Windscreen wipers misting.

[OllieJolly]

Hey folks!

I've searched a bit about this on the internettles, but unfortunately the solutions I have seen have so far not worked for me.

Basically whenever I use my wipers, the windscreen briefly fogs up when wiped, it disappears again almost straight away but during rain or night driving, it's awful because you really can't see much.

It's like when you have Rain-X on your windscreen when it wasn't applied properly, or whatever, but I haven't any Rain-X on there, and I cannot for the life of me get rid of it.

I've tried new wipers, methylated spirit, glass cleaner, vinegar, coca cola, autoglym's car glass polish, soaked wiper rubbers in warm water and soap, pretty much everything I can think of. The most effective has been the glass polish, but it's still misting, and also squeaking. Also I've had this car since October and it's never been like this before, up until a couple of weeks ago.

I thought it might be turtle wax from when I washed my car, but I doubt it's that stubborn to still be there after all these things?

I should also mention I have tried different brands of screenwash, and no screenwash at all, and it's still there. Also still there when it's just raining.

Anyway if anyone has any more suggestions I'd be grateful, short of getting a new windscreen, because this is really annoying.

Thanks, lol.

Edited by OllieJolly on Friday 1st August 18:21

[Sharky86]

Hi Ollie,

I was reading your post and was going to suggest vinegar but you've already done that. I read to the end and that you were even considering a windscreen change as a last resort? I'm not being flippant and would genuinely suggest new wiper blades.

Sometimes, it's not easy to see the easiest answer; hope you get it sorted

[The other day my dad and I searched for the rear-windscreen water jet near the rear windscreen wiper turning point, our older 306 has it there; and then after about 5~ish minutes of swapping blades realised that the jet is on the top of the screen for the newer 306!]

[B'stard Child]

Sharky86 said:

Hi Ollie,

I was reading your post and was going to suggest vinegar but you've already done that. I read to the end and that you were even considering a windscreen change as a last resort? I'm not being flippant and would genuinely suggest new wiper blades

^ I'd say that too - they lose their sharp edge and don't clear the water as effectively

I've not found a wiper blade that does much more than a year before starting to lose it's edge

[s p a c e m a n]

Somethings not right if you've changed everything and gone to extreme cleaning lengths, changed anything in your routine since it started happening? Parking near any building air vents like a grill extraction unit blowing oil out or some weird sprinkler system? How about any oil leaks under your bonnet, breather maybe? Can you see anything on the rest of the car, does the rear wiper do it too if you have one?

[OllieJolly]

Thanks for all the help guys, I did actually mention new wipers.
Got some Bosch ones and they still left the same haze.

After all that, I went to Halfords again this evening and got some Autoglym Intensive Tar Remover.

Poured it on, left it a couple of minutes, I could see the wax liquefying.

Wiped straight off.

Wipers now smear free! Woo!

Missed a couple of patches though, so needs another going over but I should be fine now.

Thanks for all the help, nice for my first thread & post!

[Sharky86]

Ah yes, totally missed that you bought new blades! I think I'm just having a few days of missing obvious things!!!!

Glad to hear it's sorted, will bear it in mind if I ever have the same issues

[morgrp]

How much washer fluid are you putting in? It leaves a scummy layer on the screen if too concentrated - I binned the stuff off years ago and just use water these days - never had a problem since

[OllieJolly]

So after a few days my problem has returned. Now with squeaky wipers.

I have now run out of ideas.
To list all the things I've tried:

New wipers (Bosch)
Various different screen wash brands/plain water
Various liquid glass cleaners
Foaming glass cleaner, apparently used by taxi drivers
Soak wiper rubbers in hot soapy water
Hot water on windscreen
Methylated Spirit
Auto Glym Glass Polish
Auto Glym Intensive Tar Remover
Fine Wire Wool
Vinegar soaked towel, left on screen
Applying Rain X (wipers squeaking even more, smearing remains, removed again)

Anything else? lol
It's so frustrating.

I should clarify, none of this happened up until the point where I got Turtle Wax's Wash & Wax on the screen.

Yeah I'm a dummy. But surely there must be something I can do to not have to get a new windscreen?
It's also doing it on the rear window too, but obviously I can deal with that.

I do have some 2000 grit sandpaper but I am hesitant to try that.

[tomjol]

My front passenger side window squeaks on a hot day, but much less so since it had an encounter with a clay cloth. I'd tried various polishes but there was something on there.

With all the polishing, you'd imagine it would be lovely and smooth, but I'm guessing you'll try anything at this point...

[Burrito]

Try fairy liquid on the glass. As it's probably the wax that's causing the issue you need something to break that down.

Not sure that "wax" is wax in a tradional sense though, so may not work.

Just had a quick google and you can get pre-wax cleaners designed for removing old wax. Give that a go. http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/pre-wax-cleaners/aut...

[Who me ?]

quote=morgrp]How much washer fluid are you putting in? It leaves a scummy layer on the screen if too concentrated - I binned the stuff off years ago and just use water these days - never had a problem since
[/quote]


And some cars, notably VAG ones don't like water, as it's not thin enough, and the washer pipes come off., Every so often I use cheap ASDA washing up liquid neat on screen to strip any oil/grease /Derv , then rinse with lots of water. ( Cheap as it tends not to foam ,but gets rid of grease). My answer to problem screens is to use 50/50 screenwash and add a dollop of cheapo washing up liquid.