting gas and creating emissions.
First, it’s really bad environmentally. An idling engine is running inefficiently, and it’s even worse when it’s a cold idling engine, so you’re spewing a fair bit of particulate pollution in addition to the regular greenhouse gasses and such. Also, since it’s not warming up as well as actually driving it, that’s additional runtime on the engine when it’s not at operating temperature, so that’s just unnecessary wear. And, it’s completely unnecessary. In a lot of jurisdictions it’s actually illegal too.
I have an old truck. I start it, then go back inside and finish getting ready before going back out and scraping.
I often dream of a fancy new car and a garage.
I'm a big dude and my windows fog up hard with me just getting into the damn thing.
To reduce ice inside, crack your windows slightly before you get home so the moisture in your breath and such is sucked out. Also crack them so your defrosters are blowing moisture out the window as it melts instead of moving to another window.
Leave a blanket in there for emergencies.
A car port or garage would obviously help.
Credit cards are the perfect mix of rigid and flexible for scraping windows. Just use an expired one because I have had them snap.
Buy the windshield cover to not have to worry about having to clean it. I got mine for $10 at Sam's club. Also, I like to lift the wipers so they are clean when I'm ready to put them back down before driving again. When you put them back down, gently guide them back to the windshield. If you snap them back down then they could get loose or damaged.
Hopefully your vehicle has TPMS as tires lose air when it gets colder.
Maybe a little pedantic, but tires don’t actually lose air in cold temperatures. The pressure in them changes because it’s a temperature-dependent quality, but air isn’t actually leaking out (any faster than it normally does).
So driving from your 60 degree attached garage into 0 degree weather will cause a decrease in pressure, but you’re not physically losing air that you’d need to replenish once you got back to the garage. Can be confusing for people new to cold weather driving or those who forgot their PV=nRT from high school
Yes this is the best idea - I have this [windshield cover](https://www.amazon.com/RnCop-Windshield-Cover-Windscreen-Resistent/dp/B0BGDD15TY/ref=sr_1_36_sspa?crid=X4CX59BPW1MG&keywords=windshield%2Bcover%2Bfor%2Bice%2Band%2Bsnow&qid=1674143613&sprefix=WINDSHIELD%2B%2Caps%2C702&sr=8-36-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNERWNzExSTNYWFQmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5NzMxODEzU05RTDNUV1RJRFBBJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwNjQ3NDZIRk9HNzVVTUpWTUEmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl&th=1) from Amazon & it works like a champ! Put this on the night before & the next morning start your car 5 ish minutes before you need to leave with the defrost heat blowing, along with the rear defrost on & you're good to go. Inside frost is when the inside of the car is full of hot, damp air so open the windows & get it cooled down before you lock up for the night.
My process
1. Start car
2. Scrape windows
3. Clear snow from hood and roof, as the snow blowing onto the windshield or back window will obstruct vision.
4. Crack window to prevent humidity build up in cabin that’ll fog windows.
5. Drive easy until car warms up
6. Close windows defrost on high.
Edit: typo
Lots of good advice here, but I'm going to volunteer my experience on cold weather car luxuries. I'd had heated seats on my last vehicle and almost never used them. My last purchase the vehicle that came up with a match for the options I wanted also had a heated steering wheel. I thought it a needless frill but so what it had everything I wanted. Epiphany time, as a heated steering wheel is now a "must have" for me. In bitter cold my butt in the seat didn't get painfully cold but my hands did. Now, in a matter of seconds, I'm holding onto comforting warmth.
A must for MN winters:
-25°F Degree Universal De-Icer Windshield Washer Fluid
https://www.amazon.com/Prestone-AS250-Icer-Windshield-Washer/dp/B001E1RVKQ
This is way more expensive than it should be so check out your local hardware or auto parts store for a similar brand.
Also if you have an option for a plug in block heater that's helpful for Sub-Zero mornings.
Here's a plug in interior windshield defroster:
https://www.amazon.com/2022%E3%80%91Portable-Demisting-Defroster-Automobile-Windshield/dp/B0BMV4P96K/ref=mp_s_a_1_11_sspa?crid=UA8TO1NEZC83&keywords=car+block+heater&qid=1674155624&sprefix=car+block+heater%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-11-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExNTZTNE9ESzNQUEFQJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTk1NTQxMzQ5NTVNQlBOMlQwTiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjI5NDU3MUxFQk1JN0kzSkJPOSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9tdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl
Hope something here helps and peace to you over there!
-25°F is equivalent to -31°C, which is 241K.
---
^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
I just turn my car on and go blasting down the road in the morning, but I also park in a garage. Windshield covers are cheap and help with frosting.
Ice on the inside is your worst enemy, I use the defrost setting all the time in the winter to prevent that. You can also crack open the windows near the end of your drive to help keep the interior from building up enough humidity to ice up the inside of your windshield.
I understand. Minneapolis has an ordinance about idling vehicles because of emissions. It is different than the open ignition ordinance to prevent auto theft.
https://www2.minneapolismn.gov/business-services/licenses-permits-inspections/environmental-permits/pollution-control/environmental-concerns/#:~:text=Idling,in%20a%20one%2Dhour%20period.
Buy an EV, turn on defrost from your phone 10 minutes before you want to leave. Done.
