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Cold Weather Washing - WARNING

nh_mark

nh_mark

SM 2003
Full Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2002
Messages
1,248
Location
Nashua, NH
Ok, so I did something incredibly stupid tonight. I had enough of my dirty Av so I figured I would wash it. It was 22 degrees, warm compared to what it has been lately.

So I went to the high pressure hoses. Hosed it off it already looked clean (y) I pulled up my sleeves and started washing it. Almost immediately the soap and water started freezing on the Av :C: I decided that it would be paint only no cladding I would just spray the cladding down. So I get done and I start rinsing. Now I have to spray off the layer of ice and soap :8: It's taking me forever :8: and you know what? It's #$%^& COLD OUT! My hands are freezing. I start up the truck and get in to warm my hands, I can't feel my finger tips for a few minutes :D: OK hands are better now, another 1.50 to rinse the rest of the ice/soap off. I go home and tell my wife that the next time I think I'm really smart to remind me of tonight! I swore that I would never use an automatic car wash but I'm thinking of giving in!

Oh, I can't wait till tomorrow so I can see what it looks like :D: :D:

-Mark
 
I know what you mean I washed mine today and it was freezing out after getting my Av dryed my hands were frozen I mean there was ice on them :2: well after washing it I had my backpack in the box well my tail gate was frozen shut (frozen to the cargo cover) so I had to craw though the mid-gate to get my pack
 
I have been using the local pressure wash to wash my truck in the winter. Things ice up momentarily, but the truck warms up quickly and the ice disappears. (Assuming you use a pressure wash where the bays are heated.)

I usually don't use soap unless I know that it is time to reapply wax. I am hoping that what wax I applied in the fall will last until spring. If not, then I will begin using soap again. Regardless, I rinse it down completely and then shammy it inside the bay. (Not all places allow this, but in a small city, they do not mind, unless they are very busy.)

Just my two cents. :)
 
Let me just say...that most always I take my Av to one of the more "upscale" car washes here in the area...where they claim they have the softest blah..blah...whatever.....

I also can't stand to see my Av dirty...for the folks that went to Camelback ..know what I'm talking about....the day after I had to hit one of those high pressure deals...mostly to get rid of all the snow and salt from our little road trip....it was well worth it... ;D

Dave
 
I to had the tailgate freeze after powerwashing the salt off.

I found a hand wash place in the Bronx that is only $10 a wash. I get washed once a week and just rinse the salt off with my powerwasher when needed. OK sometimes 3 or 4 times a week.

It's Black and a b!tch to keep looking good. Nobody said it would be easy or cheep owning an AV. ;D
 
I have found an automatic car wash that does a pretty good job. I need to go through it today. We had some snow here and snow plow went by where I park at work and threw a bunch of salt/snow all over my AV. :8: At my home, a snowplow went by and threw snow IN my mailbox! The snow knocked the door open and trew a bunch in on top of the mail. :7:
 
It kills me to see my AV all full of salt. :C: My coat has small areas of white chalklike streaks from rubbing up against the trucks in my garage. :8: I can't wait 'til Spring! ;D

Truckman :B:
 
I'm really really really happy I built that heated pole barn with hot and cold water and floor drains 3 years ago..

Use the pressure washer to rinse the salt and grime off every other day or 2 and wash it completely at least once a week.

I used to freeze like you guys too.

SJP
 
I did the same exact thing about a month ago.
My hands just felt a dam cold, until I got back in my truck and blasted the heat on them...
It was the most intense pain I had felt in a long time.

I hate gathering all my wash stuff and heading over to those places.
I'm just gonna be stuck with a nice misty grey Av for a while :6:
 
My trick is to throw buckets of hot water on my salty vehicle. Not as good as a car wash, but it does remove a majority of the salt.
 
All I can say it there are a lot of advantages to living in the South. Not the least of which is it rarely gets below freezing. When it does, it doesn't stay cold very long. :)
 
Here on Long Island it hasn't been over freezing for about 2 weeks now. Tomorrow looks like the day. A heat wave. Going up to 37. Vehicle washing weather. :D

Just about everybody has a white vehicle around here now from the salt. The Cookie Monster is going to be blue again! Finally! :)
 
Feel ? :cry: ?for you guys.

Here is a pic of my AV after I washed it yesterday.

My rearview mirror temp gauge read 79 degrees. The Venture Minivan read 81 degrees.

