PS: "When I last noticed, this past summer, it took two and a half years to put 6,000 miles on her car." Just stay up there on your nice hill, and everything will be fine.

We have a couple of the vehicles that get about the same or even fewer miles driving on them. The Korea-mobile has gotten a workout though. I fixed some little stuff and did some routine maintenance, so I might as well get the miles before something else breaks based on time. (I'm not sure what that'd be though.)

Do you change the oil on that one every year anyway? I've been doing oil changes on all vehicles every year, even if they get 1,200 miles driven on them. However, all those get the cheap stuff, not the synthetic.

PS: Good morning, Achmed!

𝑤ℎ𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒-𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔...

Yeah... I didn't know about the viscosity thing with the isopropyl alcohol. (Which seems pretty important if you live in colder country than I do.) So, in that sense, among others, methanol is the superior choice. (We don't put a whole lot of miles on the cars these days so I'll probably keep buying the purple stuff and/or the. I only go through like maybe two jugs a year so it's pretty much whatever...) (Because I took that picture of Mrs. Smith's car at 111,111 miles, I have a good baseline for tracking mileage on her car. When I last noticed, this past summer, it took two and a half years to put 6,000 miles on her car.)

But it is handy to know that the purple stuff is 35% methanol. I never would have imagined it has a flash point of ~90F. (It would have been most surprising to see windshield washer fluid start an alcohol fire.)


𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑓𝑓 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑑, 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒...

Sometimes I come home from work smelling of oil and such. I don't usually notice it so much, but Mrs. Smith sure does when I walk in smelling of oil. (Even though I change out my clothes if I get too dirty.)

In the case of gearbox oil, you are probably smelling the additive package. The EP additives are heavy on the sulfur.

Happy Thursday! ☮️

PS: Thanks, Adam, for getting into the Chemistry and engineering of it! I guess I could have figured out the first thing myself - freezing point lowering... were it about 25 years ago, that is.

Then, they are all interesting points that show what engineers get into, and also why home remedies concocted without getting into these detail may be long term trouble-inducing.

BTW, I just checked the rear-end gear oil in one vehicle, because my mechanic friend (back when he did exhaust work, and yes exhausting too!) was worried it might be losing oil. I was glad that it was almost up to the level of the plug. I put some more in, just to start completely full for a check in a few months. What a mess - the stuff has its own weird smell, not so bad, really, but I still smell it as I type.

PS: Good evening, Achmed,

So...

• 10% alcohol to 90% water: Lowers the freezing point to −3°C (26°F).
• 20% alcohol to 80% water: Lowers the freezing point to −7°C (19°F).
• 40% alcohol to 60% water: Lowers the freezing point to −20°C (−4°F).

But...

While you can theoretically use isopropyl alcohol (IPA) or ethanol to depress freezing points, mass-market manufacturers almost exclusively opt for methanol for three engineering reasons:

1. Linear Molecular Efficiency: Methanol has a lower molecular weight (32.04 g/mol) than Isopropyl Alcohol (60.1 g/mol). Because freezing point depression is a colligative property (dependent on the number of solute particles, not their mass), you need significantly less methanol by weight to lower water to −25°F than you would need using IPA.

2. Viscosity and Pump Hydraulics: As temperatures drop toward −20°F, IPA-water mixtures become highly viscous and "thick," straining the tiny 12V DC impellers in automotive washer pumps. Methanol-water blends maintain low kinematic viscosity even near their freezing thresholds.

3. Evaporation Dynamics: Methanol evaporates off glass faster and cleaner than IPA, preventing "flash-freeze" streaks where the alcohol evaporates but leaves a layer of pure water to ice over the moving wiper blades.

The purple stuff:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Super-Tech-De-icer-Windshield-Washer-Fluid-25F-with-Rain-Repeller-1-gallon/111071828

is ~35% methanol, 65% water with a trace of surfactant and a little silicone polymer for the rain-x style effect. But... Because this stuff is 35% methanol it can combust if it hits a hot exhaust manifold. It can also be hazardous in a shop setting if it is stored near a heater or something.

So that's good to know...

Here's a little more info that might be handy if you choose to make your own winter blend...

https://share.google/aimode/AD9BzWDPZfIYGc7vF

If you are looking to make those gelpack style icepacks they say you can use 2 parts water and 1 part 70% isopropyl alcohol with a little shot of dish soap.

Cheers! ☮️

PS: Adam, I guess one can experiment. I was thinking isopropyl too, as that's what I've stocked up on, again, the prepper in me. If you could get away with a smaller amount than 30%, it might pay. It has to be enough to keep the solution from freezing.

Yeah, pump up the alcohol for the winter. Again, I'd forget...

I don't know. This is a 1st World problem, I guess, and not all my vehicles are up to 1st World status. ;-}

PS: I'm not sure if the Dawn or equivalent would eventually gum up the lines or the pump eventually, PM. I'm sure I would not remember to drain the system come the first night below freezing.

I did use the orange stuff when I was living in a very cold place for a while. It seems like it's a little too sticky from that glycol, so it doesn't freeze, but it doesn't clean the window as well either.

They also used salt on the road there, so if I hadn't driving in a few days, I'd have to get in through the hatchback because the doors were iced shut, kick the driver's door open, then go to the self-serve car wash. I mean, there was salt eating stuff under the hood, like the case of that alternator, I remember.

I guess SOMEONE has to live in these places.

PS Gallon of water--couple squirts of Dawn dish soap---pour it in--works great til the freeze comes ---then just break down and buy some of the orange stuff.

PS Gallon of water--couple squirts of Dawn dish soap---pour it in--works great til the freeze comes ---then just break down and buy some of the orange stuff.

PS: Hey...

I just realized that:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-pack-Super-Tech-Summer-Formula-Windshield-Washer-Fluid-32F-Protection-1-Gallon/17906207209

is summer formula. (The big hint is where it says 𝑆𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎 in the link 𝑎𝑛𝑑 on the bottle.) lol...

☮️

PS: Good evening, Achmed!

𝐼 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑊𝑎𝑙-𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑡'𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 "𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑆𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛" 𝑓𝑜𝑟 $4.17/𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑛...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-pack-Super-Tech-Summer-Formula-Windshield-Washer-Fluid-32F-Protection-1-Gallon/17906207209

(That's $3.12/gallon.)

I've been buying this stuff...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Super-Tech-De-icer-Windshield-Washer-Fluid-25F-with-Rain-Repeller-1-gallon/111071828

Seems nice. It's supposed to have some sort of rainx-like stuff in it? I don't know. Works well enough.

As far as making your own... Water with some alcohol in it works pretty well... As far as I know.

Recipe from the internet:

• 1 gallon distilled water
• 1 cup isopropyl rubbing alcohol (increase to 2+ cups for winter)
• 1 teaspoon dawn liquid dish soap

For whatever that might be worth?

☮️