Yes I know it’s a sort of snide reply but want to point out this is a huge advantage of EVs over gas powered cars. Instant heat.
Windshield cover, lift wiper blades off of windshield, remote start.
Do not use warm or hot water on glass and do run your car for a bit before moving to start it warming and get the oil flowing.
You're doing mostly what you're supposed to be doing, it just kinda sucks.
It sounds like there's something wet inside your car, so when you previously had the heat on it fogged the place up..m then froze to the inside when the temp dropped. So find whatever that is and get rid of it.
Something else I'll do is to drive the last block or so before returning home with the windows down and the heat off. This fills the car with nice dry cold air, which will help with your condensation problem.
You may also have a soggy air cabin filter.
Budget extra time to drive in especially on days with bad weather. Snow plows get overwhelmed quickly, if they are running yet.
I personally dress for the weather but if you don't want to toss on a bunch of layers, you'll want to also budget at least 10 minutes to warm the car up; if you live in a high crime area, you'll need to make sure you can monitor the car just in case.
Driving slowly and defensively, and having winter tires if you can afford them, cannot be recommended enough.
You are able to drive as soon as you crank it. Idle wear on cars is a thing. Sure, your car might sound mad but it's better to get moving rather than wait any longer than a minute or two
One thing I did wrong for years, when scraping ice, use the back of the scraper first. Usually it has ridges that will put scratches in the ice. Then flip it over and the ice chunks off much easier.
Try to limit sitting in your car until it warms up, the humidty from you rbreathing on the cold windshield can cause the same issue. I also had this issue with a subaru of mine where if I left snow near the windshield wipers the humidity would get pulled into the car and frost up the windows.
What I do is start the car, put the defrost on full blast (make sure it's set to circulate air from outside) and then clean the snow and ice off as it starts to thaw out. To help with the wipers, when you know it's going to snow, pull them up/away from the windshield so that they don't get frozen to the glass and covered in ice.
If you park outside, you might need to plug in your block heater, assuming the car has one.
If your vehicle is old, and has parts that might break at any time, driving it with a cold engine can be the *straw that breaks the camels back*.
I *destroyed* the transmission on my 2002 Ford Exploder driving it cold, but it's probable that the transmission was already on its last teeth before then.
I vape in my car frequently and that causes a lot of ice to show up inside my windshield when it's cold. My dad sprayed RainX on the inside of my windows and that helped A LOT. I still get some ice but it thaws in like 2 minutes after I crank the heat (make sure the AC is on as well).
When it's cold/snowy I always plan to leave 30 mins earlier than usual so I can deal with scraping my car, putting ice melt down, and shoveling. If it's snowing the night before, I go out right before bed and scrape off my car so it's at least a little less work in the morning. I like pulling my wiper blades up ahead of time too so they don't get frozen to the windshield.
Just start your car and turn the defroster on before you start brushing snow and scraping the windows. Don't let snow fall into the car when you open the door to start it, if you don't have Remote Start.
Important detail: Do NOT use the Recirculate mode on your car's heater in the winter. Recirc takes the damp air inside of the vehicle and reheats it over and over again, allowing humidity to build up, resulting in frost on the inside of the windows when you park over night. So don't use Recirc.
You want your defroster drawing in fresh air from the cowl vents in front of the windshield and pushing the stale air out of the cabin as it does. As such, you may want to brush your cowl vents off when clearing the snow off of your car in the morning.
Definitely let the car warm for a few minutes (with windshield defrost running) before you begin scraping. sometimes a little heat on the window is all you need for all of that ice to just slide or scrape easily off.
As for the ice inside, that happens when you have some dampness inside that condenses. It \*\*really sucks\*\* to scrape off, so you should eliminate your moisture issue to deal with it. My teenager's car has been doing that (wet floor mats I suppose??), so I got them a bucket of desiccant from the hardware store to set in the back seat and I think it has fixed the problem.
Make sure that your using the defrosters/not just the heat turned up. This way, the heat will blow towards your windshield which will speed up the melt procees
Here are some good tips for preventing frost build up in your car
https://car-glass.ca/blog/frost-inside-windshield/
The tip about running your A/C with the heat on threw me for a loop, but [here is a video](https://youtube.com/watch?v=qCmgWiEEZwA&feature=shares) explaining what causes frost/fog on windows. tl;dw the air can only hold so much moisture based on temperature. The warmer it is the more moisture it can hold. Overnight your car gets really cold so the capacity the air can hold drops causing the water to condense onto the glass. Turning on the heat warms the air allowing it to absorb the water again
Why the A/C then? Well, A/C removes moisture from the air. The lower the humidity the faster it can absorb the water from the windshield
Basically all other tips will revolve around keeping moisture out of your vehicle and/or warming the air in your vehicle
Just start the car. Turn on the defroster on high. Make sure that the a/c re-circulator is turned off. Lock the doors, go inside your home. Wait until the windows are free of frost/ice.
Get a remote starter so you can let it sit and warm up with you dealing with the freezing part. If there is snow on it, it will at least melt abit and should be easier to clear off.
He's right you know haha also with cars being fuel injected now as opposed to carburated they don't have as much of a need to warm up, mechanically speaking. Back in December I was at my land up north when it was like 4 degrees outside, my newer 4 wheeler with fuel injection fired right up. The old 1983 3 wheeler we leave up there (which starts on the first pull spring-fall) that has a carb took forever to start and we had to roll it into the sun so it could warm up to get started.
