Re:2019 Jimny - Real Life Experience + Feedback

Minus 7 when firing up this morning - biggest problem all day was the windscreen washers. Bizarre that in 2019 you can buy a new car that comes with scooshers that freeze up solid so easily and take ages to thaw out. How expensive is it to design in heated nozzles or pipework and a reservoir that quickly thaws as the engine warms up?

Bob1050 wrote: Minus 7 when firing up this morning - biggest problem all day was the windscreen washers. Bizarre that in 2019 you can buy a new car that comes with scooshers that freeze up solid so easily and take ages to thaw out. How expensive is it to design in heated nozzles or pipework and a reservoir that quickly thaws as the engine warms up?

It could be just down to washer concentration, it might be at summer mix?

A little cheap vodka in the mix stops it freezing too.

What a great tip. I will enjoy a quickie whilst filling it up in the future now.

Bob1050 wrote: Minus 7 when firing up this morning - biggest problem all day was the windscreen washers. Bizarre that in 2019 you can buy a new car that comes with scooshers that freeze up solid so easily and take ages to thaw out. How expensive is it to design in heated nozzles or pipework and a reservoir that quickly thaws as the engine warms up?

Winterising seems to be something no-one bothers about.

In The Olden Days, (when everything was better, except air quality and Medical science ) the wipers used to stop with the blades over the heater outlets, so they stayed ice free and flexible. Nowadays, on these "better" "modern" cars, they park off the screen, usually in a channel that fills up with slush, and freezes rock solid, so the wipers either pop the linkage apart, or burn the motor out if you touch the washer button by mistake.

The washer pipes and outlets used to be over the top of the engine, where the heat kept them defrosted too, not little fan jets moulded into that plastic tray full of permafrost.

Meanwhile, even if you do get the washers to squirt, because they are 75% alcohol, the frozen blades don't fit the screen, so they don't wipe, and the alcohol evaporates in the wind, freezing the remaining mixture onto the screen.

Also, at least one of my Olden Days cars had heater outlets at the end of the dash that went inside the doors, where warm air was ducted to the door mirror, no need for electric heaters...

Progress eh?

Bob1050 wrote: Minus 7 when firing up this morning - biggest problem all day was the windscreen washers. Bizarre that in 2019 you can buy a new car that comes with scooshers that freeze up solid so easily and take ages to thaw out. How expensive is it to design in heated nozzles or pipework and a reservoir that quickly thaws as the engine warms up?

Bob, ( or anyone else with the new jimny) may i ask, when you put the jimny into low-range 4wd, does it have that lovely "high pitched wine" that low gearing provides. Ya know the thing...that reassuringly capable whine that gives ya chills down the spine type of thing

Cheers,

Andy.

Lambert wrote: Sorry but....

Oh how the mind plays tricks as you get older....

I had a vivid memory of that sketch, and in my memory, they all had really strong Yorkshire accents

facade wrote:

Bob1050 wrote: In The Olden Days, (when everything was better, except air quality and Medical science ) the wipers used to stop with the blades over the heater outlets, so they stayed ice free and flexible. Nowadays, on these "better" "modern" cars, they park off the screen, usually in a channel that fills up with slush, and freezes rock solid, so the wipers either pop the linkage apart, or burn the motor out if you touch the washer button by mistake.

The washer pipes and outlets used to be over the top of the engine, where the heat kept them defrosted too, not little fan jets moulded into that plastic tray full of permafrost.

Meanwhile, even if you do get the washers to squirt, because they are 75% alcohol, the frozen blades don't fit the screen, so they don't wipe, and the alcohol evaporates in the wind, freezing the remaining mixture onto the screen.

Also, at least one of my Olden Days cars had heater outlets at the end of the dash that went inside the doors, where warm air was ducted to the door mirror, no need for electric heaters...

Progress eh?

Everything? Are you sure of that...?

Vacuum operated wipers were positively cr@p - why would designers want wipers going at great speed while stationary yet stop when going fast or up a hill

My Olden Days are the 60s, 70s & 80s, when cars had heaters and electric wipers. Some of them had those heated rear windows too, but I remember having a stick on polythene anri-misting screen on one, like those Bob Heath visor inserts, it never worked, a bit like my heated screen now, after The Dog sat in the back. (Didn't happen in The Olden Days, the wires were inside the glass)

They used to have quarterlights too, so you could crack them open and prevent the side windows misting up without getting wet, to do that on a jimny, you have to buy one of those plastic air deflector things to go round the window aperture.

I miss quarterlights.

In the old days, before heated washers became a thing, I used to extend the washer line with some extra tubing and wrap it around the radiator hose. Was usually enough to stop the washer jets freezing in cold weather.

Interesting day with the JImny - and it didn't involve frozen scooshers. Today I tried out the 4WD technology off-road at he farm and here are my thoughts. Those OEM tyres have the look of being totally useless in a snow, mud or frozen conditions and we did have back up in the form of two large Massey Ferguson tractors with 4WD if it all went wrong and the Jimny needed rescuing. After crossing the lower fields and climbing the hill using a mix of surfaces - I can report we didn't get stuck at any point. Very surprised that the we didn't have to call on our insurance policy (tractor) to get us back home. Both high and low range 4WD operated superbly well (and yes you do get that transmission whine in Low Range). We also tested the 'Hill Descent' technology on a rather (very) steep ice covered track - that also features a large metal gate and 90 bend at the foot. So with a slight degree of trepidation we descended the slope thinking "I hope this doesn't all go wrong and this ends in tears before bedtime". So in Ist gear, Low Range 4 WD with 'Hill Descent' switched on the Jimny made an outstanding job of completing the descent with zero fuss. The track is an interesting concoction of hard compacted aggregates, frozen mud, a covering of ice, deep tractor ruts and occasional deposits of fresh cattle manure (especially next to the gate). This vehicle is seriously impressive once you leave the Queen's Highway and dry tarmac. I then ascended and descended a number of other ice covered obstacles and I'm thoroughly chuffed with my purchase. Crossing other ground I'm well aware that ground clearance might have been a problem - but again it acquitted itself well and we didn't suffer any of those awful moments when you think that key components are about to get ripped off. With reference to some journalists comments about vague steering on the road - the Jimny is primarily designed as an off-road vehicle and today's experience of steering it in a challenging off-road environment revealed all is well from this driver's point of view.