slightreturn

I have an '05 LS430 Base. It has been fantastic. Lately I have noticed one fairly small thing: although windshield wipers function correctly, they don't "park" low enough behind the cowl. Rather, part of the assembly sticks up above the cowl. Doesn't look right. Anyone ever run into this? I did have some ice in the cowl and maybe it bonked something? There's also a fair amount of rotational play in the arms ... is that normal?

AVSRacing

Does the LS have winter mode? My gs used to have it I never tried with the LS

slightreturn

It does not, unfortunately.

The LS430 is a good car, but it doesn't work well as a winter vehicle. Way too much ice and snow freezes in that humongous cowl, and there's no way to pull out the wiper arms from the glass to prevent them from freezing. I suppose a V8 RWD sedan is just plain not a good choice for snow and so they didn't worry too much about it.

But I do want to figure out why the wiper arms won't go down to the bottom of the glass and hide in the cowl.

LeX2K

Some movement is normal, "fair amount" is subjective of course.

PIAA silicone wiper blades are highly resistant to sticking to the glass in fact since I've been using them it has never happened.

AVSRacing

For me it's not the wipers sticking, it's that the washer nozzle froze. I only had one stream from the driver side last week when I tried to get the ice off my windshield.

LeX2K

Keep a spray bottle of IPA (highest % you can find) in your car a quick spritz will clear it up. Keep the bottle IN YOUR CAR not inside the house, warm liquid and cold glass well you know what happens.

AVSRacing

^ will that be bad for the paint? Rubber? Since doesn't alcohol strip off all the wax?

LeX2K

Detergents in washer fluid are not exactly easy on coatings. Not saying do it all the time but IPA dissolves ice effectively when needed. Works for frozen door handles I keep the bottle in the trunk since that generally opens.

Freddy12

A snow bunny the LS is not...I avoid driving in snow and I look for the dry days of winter to drive at least 35-45 minutes to keep up the battery

YoshiMan

You may need to get a wiper arm puller and actually physically remove the wiper arms, and then remount them in the proper parked position. Happens on these old cars sometimes.

On my old LS400 my wipers arms got pushed upwards so much over time that the drivers side wiper would run partially off the glass at full stroke. A quick pull and re-install set them back to where they needed to be.

As far as the snow and ice in the cowl, you may try one of those windshield covers. They likely make one that will keep the winter crap out of the cowl

BigBoomer

The LS has a "Snow" mode that disables the ABS below 20Mph and also sets the gearbox to pull away in 2nd gear whilst setting the TCS to allow a bit more slippage than normal at lower speeds.
No, she's not a good snow car, but is capable if you are smooth and considered in your driving. I prefer FWD cars in snow, or ideally 4WD with lots of ground clearance and knobbly tyres.

If your wiper fluid is freezing then you need to use fluid suitable for the temperatures you are driving in or else use pure concentrate without adding any water.
The Extreme stuff is good down to -28C (-20F) and won't freeze down to those temperatures. In such really cold temps avoid any of the ones that require you to add water.