mold-like spots on windshield
 

When it's dry, the glass is as transparent as new. However, when it rains or when I spray antifreeze, and use the wipers, I see these round mold-like spots on the windshield. It appears right after the wiper sweeps across the windshield, and it disapperas again as if it dries away. When the wiper sweeps across again, it appears again. It's extremely annoying especially when it's raining. It seems this happens to old cars only.

I miss the clear as crystal clean winshield of a new car.

Any solution to getting rid of these 'molds'?

I think I know what you're talking about. I used to get that kind of occurrence long time ago. I'd see these weird 'moldy' spots when it rains during the day, but after I applied some Quik Detailer spray on the windshield and thoroughly cleaned the rubber inserts of the wiper blades, the glass appears wax-like new and clean. You may want to do the same to your car and see what happens. I can't really explain the origin of those 'moldy' spots on your windshield. I'm just guessing, it could be spots where dried out tree sap or road tar used to be, etc...

What's a Quick Detailer? Is that a brand name? Is it for glass only? BTW, I change my wiper every month. ( I bought 40 wiper refills)

Quik Detailer is a touch-up spray (made by Meguiar's) used to "quickly" bring the fresh detailed appearance on your car. I use it on all areas of my car; for $4.99, it's the best detailer spray for the buck :thumbup:

http://www.meguiars.com/store_meguia...roduct_a33.gif


40 wiper refills? That's crazy dude, you shouldn't have to change your wipers often. Check out this thread for recommended wiper change info.

Hope this helps,
Doug

Thanks for the info. I'll try it out.

As far as the Wipers go... They don't last as long in the Michigan winter, especially with the frozen windshiled in the morning. So I change them every month during winter only.

Re: mold-like spots on windshield
 

I hope that was a misprint/mistake on your part when you typed this and your not spraying ANTIFREEZE but instead windshield washer fluid. :eek1:


Antifreeze should only be used in the radiator.:p

If all else fails, you could try claying your windshield. That works wonders.

That wiper replacement interval seems really, really excessive--what brand of wiper blades are you using? My guess is that you're probably not using OEM wiper blades and/or inserts?

ChronoJ1, what you're seeing is very slight etching from mineral deposits in water that has sat on the glass and baked in with sunlight over time. They're not perceptible enough when the glass is dry, but water produces what is called a "definition of image" and the etches are magnified by it.

Eastwood sells a glass polishing kit; http://www.myclassiccar.com/NewProducts/glasspolishing/

That would probably solve that, since it's likely not too bad at this point. Once you can see them when the window is dry, they're usually too deep to remedy. Best of luck.

Thanks for the info guys...

The wiper refills I use are Bosch micro edges.

And about the 'antifreeze' comment .. :D I meant windshield wiper fluid, or whatever it's called.

Do you still have the OEM wiper arm assemblies? If so, I'd recommend that you use the OEM wiper inserts as inexpensive replacements (of course, if you have Bosch wiper arms, you'll need new OEM Lexus wiper arms--about $18 to 30 each--yes expensive, but they will be worth it). I've used Trico, Anco, and Bosch aftermarket wiper blades before and they just dont' work that good. I always thought that all wiper blades were crap (esp. those that would streak, squeak, and clatter in the first week of use), and I didnt' quite get as long of a life with them as I would have liked. Initially, I didn't use OEM wiper parts as I thought I had to replace the whole assembly. It wasn't until I stumbled up one the dealer one day (w/ my old Nissan) a few years back that I could just buy the rubber inserts (about $4 per insert) and use them with the OEM wiper arm assemblies--hence realizing a significant savings for high quality.

In the end, I now only exclusively use the OEM wiper inserts and/or OEM wiper assemblies (only had to buy these whole assemblies once due to very old age)--whether the car had been a Nissan, Honda, Acura, or Lexus. The OEMs last significantly longer than the aforementioned aftermarket brands, and despite their relatively higher cost is well worth it in the long run for durability, performance, and quality. Some things I say go w/ aftermarket, but this is the case where the OEM part is best.