Windshield, Headlight and Sensor Ice

[Tswag]

There are many threads on here that address some of these problems individually, but it doesn't seem like there are any combined threads or people aren't experiencing all of the issues together.

So far I haven't driven in any *severe* winter weather, just a one snow squall, sleet, and some flurries. Also, I have driven in the rain a few times, but not heavy rain.

Whenever my Bronco is wet (rain or after washed), the parking sensors give erroneous readings. This includes the front radar occasionally, but not often. Whenever the front radar is blocked/obstructed it yields the on-dash warning symbol with the pre-collision assist disabled pop-up. This also occasionally results in a Ford Pass alert if the sensor is blocked long enough.

Each time I have driven in any frozen precipitation, the radar ices up quickly, whether it be freezing rain or snow, it will ice up, and alert you it is blocked. You can stop and get out, clean it off, or carry on without the functionality. It is crazy that there isn't a heating element in this, or it doesn't come pre-coated with a hydrophobic coating. I will try a coating and see if this helps, but an automatic defroster like the mirrors have would be great.

Continuing with icing up, as a few threads state, the headlights tend to ice up. Again crazy that Ford has not coated these from the factory or integrated a defroster. There will probably be aftermarket kits/replacements that include defrosters but this should have been fixed in development and testing. The times my lights iced up were once in the thick snow squall, they iced up twice ~30mph speeds, and another time in an ice snow mix ~45mph.

Lastly, I have had my windshield ice up 3 times, and the factory wipers just skate right over. These three times it's been 30 degrees or more out, highway speed, so a lot of windchill, and mild precipitation. I run my temperature inside pretty cool normally in the 60s even in the winter and that doesn't cut it. I'm surprised at how little the wipers and washer fluid does to mitigate the ice, the wipers glide over and a thin ice film develops. I guess most of this is adjusting to a more verticle windshield. Running the defroster at a mid to high speed in the upper 70s clears it up pretty quickly.

I'm concerned that these three issues will get worse in more severe winter conditions, and I am wondering what others have experienced. I've seen that people used a nonstick cooking spray for the headlights and/or the sensor. Has anyone tried other coatings for these? And has anyone had success with aftermarket wipers in the snow? not sure if any aftermarket compounds will scrape/stay soft in the cold better than the OEM.

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[BroncoDr]

I drove (5 hour drive) through the winter storm that hit the Great Lakes area right before Christmas. I had no windshield icing issues running the heat on auto at 72 - so you just might need to run it hotter than in the 60’s.

I would brush off my headlights when I stopped for gas but I feel like I never lost enough light to be noticeable driving. Visibility was like 50 feet in the storm though so it may have just not been noticeable. Parking and ACC sensors froze up an hour in and I just turned them off.

I brought my full recovery kit so I rescued two cars in Indiana near my destination.

 

[Wraithracing]

Just experienced the snow build up on my wife's Nautilus during snow storms to and from Denver on I-70. The newer LED headlights just don't make heat like the the old style halogen bulbs did, so they do tend to ice up more often. Just have to remember to clear them from time to time depending on conditions. Once you do, the visibility is much better than any halogen could have ever been.

I have experienced the front parking sensors icing up on my OBX during different winter conditions, annoying, but nothing to bad to deal with. I haven't had much of an issue with the front windshield icing up while running the defroster, but I do notice that the very bottom of the windshield where the wipers sit doesn't get a lot of heat and does tend to have a build up of ice/snow during heavy storms. I might consider adding some heat tape to the bottom of the windshield if it continues to be a problem, but so far it has been manageable.

 

[ar1]

I echo your sentiment and am bummed that the Bronco doesn't have winter features that are somewhat common on many German and Japanese cars.

Are the parking sensors very delicate? Would it be a poor choice to scrub ice/snow off of the bumper with a bristly plastic windshield brush? I would hope not but figure I ought to ask these questions before learning the hard way.

 

[Dwadeuru10]

I live in Utah and take my Bronco up to the ski resorts weekly. We've gotten more snow in the canyons than I have seen in my lifetime this year.

I've had the same issues with the parking sensors going off when coated with snow or ice. Initially I would go through the screen options to turn off just the front parking sensors, but then realized there is a button on the under the screen (next to the auto stop button) that turns off all parking sensors. I think it is just the parking sensor and not the crash sensor (although I'm sure they are tied together) but the alert has gone away with just turning off the parking sensor and still leaving on the crash sensor capabilities.

I haven't had issues with the headlights or windshield icing over. I use the RainX windshield wiper fluid rated for -30 degrees because I have had issues in Utah/Wyoming with the generic stuff freezing (so I flushed all that out right after I bought it and always fill it before an oil change so they don't top it off). I've actually been pretty happy with the windshield wipers, much better than on my previous 4WD.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

Every vehicle made that has the various bumper sensors ice up. Same goes for LED lights they will ice up. It's not just a Bronco issue or only a Ford issue. The windshield icing, running your temp in the 60's is actually running your A/C and not the heat. The A/c cools up to 71F. At 72F it kicks over to heat. All you are doing is blowing cool air on the glass.

