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Mini Cooper Snow Issues - READ ONLY

26 messages,  Last post on Jul 02, 2010 at 8:18 PM

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Messages Page 2 of 3

#8 of 26 Re: Mini Cooper Snow Issues [ltq] by bfromhold

Feb 11, 2009 (12:34 pm)

Replying to: ltq (Feb 11, 2009 11:53 am)
I tend to disagree with you otto989. Quote by otto989: "...OK. You may have heard of the freezing rain in KY, was a Fed Disaster Area and my power went out for a week. Black ice, white ice, you name it. Snow or not, it is ice underneath. PacNW wet snow is nothing next to solid ice on roadways..."
 
We HAVE conditions that you mention with icy roads here in the Pacific NW. We've got a Interstate I-90 that crosses to Eastern, WA that's at an elevation of 3022 feet and is frequently covered with "ice" underneath the snow. Where I work as a firefighter just south of Seattle in a populated area, we've had thousands who were without power for a week or more. Also, we've had quite a bit of snow and ice: http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=3801 "In Washington State, Gov. Chris Gregoire, declared a state of emergency Tuesday night. The snowfall reached record, or close to record depths in 30 of the state's 39 counties." This is a link to a major storm we had two years ago leaving leaving over 1.8 million residences and businesses without power: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2006_Pacific_Northwest_storms
 
Yes, we do get icy roads here. Maybe not as frequent as the East Coast, but we do deal with it occasionally. It doesn't matter what kind of vehicle you drive when it comes to ice. In those extreme conditions, chains would work the best. Snow tires will do nothing to stop you on ice. We've got some major hills in the Seattle area and we've had some tragic and near tragic events because of ice. Here a bus hangs precariously over I-5 after losing control on the ice: http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_121908WXB_bus_hangs_over_I-5_TP.7ba7c- ab9.html?ocp=1
 
Okay... I didn't mean to be so long-winded.

#10 of 26 Frozen Wiper Blades by capri33

Dec 03, 2007 (10:11 am)

Anybody had this experience before? It was cold (about 25 degree) and raining last night. There was ice building up on the wiper. I removed the ice on the blades, but the blades were straighten up by the cold, so they couldn't fully touch the glass and wipe the rain off. Anybody had this problem before? What should I do? Shouldn't this only be happening to the cheap metal or rubber? But my wipers are from Mini...

#11 of 26 Re: Frozen Wiper Blades [capri33] by tiff_c

Dec 03, 2007 (10:32 am)

Replying to: capri33 (Dec 03, 2007 10:11 am)
Yeah millions of times just lift up the wiper when it's moving and drop it back onto the windshield a few times. Be quick as you just want it to bang onto the windshield to shake the ice off.
All cars do this unless they have heated wiper blades.

#12 of 26 Re: Frozen Wiper Blades [tiff_c] by british_rover

Dec 03, 2007 (11:07 am)

Replying to: tiff_c (Dec 03, 2007 10:32 am)
Or heated windshields.

#13 of 26 Re: Frozen Wiper Blades [british_rover] by tiff_c

Dec 03, 2007 (11:09 am)

Replying to: british_rover (Dec 03, 2007 11:07 am)
Or heated windshields.
 
Do they really have heated windshields now?

#14 of 26 Re: Frozen Wiper Blades [tiff_c] by capri33

Dec 03, 2007 (11:14 am)

Replying to: tiff_c (Dec 03, 2007 11:09 am)
I see. Thanks a lot.

#15 of 26 Re: Frozen Wiper Blades [tiff_c] by british_rover

Dec 03, 2007 (11:33 am)

Replying to: tiff_c (Dec 03, 2007 11:09 am)
Yeah a few cars do. Land Rover has it on all of their models as do some Jags and Astons. I think Toyota might have it on a couple of vehicles and it is an option on UK market Fords.

#16 of 26 Re: Frozen Wiper Blades [british_rover] by tiff_c

Dec 03, 2007 (11:42 am)

Replying to: british_rover (Dec 03, 2007 11:33 am)
Yeah a few cars do. Land Rover has it on all of their models as do some Jags and Astons. I think Toyota might have it on a couple of vehicles and it is an option on UK market Fords.
 
Cool info, thanks!
I did hear about some sort of windscreen in cars a few years back that had a coating or something on it and you couldn't use a radar detector as a result.
I'm so used to clapping my wipers and blasting the defroster that I'd probably forget I even had a heated windscreen or a heated outside mirror.

#17 of 26 Re: Frozen Wiper Blades [capri33] by technoblue2007

Dec 05, 2007 (11:21 pm)

Replying to: capri33 (Dec 03, 2007 10:11 am)
Measure your both wipers, the front wipes are probably 2 different sizes. At the Wal-xxxx near where I live I got Ansco Winter wiper blades for $5.88 each. The winter blades are enclosed in a thin rubber over the normally open parts of an all season wiper blade so they don't freeze up. They are pretty easy to replace yourself (as long as you aren't out in the freezing cold with numb fingers). Here is a link for that show the different types of wiper arm attachments and has a video showing how to change blades.
http://www.acdelco.com/parts/wiper-blades/installation.jsp
Good Luck!!

Messages Page 2 of 3

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