Major head's up, safety concern on all cars!
Months ago I was driving on the highway around 5 PM so the sun was low. As the curve in the highway turned towards the west, the sun was coming into the windshield at a good angle to highlight dried spots on the windshield. I hit the wiper fluid button to wash the windshield spots but it just smeared them so bad that I literally couldn't see out of the windshield! Fortunately I was able to pull off the road into the emergency lane.
At the time, I chalked it up to having too dirty of a windshield perhaps, cleaned the windshield and never thought about it again. Just recently I was driving somewhere at 45 mph around 5 PM with the sun low as it is this time of year. Same thing happened. Instead of washing the dried spots the wiper fluid just smeared everything. I couldn't see out of the windshield again except the areas where the wipers don't hit. When I got home I thoroughly cleaned the windshield and the wipers, even with rubbing alcohol and let it dry for a few minutes. With the windshield totally clean, I hit it with wiper fluid and got smearing! I think that I have found the culprit which is the wiper fluid. It's too bad that I threw the bottle away after the last fill up of the reservoir but it was orange so I think it was Rain X wiper fluid. I called the company and he said "yeah, there's a few things that could cause that". Well gee, thanks. Just what every driver needs, to not see while driving at 55 mph. He said to get the old stuff out and put in new, so I did that today, sucked the old stuff out with a turkey baster, and put in a different brand, the regular old blue stuff from Walmart. It's a good thing I only poured half the jug in there because when I looked at the blue fluid in the reservoir it had sort of like an oily film on it. That could be leftover oils or waxy stuff from the Rain X fluid perhaps. I'll see how it goes the next time I'm driving. I did a Google search and lots of other people have had this problem with Rain X. I like Rain-X that you apply to your windshield by hand but maybe that stuff is leaving behind the dry spots that smear, but even with the windshield totally clean, the Rain X wiper fluid in the reservoir was causing smearing. |
Interesting…
But why did you use a turkey baster instead of simply lifting the reservoir and tipping it out? |
Lifting the reservoir out
I didn't know it came out easily. With the heater and stuff in there it looks like it'd be hard to take out.
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An old possible remedy instead of a Rain X is to rub a raw potato on the windshield. The potato juice dispels rain water. As to smearing the windshield, I don’t know.
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Many people have not been happy with other than normal windshield washer fluids.
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Forget the rain x.
You need to check if your heated circuit is leaking coolant into your reservoir. |
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Once got sprayed with coolant from a truck. Turned on the wiper and got a major smear. Could not see through it. Knew it was coolant by the aroma that came into my car
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I like the old rainx. Don't know if it's still available as Autozoo didn't have it the last time I was there. It saved my butt a few times. An 18 wheeler threw a wave of rain onto my windshield and it cleared immediately. I make sure the windshield has a fresh coating especially when going on a long trip.
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On my w124 the previous owner had let the washer fluid get pretty low and/or had some additive in it that did not react well to the heat of the coolant coil. It smeared and was virtually impossible to get off. I would start by cleaning and flushing the reservoir.
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Phil Forrest |
yeah they smear especially when driving toward a low sun. When I have to clean under those circumstances I pull over first. ...oh and clean it more often.
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I tried the rain-x junk in my W126 once and had similar results. Smearing and skittering wiper blades. It also turns to sludge from the intense heat of the heated coolant reservoir. Never again!
I use the regular old blue stuff now and it works just fine. Sometimes in the warmer months I'll mix a batch of the "Krystall Klar" concentrate but its not for cold temps and I use it all up/flush it out before cold season. |
Use the green RainX, not the orange. The orange stuff has always smeared for me... I swear that melted milk chocolate would be less messy.
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