Hi Scotty! I have 3 cars and am forced to drive at least one during the winter months here in Indiana. My 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan has salt crystals all over the tires and under carriage. It's a steady 34 degrees or below here daily, and I know I need to get this stuff off my car. No garage to pull it into either. What's the best way to get it off my car while it's still freezing outside? Thank you!
Haul out the garden hose and wash down the under carriage of the vehicle.
car wash
If they forecast 1 inch of snow, you can count on 1/2 inch of salt on the roads. The calcium chloride they add is the worst.
If it's above freezing, as mentioned above the only thing you can do is rinse the vehicle and undercarriage with a garden hose, or take it to a car wash.
There will also be salt in the engine compartment that you can rinse away on a cold engine once the thaw hits in a month or so.
Where applicable, spray your hinges (doors for instance) with a lubricant to help displace the water and salt.
I also use a product called Lock Ease for the door locks and trunk (if applicable). It helps to displace any water that may freeze up your locks after it's been washed and keep the tumblers lubricated.
Go to a car wash with an underbody flush, and do it every time it goes above freezing, religiously. Salt on your car pulls moisture out of the air and will eventually cause rust at all temperatures, even if it doesn't look wet. Ever notice some restaurants will put dry rice in their salt shakers? It's to keep moisture in the air out of the salt and causing it to clump up. Steel with an intact paint coating won't rust from salt exposure. Any knick or scratch that goes to the metal, or exposed metal under the body will rust once any protective coatings are worn off. I started using Fluid Film on the frame of my truck to help keep salt and rust at bay.
same reason salt is used to dry meats
Pretty much, it drives me nuts when I go to use the glass salt shaker at a restaurant and I have to shake it like crazy to get a little bit past the rice. Haha.
it's low sodium salt 😆
There isn't really much you can do until the weather warms up. The salt on it doesn't activate until it gets wet and warm. If you can find the kind of car wash that pulls your car through it, most of the salt on it will be washed off but the next time you take it on the road, new salt will re-coat the car.
This comes from a Chicago ex-patriat. Believe me, I know about salty roads.
How can you say the salt doesn't activate until it gets warm? Why do you think they put it down when it's cold? So it activates.
Umm when you drive on it, friction creates heat, the heat activates the salt and melts the ice!
Doc is right. Put salt on some ice cubes, put them in your freezer, and watch what happens.
Ice is never a homogeneous chunk of solid water (above absolute zero). It is always in a state of equilibrium of all 3 states. Constantly melting and refreezing. That's why you get freezer burn.
Hey 20th. century driver - what you're saying is completely wrong. Why do you think concrete companies put 2% calcium chloride (salt) in the concrete mix on extremely cold days?
isn't salt sodium chloride? I dunno about concrete, thought we were talking about cars. what I said came from 35 years of driving on salty roads. My opinion, just like yours. Take it with a grain of SALT!
"table salt" is sodium chloride. But "salt" is a chemical classification that includes many ionic compounds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_(chemistry)
Road salt still works if nobody drives on it.
Your opinion is based on fantasy.
Well, I just watched Scottty's vid and he said, pretty much what I said. So there. Nuff said. Have a good day.
link?
Both you and Scotty are wrong. Salt does not need warm temperatures to react. And that is a chemical fact. You have a nice day too.
Who are you talking to?
not you
I know