Does anyone have this? The base of the wiper blades looks like it's been at the bottom of the sea for a while. It's all pitted. I don't remember when I first noticed it, maybe during the winter when I was NYC. Is this normal? Could road salt do this? Should I take to the SC? Doesn't seem right to me and I have not seen this on other cars.
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Pitted,worn, wiper assembly..
- Thread starter angelman
- Start date
sandiegogreg
Member
Never seen anything like it. Looks like some type of corrosive etched it. Not sure even an intense amount of road salt could do that. Any chance a chemical was used to clean or remove something on your hood or glass?
I have only washed the car a couple of times and used ONR. I took it to a hand car wash place once too. Any sort of chemical that would do that would have undoubtedly damaged other areas. It wasn't something I checked when I first took delivery of the car. I am also sure that any sort of chemical like that would have eaten away the rubber wipers. Not really sure what if anything I could or should do. Doesn't really seem urgent or critical enough to book a SC appointment.. Maybe i can ask a mobile tech to come and take a look
There are two different materials at play here - the painted metal of the wiper arm, and the plastic of the blade carrier.
The metal part doesn’t appear to have any pitting (?) but shows a ‘spatter’ that matches what we see on the blade carrier. It looks like that will clean off (glass cleaner?) but if it has to be polished, you wouldn’t want to leave the black paint too shiny, so the use of rubbing compounds etc. would have to be judicious. Perhaps even fine grey Scotchbrite might be useful to restore a matt appearance.
The plastic parts of the blade carrier have been eroded away, particularly the end cap, which is very curious. This can happen after years in the sun. I wonder if something added to the washer fluid has caused this plastic to ‘dry out’ prematurely? Has methylated spirits been added to prevent the fluid freezing, for example?
-Alex
The metal part doesn’t appear to have any pitting (?) but shows a ‘spatter’ that matches what we see on the blade carrier. It looks like that will clean off (glass cleaner?) but if it has to be polished, you wouldn’t want to leave the black paint too shiny, so the use of rubbing compounds etc. would have to be judicious. Perhaps even fine grey Scotchbrite might be useful to restore a matt appearance.
The plastic parts of the blade carrier have been eroded away, particularly the end cap, which is very curious. This can happen after years in the sun. I wonder if something added to the washer fluid has caused this plastic to ‘dry out’ prematurely? Has methylated spirits been added to prevent the fluid freezing, for example?
-Alex
Bill Foster
I'm going home!
Nothing that I added to the washer fluid for sure. I live in Cali so no issue with cold. I did spend 6 months with the car in NY which was cold,snowy and salty. I first noticed it when I was in NY but never really looked before as I had never used the wipers before then!
Looks like the victim of an acid attack.
Do your wipers gamble? Owe anybody money? Sleep with the wrong dude's wife? It would explain everything.
Do your wipers gamble? Owe anybody money? Sleep with the wrong dude's wife? It would explain everything.
