Marking on windshield

Ever since i picked up the car brand new, there is a distinct line on the windshield where the passenger side wiper stops halfway through a cycle. It's right in front of the driver's view, and very annoying for it sticks out like a sore thumb when wet. Also i've noticed that the wipers seem to drag very roughly across the glass. It's been doing it both with the stock wipers and Bosch Icon wipers. Any thoughts on how to make the glass smoother or to remove the marking?

What I've done is 'cure' the glass with Rain-X so I don't have to put the wipers on a cycle and use the single swipe when necessary. It also helps to have Rain-X wiper fluid. Good choice on the Icons as well.

 

I've been using all three for about a year and a half and so far, no annoying 'line' in my view.

If your car is from the northeast it could be etching in the glass from acid rain.

 

Long story about how I found out about acid rain:

 

When I first moved to the NJ area I needed to sell a stick convertible that I had for fear that it would get broken into. (also because of all of the traffic).

 

I bought a lightly used Ford Probe GT. The car was in mint condition inside and out but had been sitting on a lot in a NJ dealer for a while.

 

The first time that I drove the car in the rain I hit the wipers and instantly noticed that there was a....for a better term "drip pattern" down the windshield. I also noticed that the same pattern was down ALL of the glass on the car and even, if I looked very carefully at the paint it was on that as well.

 

So, what does a car guy do? I started looking into getting it off! I got special glass buffers and cleaners, I went to professional car detailers and back to the dealer. I got the pattern off of the paint pretty damn well but could NOT get it off of the glass because, well you know how auto glass is made.

 

I never got it out of the glass and it really made it hard to see out of when it rained very hard.

 

Acid rain is nasty stuff.

The "drip pattern" is a result of salted roads.

 

The cause is that oil is mixed into the salt before it's spread to avoid clumping of the salt in the spreader. That amount of oil ends up somewhere - like on the windshield.

 

A good cleaning with detergent and a sponge will take care of that for a while. And mixing liquid detergent in the washer fluid can also help a bit.

if you don't have rain-x or don't want to buy rain-x then car wax does just about the same thing.

if you don't have rain-x or don't want to buy rain-x then car wax does just about the same thing.

 

Car wax is water repellent - which causes a myriad of small water droplets. That's what you DON'T want.

It's been an issue since i got the car, but our outback doesn't do it at all, neither does our truck.....

 

When i have a fresh coat of rain-x on, it goes away for about a month, then it's right back.

Car wax is water repellent - which causes a myriad of small water droplets. That's what you DON'T want.

 

That's exactly what you want. The water beads up into larger and larger drops until they become big enough that they wind over the windshield blows them off. Then you don't need to use wipers when at highway speeds.

That's exactly what you want. The water beads up into larger and larger drops until they become big enough that they wind over the windshield blows them off. Then you don't need to use wipers when at highway speeds.

 

And that's the problem - A myriad of small beads working as lenses that impairs the vision as soon as you meet someone and use the wipers because you got a kiloton of salt mixed sludge from the last one you met.

 

I have done too much winter driving in the dark on overly salted roads to like it. And anything that makes the water form beads will cause problems.

The word myriad has been grossly overused in this thread...once is enough.

Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad Myriad!!!

 

I think the word is about to die...

The "drip pattern" is a result of salted roads.

 

The cause is that oil is mixed into the salt before it's spread to avoid clumping of the salt in the spreader. That amount of oil ends up somewhere - like on the windshield.

 

A good cleaning with detergent and a sponge will take care of that for a while. And mixing liquid detergent in the washer fluid can also help a bit.

 

I knew we could find a way to blame this on Mobil 1.

And that's the problem - A myriad of small beads working as lenses that impairs the vision as soon as you meet someone and use the wipers because you got a kiloton of salt mixed sludge from the last one you met.

 

I have done too much winter driving in the dark on overly salted roads to like it. And anything that makes the water form beads will cause problems.

 

 

 

you've got it wrong. Small droplets are small lenses. They don't refract the light enough to cause an overall distortion because they are not all focused the same. Some correct lightflow disturbed by others.

 

When water sheets, it forms one gigantic lens/prism and causes a much greater refraction of the light.

 

 

 

Next time you drive through a very light mist or fog in the dark.... notice that you can go a fairly long time before needing to wipe. You might not notice that the glass is even wet until the droplets combine into large enough ones to disturb your vision, at which point you wipe and think to yourself, "wow, that was wetter than I thought"

 

 

 

It sounds like your issue is a combination of a wiper that doesn't work for your conditions, a dirty windshield, and improper use of the button on the end of the wiper stalk.

 

Try adding regular old rubbing alcohol to your wiper fluid, it will help remove the oily residue from the oil slick you play in

I have the same issue. I even filed an insurance claim. I hoped that they would just replace my front and rear windshields. Of course, I went to see the adjuster on a beautiful sunny dry day and could not replicate the problem without rain. I even dumped a cup of water on my windshield, but it didn't work.

I have discovered that in my case it is a mixture of both acid rain damage and hard water stains. I have been able to make things much bette using Bar Keepers Friend and scrubbing the living hell out of the glass.

Soft paint and now soft glass...

Never had a problem with the glass or wipers on my previous car with 65K on it. With this car I have terrible streaks and lines left behind by the wipers. I'm going to give the glass a good cleaning and probably replace my wiper blades before the snow gets here.

have you tried silicone blades. there supposed to last longer and add a layer of silicone to act like rain-x.

Sounds like most people are having problems with etched water spots on their glass. Water spots on your front windshield can really combat the effectiveness of your wipers since the surface of the glass is very rough, thus your wiper blades don't have efficient contact with the surface. Not to mention water spots look terrible and are just plain annoying. Clean glass really makes a huge difference in how clean your car looks too.

 

This stuff is awesome for safely removing water spots from glass. It's best when used with a machine polisher but you can still get good results by hand.

http://www.autogeek.net/dp515.html

Soft scrub cleanser and a sponge, go in a circular motion a few passes, rinse. Next Rain X. Next wash and wax soap with a sponge. Next Rain X Latitude wipers. The end

A tad of liquid dishwashing detergent (the hand wash type) in the washer fluid helps too. Cheap and simple solution.

 

No need for products like Rain-X.

wont that strip your clear coat if it touches your paint.

I disagree, furthermore, dishwashing liquid is known to dry out automotive clearcoats. However, if your paint is not so good, go ahead.

 

A tad of liquid dishwashing detergent (the hand wash type) in the washer fluid helps too. Cheap and simple solution.

 

No need for products like Rain-X.

dish soap will strip the wax off the car, without the wax the clearcoat gets messed up easier. The soap doesn't actually hurt the clearcoat directly.