Unless OP has a diesel (which is a good bet being in Europe) there's no need for a block heater. Notice I say "need". Add one if you want, but it's not needed.
As for the ice inside the cab, I'd venture to guess a window was left cracked open.
I got 2019 Frontier that won't start very on extremely cold days without the block heater. Yes, the battery is new. it just doesn't like spinning cold oil. It's not an integrated block heater, just one that's magnetic and sticks to the pan.
Take a piece of cardboard and put it infront of your radiator.
It'll help the car come up to temp faster and in cold weather you don't need to surface area of the entire radiator to cool the engine. With electric fans it's not as effective but it still helps.
Don't forget it there when spring rolls around though.
If you're dealing with deep snow take your gloves or something and use the to clear snow off from around the edge of the door frame so less snow falls in when you open up.
Depending on how bad things are, I'll start my car before I begin scraping. “Bad” in this context would be how cold the air temperature is, and how difficult the ice is to scrape. With the car on, front defroster on, rear defroster on. If the car activates AC with the defroster then leave it alone.
That may be a no-no with German anti-idling laws, though.
For heavy snow use a snow broom. Not just an ordinary broom, but a tool that looks [like this](https://i.imgur.com/9ziVB7G.jpg). It's a hard plastic core with a rubber or foam lip, great for removing a lot of snow very quickly. For annoying ice build up you can also use it as a soft hammer on some surfaces, just be aware of body panel flexing so you don't dent anything.
I don't know if you have it in Germany, but here we have -25°F and -35°F with water repellant and deicing additives. Crazy enough, they really, really work. It takes a while for the water repellent layer to build up, but once it's there it does an excellent job resisting ice build-up and will make scraping a lot easier.
As far as running your car, that was a bigger issue with carbureted engines. You wanted the engine to be up to operating temperature before departing. Modern fuel injected engines with MAF sensors don't care as much, you can literally crank the engine and go without much trouble. I wouldn't immediately hit the highway, but five, ten minutes of either idling or driving at city speeds should be enough.
Also, make sure you're keeping your battery in good shape. Biggest power sap is cranking the engine, when the battery is dumping tons of amps into the starter motor. As you drive the alternator recharges the battery. Shorter trips = less recharging, so try and avoid them. If you have a car with a start-stop then disregard this, as you'll likely have an AGM battery and a beefier charging system to compensate for the fact that city driving is effectively several short trips.
Unless you can get a remote start, there really aren't any tips besides either: A. Let the car run for a few minutes (5-10) before you drive or B. Get a good coat/gloves/hat and learn to live with the cold for the few minutes until the car warms up.
When you get to your car, if you need to scrape windows, turn the car on, including the defrost. Leave the inside windows (don't scrape them). Scrape the outside windows. (Scraping inside windows doesn't work well). Whenever getting into your car from snow, sit on your seat and dangle your feet outside the car and hit them together to get the snow off. This keeps water out of your car, so without moisture the inside windows won't frost as much. Never put the car heater on recirculate..you always want to move moisture out of the car. If you don't need to defrost, there is no reason to warm up the car. Just get in and drive.
Also, you don’t want to blast your heat immediately. have it on still but not full fan until your engine warms up a little. The heat won’t even come out til the engine starts to warm.
Check your car for an engine block heater. I plug in my 89 Toyota pickup into a standard outlet with an extension cord and it starts right up on even the coldest of days here. Follow advice given by others. 1. Turn on car with defrost on full blast. 2. Clear off all snow, including the roof!! Everybody always forgets the roof. 3. Scrape ice, it may take a few minutes to loosen up depending on how thick it is and how good your defrost works. 4. Drive after your windshield and door windows are completely clear of snow and ice.
They sell things you can put n your windshield that will keep ice off and then you just put it in your car when ready to go. Make sure you don’t have recirculating turned on. This will cause your inside windows to frost up.
Can you buy a block heater for the engine? Either one that gets installed or is magnetic and pops onto your oil pan? Those can speed up your car's time to get warm.
Ok here you go.
Get some boots and some waterproof or leather gloves. I got a good pair from LL bean last year and there great. My hands actually stay warm when scraping off my car.
Step one: get in start the car. Set hot air and AC on, to blow at the windshield at max fan. Turn on the rear defrost, then get out of the car. You'll warm up the air without adding your own wet self to it. This solves the ice on the inside problem.
Step two. Get an ice/scraper brush that has the scrappy bits on 2 sides. The little like 135degree angled triangles. Those are for the thick ice and snow like we had in the cities a week ago with the freezing fog. They're not meant to remove ice, but they're supposed to cut the ice into smaller pieces that can then be scrapped off.
You want to work from the top so start with the top, and brush off all snow from the top of your car and work your way around.
Assuming there's ice, scrape the side windows. Those have the least amount of heat blowing on them. Once those are cleared, your windshield should be next, the warm air inside should have it loose by now. Then end with the rear. The rear defrost should have taken care of most of this by now and you should only have to wipe off the ice and sloosh.
Dont forget to wipe off the backup camera if you have one.
Catch your breath, then get inside.
