4Runner Wiper Chatter

Try cleaning your windshield with comet or some other type of abrasive cleaner. Sometimes the built up road grease creates this condition. On the '00 rig, we found that overspray from the nearby construction project was causing the wipers to bind.

Only follow this bozo's instructions if you need an excuse to buy a new windshield. Comet or other abrasive cleansers will scratch the hell out of the glass, and that hazing is not repairable without changing the glass or professional help to polish out the scratches. Maybe.

Even Bon-Ami is a bit risky. It is made with a very soft abrasive that is claimed not to scratch glass, true - but if you get just a little bit of residual dirt sand or grit from the environment mixed in through not cleaning the car carefully first, the sand will scratch the hell out of the glass. Even though the Bon-Ami was innocent, your windshield is still ruined.

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I think I'd be nervous, using an abrasive cleanser on my windshield. Soft Scrub or maybe dishwashing detergent with a Scotch-Bright pad would probably be safer...

Tom - Vista, CA

Stay away from abrasives. 0000 steel wool used dry will help AFTER the window has been cleaned with windex.

max-income

-- Every day is a good day- it's just that some are better than others.

What kind of overspray was causing this?

The overspray around here is paint, usually an epoxy type. One effective way to remove it from a windshield is to wet the windshield and then liberally apply a liquid dishwashing detergent straight from the bottle. Use a single edged razor blade held at an angle and push it across the glass in overlapping rows. The detergent acts like shaving cream, and floats away the tiny paint specks as the razor blade lifts them. I have not scratched a windshield yet with this technique. Follow up with a good water wash.

You need to figure out who is spraying the paint (if you don't know already), and contact them directly about this - if it's sticking to the windshield, it's sticking to the car's paint, too. And getting into your lungs... Ask them if they want to repaint your car for free every year.

That is why they are supposed to do all painting in a spray booth - it not only keeps crud out of the paint, but the traps and pads in the exhaust system keeps their paint overspray from getting away.

If they ignore your opening letter, send copies to your vehicle insurance company and their liability insurance company. And the local air quality regulators - that might get their attention...

That is safe enough if you get everything scrupulously clean first, and use a brand new razor blade every time. Otherwise, any grit that gets on the windshield while you work is a potential scratch producer. You have to use due caution when working on glass that needs to be optically clear.

But we're back to you shouldn't have to scrape your windshield on a regular basis, they should be controlling their overspray.

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Here are some messages I posted to a forum several months ago. You may find some of the information useful.

**************************************************************************** ********************************************* Hello, this is my first time posting to any forum. I'm pretty new to the world of car care as well. Until recently, I've always been the type just to wash & gloss when I had the time. I never really made any effort to research products before I used them. I just usually went with whatever I found on sale at Walmart.

Well, I bought my first brand-new car, a 2003 Subaru Forester. So I felt inclined to change. Now I try to buy only the best products for my new baby. In my quest to find the best. I found myself reading about many products to renew and restore. So I decided to make one of my older vehicles, a 1992 Ford Festiva. a test subject.

My first project is to renew the glass. The windshield is in poor condition. It has over 10 years worth of water spot buildup and various nicks. It has an unremoveable haze that contrasts the path of the wiper blades. Even new wipers tend to skip and leave a fog which makes driving in the rain very difficult, especially at night. For me, this is a situation of repair or replace.

Being the frugal type, I decided to take the low cost approach and test various glass care products I had around the house. I tried Windex, GlassPlus, Stoner Glass Cleaner, BarKeeper's Friend (a mild abrasive for glass), and even full strength vinegar. Nothing made a difference. Nothing! So I decided to go-for-broke and try any chemical I thought might make an impact. These failures include, mineral spirits, acetone, gasoline, and even laquer thinner. Again, nothing worked.

I started searching the internet for glass restoration products. I realized Janvil, Diamondite, and Autoglym products were worth more research. My next step was to look in various forums for recommendations on these products. I was reading along when somene posted a very small comment. It read, "I used detailing clay and had good results." That was it. Nothing more just the one line. Since I had a small bar of detailing clay that had come with sealant kit I had recently purchased for my new car, I decided to give it a try.

Detailing clay is used to pull contaminates from automotive paint prior to compounding, polishing, or glazing. It usually comes with a special lubricant which makes the clay slide across the paint with less drag. I applied the lubricant and repeatedly pulled the clay in one direction across the glass. The clay just seemed to float on the lubricant. I couldn't feel it actually make contact with the glass. So I wiped the lubricant off the glass and started over leaving the clay slightly moist. This time I noticed a definite drag. As the clay slid across the glass it made a faint sound similiar to static electricity in a freshly laundered load of sheets. I thought nothing of it and kept dragging. To my suprise, the noise got fainter and fainter until the clay made no noise at all. I also noticed the it barely had any drag and was slick from sliding on the glass. So I stopped and felt the glass. It was as smooth as...well, ...glass! I clayed the entire windshield and finished up by removing the residue with Stoner Glass Cleaner.

To my delight, except for the nicks, the glass is completely clear. The water spots are gone. The haze is gone. And my newly installed wiper blades dont skip or leave any fog. The glass has a gloss I haven't seen in years. It was like having a new windshield!!! TOTAL SUCCESS!

The whole claying process probably took 20 minutes. Its well worth the time. I hope this message helps anyone looking for an easy quick fix to restore their vehicle's glass.

**************************************************************************** ********************************* I think RainX is a terrible product! I DO NOT like the way it causes wiper chatter and skipping. It may work fine at high driving speeds, but at low speeds the generated headwind isnt sufficient to carry the water droplets off the glass. The water beads TOO WELL on the glass leaving distinct wet and dry areas. The droplet build-up necessitates wiper use which causes blade chatter on the dry areas. Unfortunately, glass treated with RainX will never again behave like untreated glass. Nothing removes this stuff. I've spoken with the manufacturer at length about this effect. They offer little help and seem genuinely unconcerned. Frankly I'm suprised the product has had the success it has.

From what I've been told RainX is a proprietary silicone formula suspended in a carrier alcohol. Appied, the alcohol flows the silicone into the microscopic pores in the glass and then evaporates, leaving the silicone behind to fill the pores.

For what its worth, here's a list of chemicals I've used with no success: mineral spirits, acetone, laquer thinner, unleaded gasoline, isopropyl alcohol, a pressure washer, Tide, Dawn, and per RainX tech support - Bar Keeper's Friend. I havent been able to find anything to remove it. (In retrospect I shoud have tried denatured alcohol, but I didnt think of it at the time.)

I suppose many people must find RainX a useful product; otherwise it would have dissappeared long ago. Personally I do not.

Future users should use caution because its a one way trip. Personally I dont think its worth the risk.

Hope this helps!

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