Sticky Chattering Wipers

[BlazerLT]

Yes, I had this same problem and it was the RainX.

Also, why anyone would want something that coats a windshield so every wiper pass literally whitewashes the windshield is beyond me. It is like trying to look through a giant smeared piece of glass when going through a rainstorm.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by ekpolk:


Anyone got any brilliant ideas before I pony up for another set of new blades??? Thanks for any assistance.

Of course, I've purged out all the Prestone crap, and will never try that stuff again.

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The Rain-X crap may be the problem instead of the Prestone Crap.

Try going back to basics. Strip the windshield, then claybar it like you would a fine paint job that had some grit in it. Use a thin piece of saran wrap, cigarette wrapper of a baggie to determine when you have all the crap removed from the glass.

When the galss is thoroughly cleaned with a claybar with no crud left stick in the glass, it has natural beading tendency and the wipers run across the glass like it was new glass.

Glare is also remarkably reduced. Claybarring won't remove pits, but it will remove microscopic crud that is embedded in the glass and that's at least 1/2 of the glare from a rough windshield.

 

[BlazerLT]

quote:

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Originally posted by XS650:

quote:

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Originally posted by ekpolk:


Anyone got any brilliant ideas before I pony up for another set of new blades??? Thanks for any assistance.

Of course, I've purged out all the Prestone crap, and will never try that stuff again.

---

The Rain-X crap may be the problem instead of the Prestone Crap.

Try going back to basics. Strip the windshield, then claybar it like you would a fine paint job that had some grit in it. Use a thin piece of saran wrap, cigarette wrapper of a baggie to determine when you have all the crap removed from the glass.

When the galss is thoroughly cleaned with a claybar with no crud left stick in the glass, it has natural beading tendency and the wipers run across the glass like it was new glass.

Glare is also remarkably reduced. Claybarring won't remove pits, but it will remove microscopic crud that is embedded in the glass and that's at least 1/2 of the glare from a rough windshield.

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I think I might just try this.

Good advice!

 

[MarkC]

RainX works very well for me, and it rains a bit here too.
I also have the Trico teflon blades. Never have chattering, and I have no idea what the smearing effect mentioned is, I've never seen it.

 

[BlazerLT]

quote:

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Originally posted by MarkC:
RainX works very well for me, and it rains a bit here too.
I also have the Trico teflon blades. Never have chattering, and I have no idea what the smearing effect mentioned is, I've never seen it.

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Go out at night in a bad rainstorm and use your wipers with oncoming headlights.

You will be blinding with every smear pass from the wipers.

Had the same problem with their windshield washer fluid and the apllied stuff.

Stripped it off and never went back. Almost had me go off the highway it was so bad.

 

[ekpolk]

quote:

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Originally posted by BlazerLT:
Yes, I had this same problem and it was the RainX.

Also, why anyone would want something that coats a windshield so every wiper pass literally whitewashes the windshield is beyond me. It is like trying to look through a giant smeared piece of glass when going through a rainstorm.

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I've never had the "whitewashing" problem. Glass is remarkably clear with RX, but the wiper sticking problem is just unacceptable. The RX may go for that alone. Claybar is a great idea, should work like it does on paint, so that should be the end of unwanted. I may have some time to get out today and pick up some of that 303 stuff, and if so, why not give it a try.

Guys, thanks for all the input.

 

[1sttruck]

"Go out at night in a bad rainstorm and use your wipers with oncoming headlights.

You will be blinding with every smear pass from the wipers."

This is a problem if you don't keep it touched up. I prefer the wipers typically on the lowest setting with RainX as water beads and rolls off when not moving, otherwise the wind clears the rain when moving, and I find that I don't need to reapply the RainX for several weeks. My wife uses the wipers at 'regular speed', often fast, and the RainX doesn't last nearly as long. If you don't want to be bothered with keeping it touched up then you'll end up with smearing, and are better off stripping the windshield and not using it.

I use RainX as wipers can't keep up high levels on road spray on the highway in traffic in steady rain, or in a downpour anywhere, and visibility is noticebaly reduced compared to using fresh RainX.

 

[MarkC]

I go out quite a bit in the rain at night around here, and I never experience any blinding, or smearing or whatever. Quite often I don't even need the wipers on. I must say that I don't always use RainX, sometimes I have used the Castrol product and right now some kind of gel product is on there, but I never have visibility problems in any kind of rain or light condition.

 

[ekpolk]

UPDATE: I decided to combine XS and Brett's advice. I stripped the glass using what I had readily at hand -- Softscrub cleanser. Results are amazing. All this time, I'd been concentrating on putting stuff on to my glass in an effort to improve things, whin it really appears that I needed to take stuff off of the glass.

Once stripped, I observed the water beading cleanly. I'll hold off on the claybar for now, as it seems unnecessary. I also "abraded" the blades themselves with the cleanser. I'm afraid they are gunked by the Prestone though, as they actually feel tacky and will still chatter a tad, on and off, though their passage over the glass surface is hugely improved.

One downside. Overall, the clean glass is a good thing. But it does reveal how badly micro-pitted my winshield is after 14 months in New Orleans. Maybe one of the benefits of the Rain-X is a "waxing" effect that helps partially conceal all the little pits. Still, overall, I'm very pleased with the cleanliness. Now I'll need a good heavy rainstorm to determine whether I can do without the RX.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by ekpolk:

One downside. Overall, the clean glass is a good thing. But it does reveal how badly micro-pitted my winshield is after 14 months in New Orleans.

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Time for the claybar.

It probably won't do you as much good as it did me, but I would still expect some improvement. Part of what I thought was micro pitting in my windshield was micro crud embedded in the glass. I'm sure you have removed some but not all the micro crud.

Slip a baggie, saran wrap or cigarette package cellaphane wrapper over your fingers and run it over your windshield with some soapy water. If it feels as smooth as baby's butt, your don't need the clay bar. If it feels slightly gritty, a claybar should help a bit. You won't feel the micro pits, but the micro crud you can't see with your nekkid eye will feel like bits of grit.