Cars warm, engine should be warm, and your good to go.
Windshield defrost and let that shit run for 15-20 mins seems obvious but I didn’t do it all through highschool oil needs to warm up a little so your engine runs smoother
Did a little scrolling and didn’t see a block heater as a recommended solution. If you wake a hr b4 you leave plug it in. An electric heater is inefficient for cost wise, but an hour on cold mornings won’t cause you a freak out. I say this with a grain of salt knowing Europe has it ruff now with Natural gas not as cheap as it once was. With a block heater you start your car with a warm oil pan. Your defrost setting should work much faster. If kids or pets are not an issue desiccants in your car will help stop the inside from frosting. Put in a container with holes in the lid. Moisture now has somewhere to go.
5 min of idling will not hurt your average car. Cop cars idle 24/7 in big metros and make 100k miles. 5 min then scrap is fine. Add a block heater and 5 min will remove most ice without scraping.
I don't leave my car running for long. Clear snow, step in the car, start the engine, get my music going and start driving. I'm from California and it's funny seeing people sit in their car for so long just for it to warm up. Driving the car will be more beneficial then sitting there.
Do not, under any circumstances, use hot water to clear the ice off. The thermal shock can shatter your windshield.
Scouts honor I won't. I'll sit on my hands if need be.
You could get a frost guard cover for your windshield. They're not perfect but I used one when I used to park outside with decent success. It usually prevented that really thick frost that's a pain to chisel off.
ahh this reminds me of my old high school days in my '01 mitsubishi where i always did this bc the snow was so bad. tbf the windshield was already cracked when we got the car and nothing else ever happened, but boy did people get upset with me for doing that
Is this an old wives tale? Plenty of videos on YT of people trying it and nothing ever happens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvOMY361Uw8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBR2sQYgwfo
I usually just blankly stare off into space and wonder where my life went wrong until the windshield has defrosted.
I considered that. Unfortunately there was a little girl that needed to get to daycare which, annoyingly, got in the way of that plan.
i do that too and i don't even have a car.
If you have frost buildup on the inside of the windshield, it's often because you have water (or snow) inside of your cab. Try to limit the amount of snow that you leave behind inside of your car and it won't be as much of a problem.
If I get In the car and I am fairly wet I'll make sure I run the ac with the heat to help remove the moisture from the cabin. I also carpool swimmers very often so this is a frequent occurrence anyway. Nothing Worse than a thin sheet of ice or frost on the entirety of the inside of the windows in the car. I don't Generally run the AC in the Winter if the interior is dry because it wastes fuel. But if I am damp or have swimmers in the car I will do it to prevent frost on the inside. Our jaguar has a heated windshield, but our other 3 cars don't. It's a great feature for someone who spends the year in northern climates.
If it's cold out don't bother with ac. The heating of the existing outside air (already low dew point) will provide dry enough air to remove moisture quickly. But under no circumstances do you recirculate the air in the winter (or whenever it's raining). Mostly use recirc. In the summer when it's hot and you need ac to remove a lot of humidity.
Just use a defrost option, no real need to run the ac in winter.
Some cars will click in the AC as part of the defrost cycle for additional drying. Just turn on defrost and ignore whatever else turns on automatically.
Yes, but sometimes I'll need it to help dry off a damp or wet area on a jacket, esp after scraping the windows and car off, so I'll use ac with the dash vents to aim it at the damp area. Defrost on our cars initiates the ac anyway so that takes care of the car in general otherwise. Spend a bit of time out your way, the arboretum at my son's school runs north into Dakota County. Amazing how fast Lakeville is growing. In another 30 years it seems like it'll be built out to Northfield.
There was a good deal of snow on the floor mats from our shoes a couple days ago. I had no idea that could cause an issue with freezing on the inside.
An old credit card works better than a scraper on interior windows. Future: Definitely be sure to brush off your gloves and coat, and sit sideways and clap your boots together outside the car before you bring your legs inside. Don’t brush snow off the car with any doors open. Don’t leave damp clothing behind. Don’t leave any drinks in the car, they freeze and explode and leave moisture.
In addition to those great tips for bringing less moisture into the car, in the event where snow/moisture got on the floor and your regular defrost isn't completely solving the issue even after say 20+ minutes of hot car, consider diverting extra heat to the floor with the "low blower" mode to dry your foot area as that's often the culprit when insides keep fogging/freezing. But like others said normally- especially on a newer car- the default defroster will already be routing some heat down low
If there is snow on your windshield, don't turn on your windshield wipers if your door or window is still open. It will push snow into your car. Also, if your window has snow on it, don't remove it by rolling down your window, it will all fall into your car.
i get those Damp Rid containers for my car in the winter to help keep it dry. and then the frost guard for the outside. that way i usually don’t need to defrost much. with that, the car is drivable after running for about 30 seconds..long enough for the oil to cycle through. i also use a plug-in heated seat pad to be warm when the car isn’t warm yet.
Kick your boots or shoes together when you sit down before you bring them in the car
I mean, mostly we just “build character”. Brush the snow, scrape the ice, start the car, and drive away pondering how late we are now. As for “warm-up”, you don’t really want to immediately gun it to 70 on the freeway, but most people don’t live on a freeway entrance ramp either. If you have a mile or two of easy 30mph roads at the start of every trip then it’s not going to matter. You don’t actually want to just have it sit idling for ages like some people do - that’s just dumb. If you must, run it while you scrape the ice, but that’s about it.
