Snowflakes!!

[Ifti]

Hi all
Took my car out of the garage this morning as normal. After a minute or two I hear a single beep, and a snowflake icon on the highline display. Temp was around 1.5c.
Oil took a little longer to warm up, but I put that down to the very cold morning today.
Otherwise the car warmed up and drove normally, but the snowflake icon stayed on for my entire journey.

Whats the snowflake mean?

Cheers

[markymark]

Its a warning of the outside temp so there maybe a risk of ice!

[prepree]

I think the flake comes on at 4 or below and like you say will stay on, just to warn you of ice etc

[Hedge]

It normally comes on with a bong ar 4 degrees C.

[john_o]

Ill take the bong thanks 

[VC]

snowflake means its nearly xmas 

nothing to do with temp 

[em2evol]

Was  minus 1.5'c when I left this morning! Was wondering what you all use to get the thick frost off your cars as I have always used warm water from the kettle but perhaps I should get a large jug or something instead as the masses of limescale tend to pour out as well     Is the ice melter stuff that you spray on at night any good? Hate it when I por on all the water then seconds later it's frozen over as ice which is even worse!  Also, as windows tend to get more steamed up in these colder months, what's the best way to clean the rear screen? I always worry that I might break one of the little heater line things so I barely touch them...

[JPC]

Was  minus 1.5'c when I left this morning! Was wondering what you all use to get the thick frost off your cars as I have always used warm water from the kettle but perhaps I should get a large jug or something instead as the masses of limescale tend to pour out as well     Is the ice melter stuff that you spray on at night any good? Hate it when I por on all the water then seconds later it's frozen over as ice which is even worse!  Also, as windows tend to get more steamed up in these colder months, what's the best way to clean the rear screen? I always worry that I might break one of the little heater line things so I barely touch them...

The heater elements are inside the glass.

I just use water that is about body temp from the hot tap indoors. then poor it over.

never re-freezes and never had any cracks, i dont throw it all on at  once.

[VC]

NEVER USE BOILING WATER ON ICE COLD GLASS

it will crack it in time, yes really.

we dont really suffer from ice here as were next to the sea (salt in the air) however i know people who lay a pillowcase on the screen held down by the wipers, come the morning they just peel it off

[Ifti]

Cheers, at least I know its just a warning and nothing serious.

Last winter my garage door was broken, and the garage was full of clutter anyways. I had my old car, and I used to just scrape the ice off with a scraper. I tried the sprays that de-ice the windows, but heard they can damage your paintwork if you get any overspray on the paint? Hence I stopped using them and binned em!
The one time I used warm water, it froze over 10 times as thick straight away, so I never tried it again! Obviously wasnt warm enough! lol

Just before I bought my GTI, I finally had a new electric garage door installed (the old garage door was broken and wouldnt open very far!). Hence my car is always garaged overnight now, so I never have to defrost it in the mornings. Enter my garage through the house, get in the car, then click the button to open the garage door, and off I go - while watching everyone else out in the cold scraping ice!

[em2evol]

The heater elements are inside the glass.

I did not know this... perhaps it's because on my old car they were on the outside... *note to self: investigate more throughly!*

NEVER USE BOILING WATER ON ICE COLD GLASS

it will crack it in time, yes really.

Obviously! That's a recipe for disaster for sure eh! 

I hate the really cold weather when it comes to driving - my journey to work takes about 15 mins and the engine barely has time to reach 90'c before I get here some days     "Steady!"   

[Greeners]

I only ever use a scraper as it serves two purposes. Gets the ice off without using nasty chemicals and warms you up a bit! 

[Golfgirl]

I only ever use a scraper as it serves two purposes. Gets the ice off without using nasty chemicals and warms you up a bit!  

And if you leave the engine running whilst you do it the car is warmish by the time you've finished, especially if it's a thick coating of ice

My snowflake has been on for several days now. 

[em2evol]

And if you leave the engine running whilst you do it the car is warmish by the time you've finished, especially if it's a thick coating of ice

Isn't that bad for the car?  

[VC]

And if you leave the engine running whilst you do it the car is warmish by the time you've finished, especially if it's a thick coating of ice

Isn't that bad for the car?   

how dude? its merely starting your engine