Month: February 2021

I moved to Houston from the North and was shocked to find that the windshield wiper fluid mostly available in Houston freezes at 32°F instead of 0°F like I was used to. Here’s why this is important:

I found this out driving through a winter storm in Oklahoma after having my vehicle serviced in Houston and my tank froze on the interstate in a snow storm. I couldn’t clean my windshield and therefore couldn’t see the road I was driving on. When driving in the snow, slush, and rain, dirty water gets all over your windshield and car and can freeze depending on the outside temperature and your car temperature. Even if it doesn’t freeze, it can put so much dirt on your windshield that it can obstruct visibility.

If you don’t know what type you have in your car, assume you have the kind that will freeze and not work. If you don’t have to drive in the junk Monday, please stay home!

Bonus: 1. Be prepared for your battery to be dead if it’s several years old as cold tends to destroy them. 2. Drive slowly if you must, expect stopping to take a long time. 3. If you hit the brakes, your ABS may violently shake your brake pedal, this is good. It means you would be skidding. Keep your foot firm on the pedal until you stop if that is your goal. If you don’t have ABS, you pump the brakes yourself. Generally brake gently on snow, slush, and ice. 4. Don’t use your hazard lights! Turn your lights on for better visibility and use turn signals. Hazards don’t allow you to provide other drivers with your intentions and make you unpredictable unlike turn signals. Don’t tell me it’s legal to drive with hazards on, I know it is but you have lost your ability to signal that you plan to turn and change lanes.