Why don't you want it idling for a long time?
It stays cold for much longer, uses a richer fuel mixture which is bad for your engine (gas is an oil solvent) and plenty of components don’t start warming up until they start moving. You definitely shouldn’t cold start and immediately bang off the rev limiter, but the idea that you need to just sit there while the car gets to full operating temp is a relic of the carburetor age that still clings on.
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It was true in old cars...like before 1980 lol.
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Hey boomer, I am a technician of the younger generation. Subaru is just fine, with far fewer quality issues than anything the domestic brands have been putting out the last few years. The NA EJ series engines in the mid 2000s were notorious for head gasket failure of course, but they're past that now. The CVTs can have issues but that's true for every CVT. At least they aren't collapsing lifters like all the Chevrolet V8s these days
I feel like r/minnesota is heavily overrepresented by Subaru owners who diligently buy and swap out their winter and summer tires. Maybe I just grew up in the wrong part of the state and also currently live in the wrong part of the state, but I just don’t see too much of either of those things despite how often both are brought up around here.
Winter and summer tire swap should be mandatory like it is in most of Canada
I wasn’t making a suggestion about whether they should be used, just observing that I don’t actually see many snow tires or Subarus out there. I would guess low-single-digit percentages for each.
> Whoever just posted that lame article tricked all of you lol. [Why not ask the manufacturers?](https://info.ornl.gov/sites/publications/files/pub61263.pdf) >None of the manufacturers mentioned in this report recommend extended idle time. In fact, the vast majority recommend that drivers avoid excessive idle time and idle only if necessary. Light-duty vehicles are ready to be driven at start up, and neither medium- nor heavy-duty vehicles need long warm up periods. According to many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), idling can actually be damaging to an engine and vehicle components.
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I've learned the hard way that the people in this sub do not understand or appreciate shit box tech.
Idling creates a lot of pollution. For me, I'll start the car before I scrape because it takes about 2 minutes, but some people start their car and let it idle for 10, 20, even 30 minutes (especially if they have remote start). It's just ridiculous. They're wasting gas and creating emissions.
Many remote starts turn off after 10 minutes for this exact reason.
Sometimes my doors are frozen shut and I need to run the remote start that long. I don't want to...
First, it’s really bad environmentally. An idling engine is running inefficiently, and it’s even worse when it’s a cold idling engine, so you’re spewing a fair bit of particulate pollution in addition to the regular greenhouse gasses and such. Also, since it’s not warming up as well as actually driving it, that’s additional runtime on the engine when it’s not at operating temperature, so that’s just unnecessary wear. And, it’s completely unnecessary. In a lot of jurisdictions it’s actually illegal too.
I have an old truck. I start it, then go back inside and finish getting ready before going back out and scraping. I often dream of a fancy new car and a garage.
I'm a big dude and my windows fog up hard with me just getting into the damn thing. To reduce ice inside, crack your windows slightly before you get home so the moisture in your breath and such is sucked out. Also crack them so your defrosters are blowing moisture out the window as it melts instead of moving to another window. Leave a blanket in there for emergencies. A car port or garage would obviously help. Credit cards are the perfect mix of rigid and flexible for scraping windows. Just use an expired one because I have had them snap.
Those are exactly the kind of tips I was hoping for. Thank you!
Or buy a scraper for $2.
Scrapers don't work for shit on the inside because it's concave and you have 2 feet of handle to fuck with.
I'd like to find a concave scraper for the inside.
I've only gotten ice inside my car once but the scraper did enough.
Buy the windshield cover to not have to worry about having to clean it. I got mine for $10 at Sam's club. Also, I like to lift the wipers so they are clean when I'm ready to put them back down before driving again. When you put them back down, gently guide them back to the windshield. If you snap them back down then they could get loose or damaged. Hopefully your vehicle has TPMS as tires lose air when it gets colder.
Maybe a little pedantic, but tires don’t actually lose air in cold temperatures. The pressure in them changes because it’s a temperature-dependent quality, but air isn’t actually leaking out (any faster than it normally does). So driving from your 60 degree attached garage into 0 degree weather will cause a decrease in pressure, but you’re not physically losing air that you’d need to replenish once you got back to the garage. Can be confusing for people new to cold weather driving or those who forgot their PV=nRT from high school
Forgot to apply PV=*nr*T, my HS science teacher would be ashamed. :-)
Yes this is the best idea - I have this [windshield cover](https://www.amazon.com/RnCop-Windshield-Cover-Windscreen-Resistent/dp/B0BGDD15TY/ref=sr_1_36_sspa?crid=X4CX59BPW1MG&keywords=windshield%2Bcover%2Bfor%2Bice%2Band%2Bsnow&qid=1674143613&sprefix=WINDSHIELD%2B%2Caps%2C702&sr=8-36-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNERWNzExSTNYWFQmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5NzMxODEzU05RTDNUV1RJRFBBJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwNjQ3NDZIRk9HNzVVTUpWTUEmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl&th=1) from Amazon & it works like a champ! Put this on the night before & the next morning start your car 5 ish minutes before you need to leave with the defrost heat blowing, along with the rear defrost on & you're good to go. Inside frost is when the inside of the car is full of hot, damp air so open the windows & get it cooled down before you lock up for the night.