Think warm thoughts!

warmweatherwash.jpg
 

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I pulled up to a gas station, pumping my gas, when, much to my suprise ** I saw an AV stuck in a drive-though car wash ** ?:eek: The AV was too big to go though, the tracks would not take him any further. The AV was stuck 1/2 way inside on the guides. The attendant turned the wash off and the AV drove out.

I paid for my gas and went over to talk to the driver. He had parked the AV to look for damage caused by the car wash. Well, there was damage - the AV is black, there is now rub marks all along the top of the AV. ?:( Poor guy, what a b!tch that would be.

I guess that is why I have never taken any of my vehicles though a regular car wash. I ususally do all of the washing by hand. Can't trust those drive-through car washes. Those brushes scratch.

In the winter I will go through a touch-less wash once in a while. ?Though, I am not happy with the results of a touch-less wash because the soap gets stuck under my window vents and behind my back window. But it is too cold to do it by hand these days. (-37ish)





 
True story. When I was young and dumb it was brutually cold in the northeast (think the snap they just had) and I went and ran my 1985 Ford EXP through the car wash to get it cleaned. A couple of days later with temperatures never getting much above 10 degrees I had to gas up.

You guessed it - frozen shut. Poured warm water all down the side - no luck. The water had seeped into the cable release and the cable that frees the gas door itself was frozen. Ended up having to rip the door off with my car on fumes to put gas in it. :rolleyes:

D'oh! Learned my lesson!
 
LOL.... Wednesday, my wife had the Avalanche, and because it has snowed, or been in the low 20's for weeks, our AV looked more white, than orange. My wife thought she would be nice and take our AV through a brushless wash. She pulled up in the garage, and honked the horn for me to come out and see the truck.... nice and clean... then she went to open the door, and it was frozen shut! The temperature outside was 5 degrees, and the leftover water on the drive home froze. It took me about 5 minutes working the heat gun around the door to free her from the truck.

Luckily, our garge stays around 50 degrees in the winter, and the rest of the truck thawed out.... only to have it snow the next day, meaning brine trucks were out in force, and now the truck is the white/gray color it has been for weeks. :7:
 
Be careful with that spray. You can get water into places that shouldn't have water freeze. When it freezes it expands (also freezes things shut like the storage bin locks.)
 
Similarly, if the door feels frozen shut, don't try to forcibly open it or you may tear the rubber door gaskets/seals to shreds as they are frozen to one surface or the other.

Best advice after a wash? Wether or not you dry your Av, make sure you AT LEAST wipe down the door jambs and the seals between the side storage boxes and the seal between the tailgate and bed covers.

Jamie
 
Man! I can't believe all the trouble you folk go to... and I'm sure I would as well, but I don't envey you in that freezing weather. I live on a gravel road and just figured that I'd be hosing the av down every other day ( I ordered the black :rolleyes: ) But when I am sick of having to do that all the time I can just remind myself of some of these stories and I'm sure my troubles will seem minor in comparison.
 
pull in garage, outside temp -2?F

close door, wait 15 minutes till garage heats back up to 65?F, turn on hot water, wash.

dry off. >:D

outside temp still -2?F. :cool:
 
Yea, I hate those auto carc washes! We have a good hand wash place that I usually take my AV to, If it's to lined up I might go through a touchless one but it does not do the same job! The GENERAL needs to come out with a cool white/gray streaked camouflage paint for the AV so the road salt will not show up! :0:
 
Sprayed the salt off mine the other day.

Outside bay not heated. Temp 4 degrees. Made for some interesting ice scapes.

BTW don't try this with soap........
 
I use one of the expensive full service car washes. I got the extended use package (or whatever they call it). It's 11 washes for the price of 10. It comes out to about $160 for the 11 washes. They vaccuum, clean interior windows, dry the exterior - the works. Never had a problem with freezing stuff - I guess it's because they do a good job drying it off.

-=A.J.
 
I can't wait until it does warm up and give my Av a good washing. Ever since I bought it, it has been nasty and cold outside. The roads are always full of salt and pot holes. :D:
 
I'm hurting for some good weather as well.....I don't like the idea of having to wait until the snow melts before I wash the Av.....luckily enough...they didn't seem to dump as much salt on the roads this time....but it's still a mess out there....

I'll give it till over the weekend...and then I'm off to the carwash to get this Av cleaned up....interior and all....

Dave
 
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