Water spots smearing on windshield

[Charles.waite]

Hey guys. Hoping someone can help me out with this issue.

I picked up my b7 a year ago and noticed the windshield, while in superb condition, suffered from really bad smearing of the rain/moisture when driving in the rain with the wipers going. It's especially bad when the glass is cold, for instance cranking the defrost will make the issue less pronounced but still a problem. Basically is smears across the glass and actually makes visibility worse, almost like trying to look through a fogged window (the problem isn't fogging however). Similarly, when I spray the windshield it doesn't be same thing. The wipers are new as of this spring as I initially thought the wipers were to blame. I bought bosch icon, or whatever is the OEM replacement wiper. My b6 has the same wipers and has no issues either with the horridly pitted OEM glass, or the replacement Pilkington glass I got installed a bit over a year ago.

So what can I do to solve this? I've tried washing it and scrubbing it thoroughly using automotive glass cleaner, but nothing helps. Will waxing it help? Rain-X? The most I ever do is go to the local automatic car wash and I clean the windshield ever time I refuel. Visibility sucks in the rain and considering where I live, its a bit of a liability.

[mto925]

My first thought was the wipers but you said they are new. Try getting a clay bar kit, wash it the windshield with car soap and then use the clay bar kit to remove all of the possible grime. You might want to consider a product like Flyby30. It will leave a bonded coating (sort of like rain x but last longer and repel water) I've had good response from my clients, been meaning to put it on my own car as well. There are similar products out there, just search 'glass coatings' or something like that.

[Charles.waite]

My first thought was the wipers but you said they are new. Try getting a clay bar kit, wash it the windshield with car soap and then use the clay bar kit to remove all of the possible grime. You might want to consider a product like Flyby30. It will leave a bonded coating (sort of like rain x but last longer and repel water) I've had good response from my clients, been meaning to put it on my own car as well. There are similar products out there, just search 'glass coatings' or something like that.

Thanks for the tip. My b7 desperately needs a detail so maybe I'll stop being lazy and actually clean it for once. I'll definitely pick up a clay bar kit and give it a shot. It really does seem like some sort of residue or a strange film of some sort so maybe the clay bar will clean it up. I'll look into that Flyby30 also and maybe give it a whirl. Thanks [up]

[mto925]

Thanks for the tip. My b7 desperately needs a detail so maybe I'll stop being lazy and actually clean it for once. I'll definitely pick up a clay bar kit and give it a shot. It really does seem like some sort of residue or a strange film of some sort so maybe the clay bar will clean it up. I'll look into that Flyby30 also and maybe give it a whirl. Thanks [up]

No problem, glad I could help. Clay is good for the entire car as well, just make sure you don't drop it on the ground. If you do it will pick up dirt and then you wouldn't want to rub that across your paint!

[Charles.waite]

No problem, glad I could help. Clay is good for the entire car as well, just make sure you don't drop it on the ground. If you do it will pick up dirt and then you wouldn't want to rub that across your paint!


Cool. Did a bit of searching and it appears there are regular paint clay bars and glass-specific clay bars (at least Griots Garage brand). Should I get a glass specific one or does it not matter? besides the clay bar what else will I need. Keep in mind I have zero detailing supplies. I'm not looking to clay bar the whole car, just to get rid of the windshield issue so "good enough" is probably good enough, hah.

[Stifens]

Any claybar will do! :)

Make sure your windshield is as clean as possible before you clay it, and don't forget to use lube on the windshield while you clay! Otherwise the clay will just stick to the windshield.

Use up&down and back&forth motions. Use glass cleaner once more when you're done claying. Then I would recomend drying the windshield and put some RainX on there. If none of this does the trick, something fishy is going on and I would take it to a automotive glass shop and have them take a look.

This might help you alot :)
http://youtu.be/dSveqWE6iUk

[Charles.waite]

Finally got some dry weather so I finally got to try the Meguiars Clay Bar kit I bought. I did it in the dark (under a very bright streetlight) so I wasn't able to fully tell the results, but I'm not confident it solved my issue. It was 45° out and a tad windy so the clay bar wasn't as malleable as is ideal, but based on the water spotting on the windshield before and after, there doesn't appear to be any appreciable difference.

I'll have to see what the wife says on the next rainy day, or maybe I'll just use my rain simulator at home (hose), but since the car is the wifes it might be a day or two before I get some alone time with the car.

If that doesn't work, my next thought its that the problem is being caused by surface erosion/etching of the glass. Would a sealant like RainX or Adam's Glass Sealant or FlyBy30 (as mto925 suggested) be something I should try? I really want to solve this problem, but I also don't want to try out some sealant that makes the problem worse.

[Charles.waite]

Was able to snap a picture this morning. The clay bar definitely didn't make a huge difference, if any at all. This picture is not the greatest but it's the best I could do. If you focus on the center and left side you can somewhat clearly see the spotting pattern I'm talking about.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/05/6eduvyty.jpg

Posted from my iPhone. Any misspellings are Siri's fault.

[Charles.waite]

Well I was just informed by my better half via textual message that I didn't, in fact make it any better, but I did manage to make it worse. Whoops??


Posted from my iPhone. Any misspellings are Siri's fault.

[Charles.waite]

Well I finally gave in and applied some RainX to the windshield. Looks like problem solved. At least I didn't go to drastic measures like replacing the windshield. $5 bottle of rainx is much more my speed. Might need to apply a second coat though as I was rushed letting dry as it was starting to rain right as I was finishing up.


Posted from my iPhone. Any misspellings are Siri's fault.

[Charles.waite]

So an Update to this.

My initial Rainx application actually made the smearing worse. I had applied it right before it rained and as I was letting it dry it started to sprinkle so I had to rush it and wipe it off before it had fully dried. Anyway I applied it again and it seemed a bit better but the problem still remained. So I had all but given up and caved to get a new windshield. just wanting to rule out any potential causes, I swapped the OEM wiper blades from my B6 with the Bosch blades on my b7.

[headbang]

It was the goddamn wiper blades. With the OEM (Valeo) blades my windshield cleared perfectly. I think the Rainx helped for sure and I would definitely recommend it, but this whole time it was those damn Bosch wipers. I'm not sure if they were defective (they were barely a year old, but made the smudging from the beginning when I installed them) or what, but with the new OEM wipers ($60 at the damn Dealer, I wanted to be extra sure to rule out any aftermarket part issues) the problem is now gone.

Anyway thought I would update this in case anyone stumbles across this.