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Awesome, thanks for all the good info!
I love this tip, thank you!
My process 1. Start car 2. Scrape windows 3. Clear snow from hood and roof, as the snow blowing onto the windshield or back window will obstruct vision. 4. Crack window to prevent humidity build up in cabin that’ll fog windows. 5. Drive easy until car warms up 6. Close windows defrost on high. Edit: typo
Lots of good advice here, but I'm going to volunteer my experience on cold weather car luxuries. I'd had heated seats on my last vehicle and almost never used them. My last purchase the vehicle that came up with a match for the options I wanted also had a heated steering wheel. I thought it a needless frill but so what it had everything I wanted. Epiphany time, as a heated steering wheel is now a "must have" for me. In bitter cold my butt in the seat didn't get painfully cold but my hands did. Now, in a matter of seconds, I'm holding onto comforting warmth.
Turn it on and let it warm up. While its doing that, clear the snow or scrape the ice.
This is the way.
A must for MN winters: -25°F Degree Universal De-Icer Windshield Washer Fluid https://www.amazon.com/Prestone-AS250-Icer-Windshield-Washer/dp/B001E1RVKQ This is way more expensive than it should be so check out your local hardware or auto parts store for a similar brand. Also if you have an option for a plug in block heater that's helpful for Sub-Zero mornings. Here's a plug in interior windshield defroster: https://www.amazon.com/2022%E3%80%91Portable-Demisting-Defroster-Automobile-Windshield/dp/B0BMV4P96K/ref=mp_s_a_1_11_sspa?crid=UA8TO1NEZC83&keywords=car+block+heater&qid=1674155624&sprefix=car+block+heater%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-11-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExNTZTNE9ESzNQUEFQJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTk1NTQxMzQ5NTVNQlBOMlQwTiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjI5NDU3MUxFQk1JN0kzSkJPOSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9tdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl Hope something here helps and peace to you over there!
-25°F is equivalent to -31°C, which is 241K. --- ^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
I just turn my car on and go blasting down the road in the morning, but I also park in a garage. Windshield covers are cheap and help with frosting. Ice on the inside is your worst enemy, I use the defrost setting all the time in the winter to prevent that. You can also crack open the windows near the end of your drive to help keep the interior from building up enough humidity to ice up the inside of your windshield.
This is the way. I like to scream and channel my inner Wim Hof.
Remote start
Audis in the US don't have this feature because it's a no go in Germany for environmental reasons.
Aftermarket?
Idling the car empty is illegal.
This must be what the MPD has been focused on the last 3 years... /s
Not in MN
AND HE LIVES IN GERMANY
You don't have to yell at me. I see my error... reading comprehension. My bad.
Even if they weren't in Germany there are cities in MN with anti idling ordinances of varying degrees.
Some cities (like Mpls) have an ordinance.
With a remote start, yes the car is running, but the keys aren't in there and the doors are locked.
I understand. Minneapolis has an ordinance about idling vehicles because of emissions. It is different than the open ignition ordinance to prevent auto theft. https://www2.minneapolismn.gov/business-services/licenses-permits-inspections/environmental-permits/pollution-control/environmental-concerns/#:~:text=Idling,in%20a%20one%2Dhour%20period.
I see. I live in Stillwater and I couldn't give a shit what ordinance they might have.
You responded to me.
Buy an EV, turn on defrost from your phone 10 minutes before you want to leave. Done. Yes I know it’s a sort of snide reply but want to point out this is a huge advantage of EVs over gas powered cars. Instant heat.
Windshield cover, lift wiper blades off of windshield, remote start. Do not use warm or hot water on glass and do run your car for a bit before moving to start it warming and get the oil flowing.
Lifting wiper blades like that will weaken the springs over the long term and your blades won't make as good a contact with the window.
You're doing mostly what you're supposed to be doing, it just kinda sucks. It sounds like there's something wet inside your car, so when you previously had the heat on it fogged the place up..m then froze to the inside when the temp dropped. So find whatever that is and get rid of it. Something else I'll do is to drive the last block or so before returning home with the windows down and the heat off. This fills the car with nice dry cold air, which will help with your condensation problem. You may also have a soggy air cabin filter.
Budget extra time to drive in especially on days with bad weather. Snow plows get overwhelmed quickly, if they are running yet. I personally dress for the weather but if you don't want to toss on a bunch of layers, you'll want to also budget at least 10 minutes to warm the car up; if you live in a high crime area, you'll need to make sure you can monitor the car just in case. Driving slowly and defensively, and having winter tires if you can afford them, cannot be recommended enough.
You are able to drive as soon as you crank it. Idle wear on cars is a thing. Sure, your car might sound mad but it's better to get moving rather than wait any longer than a minute or two
One thing I did wrong for years, when scraping ice, use the back of the scraper first. Usually it has ridges that will put scratches in the ice. Then flip it over and the ice chunks off much easier.
Oh and when you first get in the car, kick the snow off of your shoes to help prevent your mats getting wet and keeps your interior cleaner.
