how do you defrost your car

Rebel t3i

Rebel t3i

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Tony
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With the current cold spell how do you defrost your car /van
I simply just get my house hold fan heater stick it in the van and then go back in and get on with getting myself ready.
I then have take the heater out put it back in the conservator start the van and drive of in my toasty warm transit van.
Sod this ice scraping and wasting fuel running the car wasting precious fuel,
as a side note be careful leaving your car running whilst unattended people have had their cars stolen in the past and the insurance don't pay
 
oops....I appear to have logged onto the wrong forum.
 
I press 2 buttons, one for the rear screen and one for the front. Then sit and wait 2mins with the heaters on as hot as they will go! :D
 
I just throw a jug of luke warm water over it, frost immediately removed.

I do want to take photos of the process, what would be the best camera for it? :)
 
I pour boiling hot water over it and if it shatters HEY-PRESTO no more frozen windscreen SIMPLES :thumbs:
 
ernesto said:
I just throw a jug of luke warm water over it, frost immediately removed.

I do want to take photos of the process, what would be the best camera for it? :)
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+1 luke warm kettle pour over job done. My car has both front and back heated screens but who want to wait 2mins!:)
 
I've parked my van up for winter and got my ranger rover out which is 4.6 litre petrol it has a one button defrost setting but needs to be running and will cost about a tenner to leave it ticking over to defrost lol
done all the luke warm water defrosting in the past the fan heater is just so much more convenient and it is toasty warm inside when I am ready to go
 
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I use some elbow grease and ice scrapers.

but then, I don't usually drive in the morning, 10min walk to work. :D
 
rjbell said:
+1 luke warm kettle pour over job done. My car has both front and back heated screens but who want to wait 2mins!:)
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+2 can't be any simpler or quicker than pouring warm water from a kettle

And in the 15 or so years i've been doing it, i have never cracked a screen yet ;)
 
Warm water and use a window squeegee to remove excess water so it doesn't refreeze. Takes a couple of minutes. It also means windows are cleaned at the same time.

I usually poor some warm water around the lock area so that defrosts when there's been a heavy frost.

Best solution is to have a car port/garage then there's no effort. Hop in and drive away.
 
We are having a cracked windscreen replaced today. A chip that has been there for years turned into a 15" crack on Tuesday and now goes corner to corner. Not sure why it went this time the only defrosting we do is turning the car on (if someone nicks it, they are welcome to it!)
 
Shouldn't this be nearer the bottom of the forum?
Just saying...
 
- Walk to car with Kettle full of luke warm water.

- Pour a horizontal line across top of all windows.

- Enter car and start it up putting both front and rear wipers on intermittent (stops it freezing back on the screen as keeps the water moving) and the rear heated windscreen on (also turns on electric mirrors).

- Go back to house to give back kettle.

- Get in car.

- Drive.
 
Send the wife out,you stay warm.:p:lol::naughty:
 
I put mine in the garage.
 
A good one for BMW drivers (well it works on my 2007 335d anyway) to leave your engine running without getting the car stolen.

Unlock car
Get in
Close door (won’t work if you don’t do this)
Key in the slot to put the ignition on
Foot on the brake (keep it there)
Press start
Engine starts
Press stop
Engine stops
Take key out the slot (foot still on the brake)
Press start again (engine starts without the key in)
Take foot off brake
Switch heater to full
Switch heated seats on
Open door
Get out
Lock doors
Go back in the warm house, come back 5 min later to a warm car with warm seats :).
 
Most peoples garages are full of everything except a car lol
Filled up the Range Rover on monday £125 and my current cold spell short commute average mpg is 10.7
I'll defrost using my fan heater rather than the engine at the min
I'm getting too old now for the cold great to walk from toasty warm house to toasty warm car
What do you do when you leave work warm water and a kettle
fortunately i just use the fan heater as its my building and I park outside the front door
Unfortunately I live in the sticks and get serious frost so it's extra cold for me
 
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Tunbridge said:
A good one for BMW drivers (well it works on my 2007 335d anyway) to leave your engine running without getting the car stolen.

