Winter Pack - Heated Washers?

[HA54SYM`]

Done a search but can't find answer.

Orderded winter pack to go with our ED30, which is basically the heated washers and low fluid lamp, as we have Xenons also and heated seats are standard.

Question........

Do the heated washers actually work?

I.e. when you set off and decide you need to clean the windscreen do they work straight away, or are the still like normal ones where you end up pulling on the stalk for an hour beforen they start to dribble through?

Does it depend on what fluid addative you use in the water etc?

We do a lot of early morning starts on the motorway and it can be a pain at this time of year, with the amount of grit on the roads.

Dave

[garfayliu]

hi Dave,

is that the £300 option to add a flashing bulb and heating element?   (at least VATs included )

i think the heated washer jets do work to a certain extent, their function is to prevent the jets from freezing up and the heating elements are come on with the ignition, for older model golfs anyway I can't imagine them improving on this basic function. It won't be instant but the choice of washer fluid i.e. 75-100% screen wash:water would help in the freezing months.

[The Doc]

They work "ish" - they have to be used in conjunction with decent washer fluid otherwise the water will just freeze on the screen instead of the washer nozzles!

[aahgolf]

I was just in Switzerland with my GTI with the winter pack option, and at -7C the washers worked straight away, no delay. And I do use a good mix of washer fluid to water anyway.

[wantmygti]

Maybe that was just the washer fluid doing it's thing? Esp if it didn't freeze on the screen.

[aahgolf]

That's possibly the case, although I've had other (premium brand) cars without heated washers, using the same kind of mix, and they did not work in similar temperatures. The fluid did not even get out of the nozzles. So I'll give VW the benefit of the doubt!

[davidfsmith]

I have them on my GTi and have noticed that when using them at lights or at slow speed in cold weather you can actually see steam coming off the windscreen....

I think they help, as does a good strong mixture of screen wash.