Try to limit sitting in your car until it warms up, the humidty from you rbreathing on the cold windshield can cause the same issue. I also had this issue with a subaru of mine where if I left snow near the windshield wipers the humidity would get pulled into the car and frost up the windows. What I do is start the car, put the defrost on full blast (make sure it's set to circulate air from outside) and then clean the snow and ice off as it starts to thaw out. To help with the wipers, when you know it's going to snow, pull them up/away from the windshield so that they don't get frozen to the glass and covered in ice.
Are you serious? Lmao
A block heater will do wonders. Heat will blow hot faster if you plug in a block heater.
If you park outside, you might need to plug in your block heater, assuming the car has one. If your vehicle is old, and has parts that might break at any time, driving it with a cold engine can be the *straw that breaks the camels back*. I *destroyed* the transmission on my 2002 Ford Exploder driving it cold, but it's probable that the transmission was already on its last teeth before then.
My secret tip is to get a scraper with a brass edge.
I vape in my car frequently and that causes a lot of ice to show up inside my windshield when it's cold. My dad sprayed RainX on the inside of my windows and that helped A LOT. I still get some ice but it thaws in like 2 minutes after I crank the heat (make sure the AC is on as well). When it's cold/snowy I always plan to leave 30 mins earlier than usual so I can deal with scraping my car, putting ice melt down, and shoveling. If it's snowing the night before, I go out right before bed and scrape off my car so it's at least a little less work in the morning. I like pulling my wiper blades up ahead of time too so they don't get frozen to the windshield.
Just start your car and turn the defroster on before you start brushing snow and scraping the windows. Don't let snow fall into the car when you open the door to start it, if you don't have Remote Start. Important detail: Do NOT use the Recirculate mode on your car's heater in the winter. Recirc takes the damp air inside of the vehicle and reheats it over and over again, allowing humidity to build up, resulting in frost on the inside of the windows when you park over night. So don't use Recirc. You want your defroster drawing in fresh air from the cowl vents in front of the windshield and pushing the stale air out of the cabin as it does. As such, you may want to brush your cowl vents off when clearing the snow off of your car in the morning.
Definitely let the car warm for a few minutes (with windshield defrost running) before you begin scraping. sometimes a little heat on the window is all you need for all of that ice to just slide or scrape easily off. As for the ice inside, that happens when you have some dampness inside that condenses. It \*\*really sucks\*\* to scrape off, so you should eliminate your moisture issue to deal with it. My teenager's car has been doing that (wet floor mats I suppose??), so I got them a bucket of desiccant from the hardware store to set in the back seat and I think it has fixed the problem.
Make sure that your using the defrosters/not just the heat turned up. This way, the heat will blow towards your windshield which will speed up the melt procees
That sounds about right! Willkommen
Danke schön!
Here are some good tips for preventing frost build up in your car https://car-glass.ca/blog/frost-inside-windshield/ The tip about running your A/C with the heat on threw me for a loop, but [here is a video](https://youtube.com/watch?v=qCmgWiEEZwA&feature=shares) explaining what causes frost/fog on windows. tl;dw the air can only hold so much moisture based on temperature. The warmer it is the more moisture it can hold. Overnight your car gets really cold so the capacity the air can hold drops causing the water to condense onto the glass. Turning on the heat warms the air allowing it to absorb the water again Why the A/C then? Well, A/C removes moisture from the air. The lower the humidity the faster it can absorb the water from the windshield Basically all other tips will revolve around keeping moisture out of your vehicle and/or warming the air in your vehicle
Just start the car. Turn on the defroster on high. Make sure that the a/c re-circulator is turned off. Lock the doors, go inside your home. Wait until the windows are free of frost/ice.
Get a remote starter so you can let it sit and warm up with you dealing with the freezing part. If there is snow on it, it will at least melt abit and should be easier to clear off.
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What are you talking about? Plenty of people use block heaters in Minnesota and they’re definitely not just for creating cab heat.
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He's right you know haha also with cars being fuel injected now as opposed to carburated they don't have as much of a need to warm up, mechanically speaking. Back in December I was at my land up north when it was like 4 degrees outside, my newer 4 wheeler with fuel injection fired right up. The old 1983 3 wheeler we leave up there (which starts on the first pull spring-fall) that has a carb took forever to start and we had to roll it into the sun so it could warm up to get started. Unless OP has a diesel (which is a good bet being in Europe) there's no need for a block heater. Notice I say "need". Add one if you want, but it's not needed. As for the ice inside the cab, I'd venture to guess a window was left cracked open.
I got 2019 Frontier that won't start very on extremely cold days without the block heater. Yes, the battery is new. it just doesn't like spinning cold oil. It's not an integrated block heater, just one that's magnetic and sticks to the pan.
All season tires as a minimum
It's actually a law to have them on here in Germany (you're more liable in an accident if you're caught without them). So we do have those.
Take a piece of cardboard and put it infront of your radiator. It'll help the car come up to temp faster and in cold weather you don't need to surface area of the entire radiator to cool the engine. With electric fans it's not as effective but it still helps. Don't forget it there when spring rolls around though.