 

[Tswag]

I echo your sentiment and am bummed that the Bronco doesn't have winter features that are somewhat common on many German and Japanese cars.

Are the parking sensors very delicate? Would it be a poor choice to scrub ice/snow off of the bumper with a bristly plastic windshield brush? I would hope not but figure I ought to ask these questions before learning the hard way.

They are fine to be brushed with a windshield brush for sure. Though water droplets set them off so the attempt is mute, it'd go off pretty much right away again. The sensors are like ABS or something pretty durable.

Its probably just best to turn off the parking sensors with the button (Traffic cone button in the center)

It's good to know others are having issues. I'll run my heat hotter. When its set in the 60s I do have the AC off so it is just blowing cold outside air mixed with warm air from the engine, no AC.

I'm thinking of trying DuPont Teflon coating for my headlights and the Radar. might even give it a go on the parking sensors, it's plastic-safe. They also have a snow and ice repellent for shovels and snowblowers that I may also try, a can is 8 bucks for either on amazon. It must be that the perfect-storm conditions must align for the lights to ice up, so it's good to hear that it doesn't happen every time.

I run -30 wiper fluid, though I didn't drain the stock fluid, it's probably all worked out since I put in 2 gallons of the new stuff so far. I also have the rain-x additive in it.

If I find out anything about the coatings I'll update this.

 

[Gassyjack]

Some good info in this thread. I have the same issues during inclement weather.

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

Driven in multiple blizzards now, ranging from barely freezing to -15F. When it's actively snowing I crank the cabin temp and blower settings up. I use RainX liberally on the windshield and manually apply wax to the frameless glass to avoid potential freezing rain problems, zero problems with visibility or wiper functionality (except the cameras getting buried).

At higher temps snow is wet and sticky, sensors get mucked up as it cakes onto the warmish vehicle. Just turn them off. Lane-Keep gets really annoying when it can't figure out where the lane is.

At low temps everything works, nothing sticks, except Lane-Keep. It also probably means the wind is packing snow hard enough to drive OVER the drifts.

Can't say I've noticed much of an issue with headlights, but if you can't see more than 50' in broad daylight then headlights probably aren't doing anything but acting as signal markers anyway. If the snow is wet enough to clog up your lights it's also going to be slick enough to prevent you from steering or stopping properly, so slow down.

 

[Tswag]

Another thing I just noticed in the Owners manual for the wipers... The wiper instructions are wrong, the manual says the Bronco has J hooks, I have the pinch clip style. Did they change it or just make a mistake:

 

[tourproto]

I was in MT when it was 7* and snowing, and recently at home in Portland, OR when it was 22* and freezing rain.

The ice buildup on the windshield can be handled by running the defrost with the temp set to 76* or higher. As for windshield wiper fluid, get the stuff that is rated at -30* or lower and you won't have a problem with anything freezing up.

In the freezing rain, all my sensors and cameras froze up, front and rear. I did without them for the last 40+ years of my driving life and it wasn't a big deal to not have them as long as my windows were clear.

I wasn't driving at night so wasn't concerned about the lights, but I did notice that both my headlights and foglights were caked with ice and it definitely would have affected driving visibility at night, but unless something was critical, I don't ever plan to drive at night in freezing rain...

 

[Gtrekker]

There is a variable air pump under the hood that you can redirect / plumb the hot air to the headlight (backside into front fenders).

Thinking on mine this weekend.

 

[PrincipalD]

We just got a good amount of snow in the Midwest and I was out in it. I noticed the shadows in the headlights for the first time. Not a big deal in this situation.

As for the windshield, I just clay barred mine for the first time ever. I didn’t have any protectant and used window cleaner as the lubber. Every complaint I had about my wipers and windshield are gone. It was just unbelievably filthy. I wonder if that is part of the issue with those that freeze up?

 

[Tswag]

So I got this Dupont spray (Pictured Below) and I do not advise using it on the Headlights, I tested it on some safety glasses (The same Polycarbonate that headlights are made of now) and I am glad I did. It definitely clouds up the clear plastic more than desirable. I may still use it on the radar but I am not decided. See below for the residue on the safety glasses after I tried removing the coating with many cleaning products. Better a $3 pair of glasses than $XXX headlights. I'd suggest the same for others looking to coat their headlights, test on Polycarbonate plastic, safety glasses or something similar first.

Also, see below. I took a picture of my lights starting to ice up when it was flurrying. This little amount of ice reduced the output more than you'd think. ~20ish%. I'm going to try rain-x on the headlights and see what that does.

 

[604Bronco]

We don’t get a ton of snow where I am, but driving through the mountain passes late last year my headlights iced over really bad. You can see from my picture below - light bar, license plate, etc. Couldn’t even wipe them clean, as they were frozen solid with a thick layer of ice.

I love LED headlights but I wish automotive manufacturers would solve this issue. Whether it be similar to a mirror defroster or just directing warm engine air into them - There must be a way.

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