Unlock car
Get in
Close door (won’t work if you don’t do this)
Key in the slot to put the ignition on
Foot on the brake (keep it there)
Press start
Engine starts
Press stop
Engine stops
Take key out the slot (foot still on the brake)
Press start again (engine starts without the key in)
Take foot off brake
Switch heater to full
Switch heated seats on
Open door
Get out
Lock doors
Go back in the warm house, come back 5 min later to a warm car with warm seats :).
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sounds too complicated for us old people fist thing in the morning :lol:

Definitely not wise to leave a car running unattended Know some one who did this and the insurance refused to pay mind you that wasn't a BMW with this lock feature
 
08.00 Look out window with remote in hand, press remote, Engine starts,
08.03 heated front/rear screen switches on.
08.06 screens switch off and heated drivers seat and heated steering wheel switch on
08.10 Approach car, press remote to unlock doors and jump in...............toasty!
 
Rebel t3i said:
sounds too complicated for us old people fist thing in the morning :lol:

Definitely not wise to leave a car running unattended Know some one who did this and the insurance refused to pay mind you that wasn't a BMW with this lock feature
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There was once a case of a guy who had his car (think it was a 911 or similar high performance car) taken of a garage forecourt while he was in paying for his fuel. Car was unlocked but didn’t have the keys in it. The insurance company refused to pay out but he successfully argued in court that the immobiliser the car was fitted with should have provided adequate protection from theft and that he had therefore put sufficient precautions in place to prevent the theft.

Yes it is possible that my car could be stolen in this situation but given that I’d still have the keys the insurance company wouldn’t be able to prove the car was running at the time it was stolen.
 
I was referring more to people that leave the cars running with the keys in unattended
It is also against the law to leave a vehicle running unattended on a public highway I believe
 
Get in car
Turn car on
Get out of car
Lock car with spare remote
Back in the house
Wait 5 mins

I'll sometime do a wee scrape if it's a really thick -20C job.

2 foot of snow then it's shovel time or work from home.
 
Cover the windows the night before :shrug: this also helps no end if you suffer from steamed up windows
 
Tunbridge said:
A good one for BMW drivers (well it works on my 2007 335d anyway) to leave your engine running without getting the car stolen.

Unlock car
Get in
Close door (won’t work if you don’t do this)
Key in the slot to put the ignition on
Foot on the brake (keep it there)
Press start
Engine starts
Press stop
Engine stops
Take key out the slot (foot still on the brake)
Press start again (engine starts without the key in)
Take foot off brake
Switch heater to full
Switch heated seats on
Open door
Get out
Lock doors
Go back in the warm house, come back 5 min later to a warm car with warm seats :).
Click to expand...

Hahaha, BMW over complicating things yet again :lol:

Whats wrong with just locking the car again with your spare key like Dinners suggested
 
Mank said:
I press 2 buttons, one for the rear screen and one for the front. Then sit and wait 2mins with the heaters on as hot as they will go! :D
Click to expand...

+3
 
rpsmith79 said:
Hahaha, BMW over complicating things yet again :lol:

Whats wrong with just locking the car again with your spare key like Dinners suggested
Click to expand...

Because one smashed window later, and you're getting a taxi to work. :lol:

This system will shut the engine down if you attempt to drive the car away - so you'll end up with a smashed window, and possibly some lost property, but try to drive the car without the key in the hole, and it will shut down.:thumbs:
 
Frost cover and scrape off any excess ice. De-icers never seem to work properly and end up freezing just as hard as the ice they were meant to take off.
 
Depends which car I want to use. One lives in the garage so doesn't need de-icing, but it's rubbish in snow. The other lives outside, is good in snow and I use warm water.
 
my back yard where the cars are parked is fully enclosed with a shutter so i just start the engine and switch the heater on
go back inside and finish my brew :)

or if i'm in a bit of a rush a jug of water does the trick
 
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