Windshield Residue Help!

L

LuckyFisher

New member
Joined
Feb 12, 2021
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I have a Toyota Tundra that I purchased pre-owned about 3 years ago from a dealership. The windshield has some type of residue on it that I can't clean off and it makes it very difficult to see at night when it is raining. It looks like Rain-X or something similar was used on all of the glass of the truck. It may also be wax from automatic car washes. I've tried everything I can think of to clean it off, soap & water, Stoner Invisible Glass, Wolfgang Perfekt Vision, McKee 37 glass polish, nothing would clean the window. I even tried acetone which did help some but the remaining residue has now spread back out. I also installed new wipers.

During the daytime the glass looks great, I can also see fine at night as long as it isn't raining. When it rains though, the smudge is visible in the daylight and at night it is very difficult to see through. It also makes the windshield wipers chatter/run roughly when they pass over it even when I put on new wipers.

I don't know specifically what substance caused this but any ideas on how to get the glass clean would be a huge help. Whatever is on there has not worn off in over two years.

Thank-you in advance for taking the time and I love your website and products also.

View attachment 72434
 
Do you have a polisher? I don’t think you’ll be able to correct the windshield by hand as it is simply too hard. Since you’ve already tried a glass polish, my next recommendation would be that polish with some rayon pads. And if that doesn’t work I’d recommend CarPro Ceriglass glass polish, which has cerium oxide, which makes it capable of correcting glass that I don’t believe McKee’s glass polish has based on a quick review.

CarPro Rayon Glass Polishing Pad, glass leveling discs
CarPro Ceriglass Glass Polish, windshield polish, water spot remover
 
dgage said:
Do you have a polisher? I don’t think you’ll be able to correct the windshield by hand as it is simply too hard. Since you’ve already tried a glass polish, my next recommendation would be that polish with some rayon pads. And if that doesn’t work I’d recommend CarPro Ceriglass glass polish, which has cerium oxide, which makes it capable of correcting glass that I don’t believe McKee’s glass polish has based on a quick review.

CarPro Rayon Glass Polishing Pad, glass leveling discs
CarPro Ceriglass Glass Polish, windshield polish, water spot remover
Click to expand...

^^^^:iagree:It should not take too much to remove whatever film you have on your glass. Removing scratches on glass is another story.
 
Rsurfer said:
^^^^:iagree:It should not take too much to remove whatever film you have on your glass. Removing scratches on glass is another story.
Click to expand...

I don’t disagree but acetone and even hand polishing SHOULD have removed a film. So if those didn’t, I think it needs a pretty good polishing with some cerium oxide. Hand polish could work for a film but machine polishing would definitely have a better chance of succeeding.
 
dgage said:
I don’t disagree but acetone and even hand polishing SHOULD have removed a film. So if those didn’t, I think it needs a pretty good polishing with some cerium oxide. Hand polish could work for a film but machine polishing would definitely have a better chance of succeeding.
Click to expand...

True, the only way to find out is to do a test spot, either by hand or machine. Whichever the OP chooses, he needs to use a rayon pad with Ceriglass.
 
That’s my go to! Ceriglass and rayon. Make sure to tape up any adjacent trim before you start polishing.
 
Thanks for all the answers. I do have a porter cable da polisher that I have been using with a polish pad, the ceramic polish is a good next step. I'm really confused about what this is because like you say, the previous things I tried should have worked.

It looks very similar to a Windshield on a car I had years ago that
I ran through many automatic car washes and selected the wax option (young and didn't know better). What is confusing is that I would think by now it would have worn off or one of the methods already used would have worked.

I'll order some ceramic polish and see how that does.

Thank you again for the replies.
 
^
Don’t feel bad. I bought a new car that had mysterious ghosting on almost every window. Without using a machine polisher, it took me way too long to get rid of them. Multiple steps of whatever cleaner I could find, along with a clay bar. Even Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

No way was I going to take the car back to the dealer. I’m too stubborn for that. 🤨
 
Car Pro's Ceriglass is not a ceramic polish, its a glass polish. Ceriglass main ingredient is cerium oxide.
 
Craig Encinitas said:
^
Don’t feel bad. I bought a new car that had mysterious ghosting on almost every window. Without using a machine polisher, it took me way too long to get rid of them. Multiple steps of whatever cleaner I could find, along with a clay bar. Even Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

No way was I going to take the car back to the dealer. I’m too stubborn for that. ��
Click to expand...

Same with my current 2015 Chevy Colorado truck... I spent 6 hours cleaning the windows the day I brought it home, brand new.

There was some type of residue that was not really visible when dry, yet when you wiped the glass with a wet towel you could see splotches of some kind of residue everywhere. This was primarily evident on the interior side of the glass.

I tried everything I could think of... glass cleaner, isopropyl alcohol (91%), mineral spirits, clay bar, some kind of glass polish, cleaner wax, plain water. I can't remember the exact sequence I used those products but I do know that I tried everyone of them.
 
That makes sense, just didn't know how to refer to it. I will try that next. Thank you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top