Recently i started seeing some very annoying smear on my driver side window. I rolled the window down to clean both the glass and the seal but in vain, How do you guys clean windows so that they don't smear when rolling down & back up?

 

After you clean the glass and leave the glass up is the smear gone? OR does it appear every time you roll the window down?
I suggest starting with an alcohol wipe down of the glass followed up with a quality glass cleaner wiped off with a clean micro fiber towel and see what happens. There are more "aggressive methods" for cleaning/restoring glass but start with the alcohol wipe first.
BTW! I assume that there is NO TINT film on the glass when I suggested the above method.

 

It is probably smearing because something below the seal is causing it. Some kind of contaminant must below the seal. Unless you wait until whatever it is just wears itself out, you'll have to take off the door panel to clean whatever is in there.

 

yes it appears every time i roll the glass up even after cleaming when it's dry. i try mother's glass cleaner and 2 other but in vain. seems to be coming from the seal then.

 

Take a cotton towel (old t shirt) and wrap it around a piece of heavy card stock or plastic then soak it in alcohol...... Then clean the inside of the weather strip by sliding it back and forth a few times, hopefully it will get rid of the culprit (grease, bug, adhesive, etc.) that is smearing the glass.

 

Will try that , thanks for the heads up!

 

I would soak the window in an alcohol/water mixture and run the window up and down a few times to try to clean whatever it is

 

I tried the cardboard method and it did take out a bunch of black stuff from the inside of the door panel but the the problem is still there. Problem is worst when it rains cause the entire window is covered with water smears and when it dries the result on the window is really bad.

 

Don't drop burger sauce in there next time you go through the drive thru. Problem solved.

Seriously though, you may need to remove your door panel to properly access the glass and associated weatherstrip etc. Or take it to a glass shop and have them address it.

 

Thanks Roadfrog, i will try to be more careful next time I am at a burger joint :-) I think the issue is with the weatherstrip, does anyone know what would it cost to get it replaced at a regular body shop?

 

I've just looked at this. The driver window gets bad smears on the inside. I took the door panel off and verified that the only thing the window glass comes in contact with is the weatherstrip on the top of the door panel. I cleaned this strip (it's actually a double strip) thoroughly, put everything back together.... and it started smearing again immediately. I believe now that the rubber compound of the strip is decomposing, same as the sticky dash syndrome. It looks like the weatherstirp is a replaceable part.

LH, inner 68172-48032
RH, inner 68171-48032

Cost for each side from dealer is currently $65.89 as of 7/13/2023.
Discounters offer it for less.