windshield freezing over?

[Desertsp]

A few weeks ago I took a 2014 Sport for a test drive at Carmax. The weather was really crappy with rain and sleet coming down, and at one point the a large patch of ice developed on the exterior windshield right in my vision. I actually had to quickly exit the highway and drive back to the lot with my head down low to see! I've never had this happen before in any car....usually I can just blast the ice with the wipers and spray until it's gone, but that approach didn't work on the Mazda.

I didn't think much of it afterwards, figuring the wipers were probably just worn and/or the fluid reservoir had a "summer mix"......but I've now come across some other similar complaints on various forums and websites.

So, is this a known issue? If so, is there a fix?

 

[ColoradoDriver]

A few weeks ago I took a 2014 Sport for a test drive at Carmax. The weather was really crappy with rain and sleet coming down, and at one point the a large patch of ice developed on the exterior windshield right in my vision. I actually had to quickly exit the highway and drive back to the lot with my head down low to see! I've never had this happen before in any car....usually I can just blast the ice with the wipers and spray until it's gone, but that approach didn't work on the Mazda.

I didn't think much of it afterwards, figuring the wipers were probably just worn and/or the fluid reservoir had a "summer mix"......but I've now come across some other similar complaints on various forums and websites.

So, is this a known issue? If so, is there a fix?

While some are going to disagree with me here, the only time I have ever had this issue with my 2014 was when I first bought it and had the OEM wiper blades still on it. They just sucked for that kind of weather. They allowed ice and such to accumulate on them and not wipe the windshield well which in turn allowed it to accumulate and freeze there too.

Replaced OEM wipers with quality beam style wipers (Bosch Icons for instance) and have never had that kind of problem since.

One thing to watch out for with the Gen 2's though is that they are not the regular hook style connector for wiper blades, so your options are more limited.

 

[Desertsp]

Thanks - I'll bet that's what the problem was.

As long as it's possible to find blades that work well in icy weather I'm good!