3 Big Mistakes Illinois Drivers Make During the Winter

Anytime a winter storm is blowing into Illinois you will see cars parked outside with the windshield wipers pulled up into the air, but could doing this actually cause more harm than good for your car?

One of the Worst Things Drivers Do to Their Cars in the Winter

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how experts say letting your car warm up before driving in the winter is bad for the engine, and today I learned that's not the only thing drivers should stop doing to their cars this winter.

How many of you do this to your windshield wipers every time a winter storm is coming?

I totally understand why so many drivers pull their wipers in snowy and icy weather. It saves time when you have to remove the snow or scrape the ice from your windshield, and you don't have to worry about un-freezing your wipers from the glass, BUT many car experts say this is a BAD thing to do to your car.

According to thedrive.com;

The windshield arms are designed to push the wipers against the windshield because of wind coming from the front of the vehicle. When the arms are stored up, they’re now subject to wind and forces they were not designed for. Now, they’re at risk of damaging the gearing, which is often made of shockingly brittle plastic, that holds the wiper blades and arms securely to the windshield.

Besides damaging the gearing, if your wipers are pulled up and it gets really windy, they could completely break off, and that would be a very bad thing.

Boiling Hot Water and Frozen Windshields Do Not Mix

If you are notorious for not having enough time to properly clean and scrape your car before you have to leave in the winter (I am totally one of those people), here's one thing you must NEVER do when it comes to icy windshields.

Pouring boiling hot water on a frozen windshield may seem like an ingenious thing to do, but as you can see above, it most definitely is a bad idea.

Don't Use Your Wipers to Brush Away Snow

This is another no-no that I am usually guilty of; not having time to brush all the snow from my windshield and just letting my wipers do the job. According to thedrive.com, "windshield wiper arms are accustomed to working against near-zero levels of weight" so asking them to clear away heavy amounts of snow "strips the gearing in the wiper motors". So essentially, our (my) laziness will end up costing a bunch of money to replace broken wipers, and that's just stupid. Don't do it.