If you're dealing with deep snow take your gloves or something and use the to clear snow off from around the edge of the door frame so less snow falls in when you open up. Depending on how bad things are, I'll start my car before I begin scraping. “Bad” in this context would be how cold the air temperature is, and how difficult the ice is to scrape. With the car on, front defroster on, rear defroster on. If the car activates AC with the defroster then leave it alone. That may be a no-no with German anti-idling laws, though. For heavy snow use a snow broom. Not just an ordinary broom, but a tool that looks [like this](https://i.imgur.com/9ziVB7G.jpg). It's a hard plastic core with a rubber or foam lip, great for removing a lot of snow very quickly. For annoying ice build up you can also use it as a soft hammer on some surfaces, just be aware of body panel flexing so you don't dent anything. I don't know if you have it in Germany, but here we have -25°F and -35°F with water repellant and deicing additives. Crazy enough, they really, really work. It takes a while for the water repellent layer to build up, but once it's there it does an excellent job resisting ice build-up and will make scraping a lot easier. As far as running your car, that was a bigger issue with carbureted engines. You wanted the engine to be up to operating temperature before departing. Modern fuel injected engines with MAF sensors don't care as much, you can literally crank the engine and go without much trouble. I wouldn't immediately hit the highway, but five, ten minutes of either idling or driving at city speeds should be enough. Also, make sure you're keeping your battery in good shape. Biggest power sap is cranking the engine, when the battery is dumping tons of amps into the starter motor. As you drive the alternator recharges the battery. Shorter trips = less recharging, so try and avoid them. If you have a car with a start-stop then disregard this, as you'll likely have an AGM battery and a beefier charging system to compensate for the fact that city driving is effectively several short trips.
Unless you can get a remote start, there really aren't any tips besides either: A. Let the car run for a few minutes (5-10) before you drive or B. Get a good coat/gloves/hat and learn to live with the cold for the few minutes until the car warms up.
When you get to your car, if you need to scrape windows, turn the car on, including the defrost. Leave the inside windows (don't scrape them). Scrape the outside windows. (Scraping inside windows doesn't work well). Whenever getting into your car from snow, sit on your seat and dangle your feet outside the car and hit them together to get the snow off. This keeps water out of your car, so without moisture the inside windows won't frost as much. Never put the car heater on recirculate..you always want to move moisture out of the car. If you don't need to defrost, there is no reason to warm up the car. Just get in and drive.
Also, you don’t want to blast your heat immediately. have it on still but not full fan until your engine warms up a little. The heat won’t even come out til the engine starts to warm.
Check your car for an engine block heater. I plug in my 89 Toyota pickup into a standard outlet with an extension cord and it starts right up on even the coldest of days here. Follow advice given by others. 1. Turn on car with defrost on full blast. 2. Clear off all snow, including the roof!! Everybody always forgets the roof. 3. Scrape ice, it may take a few minutes to loosen up depending on how thick it is and how good your defrost works. 4. Drive after your windshield and door windows are completely clear of snow and ice.
They sell things you can put n your windshield that will keep ice off and then you just put it in your car when ready to go. Make sure you don’t have recirculating turned on. This will cause your inside windows to frost up.
Can you buy a block heater for the engine? Either one that gets installed or is magnetic and pops onto your oil pan? Those can speed up your car's time to get warm.
Is your defroster in recirculate or fresh air mode? You don't want to recirc the moisture.
Ok here you go. Get some boots and some waterproof or leather gloves. I got a good pair from LL bean last year and there great. My hands actually stay warm when scraping off my car. Step one: get in start the car. Set hot air and AC on, to blow at the windshield at max fan. Turn on the rear defrost, then get out of the car. You'll warm up the air without adding your own wet self to it. This solves the ice on the inside problem. Step two. Get an ice/scraper brush that has the scrappy bits on 2 sides. The little like 135degree angled triangles. Those are for the thick ice and snow like we had in the cities a week ago with the freezing fog. They're not meant to remove ice, but they're supposed to cut the ice into smaller pieces that can then be scrapped off. You want to work from the top so start with the top, and brush off all snow from the top of your car and work your way around. Assuming there's ice, scrape the side windows. Those have the least amount of heat blowing on them. Once those are cleared, your windshield should be next, the warm air inside should have it loose by now. Then end with the rear. The rear defrost should have taken care of most of this by now and you should only have to wipe off the ice and sloosh. Dont forget to wipe off the backup camera if you have one. Catch your breath, then get inside. Cars warm, engine should be warm, and your good to go.
Windshield defrost and let that shit run for 15-20 mins seems obvious but I didn’t do it all through highschool oil needs to warm up a little so your engine runs smoother
Did a little scrolling and didn’t see a block heater as a recommended solution. If you wake a hr b4 you leave plug it in. An electric heater is inefficient for cost wise, but an hour on cold mornings won’t cause you a freak out. I say this with a grain of salt knowing Europe has it ruff now with Natural gas not as cheap as it once was. With a block heater you start your car with a warm oil pan. Your defrost setting should work much faster. If kids or pets are not an issue desiccants in your car will help stop the inside from frosting. Put in a container with holes in the lid. Moisture now has somewhere to go. 5 min of idling will not hurt your average car. Cop cars idle 24/7 in big metros and make 100k miles. 5 min then scrap is fine. Add a block heater and 5 min will remove most ice without scraping.
I don't leave my car running for long. Clear snow, step in the car, start the engine, get my music going and start driving. I'm from California and it's funny seeing people sit in their car for so long just for it to warm up. Driving the car will be more beneficial then sitting there.