free ride

iTrader: (8)

Just wondering if anyone else has run into this issue on their Evo. I have an '05 Evo 8 that I wash regularly and wax 2-3 times a year. The clear coat around the wiper nozzle has been removed and the paint has been etched due to the absence of the clear coat. I haven't used anything else inside the wiper fluid tank, just the Prestone wiper fluid that says to use at full strength. When it first started it looked like there was water stains in front of the wiper nozzles. I kept using the product since it did work well to clean my windshield and I didn't think it would eat through my clear coat. Then over time I noticed scratches developed where the stains once were. As you can see in the pics the damage is only were the winper fluid stains are. I actually changed the nozzle to Galant nozzles since they shoot a nice mist spray instead of the 2 straight streams that the OEM nozzles shot. Also my painted Vortex Generator had some bad clear coat damage and it may have been from the washer fluid reaching it. I did make the link at the time that I replaced the vortex generator.
I sent a message directly to Prestone from their website about 2 weeks ago and have not received a reply. I'll be getting my hood repainted since the damage looks horrible and I'm afraid it will keep getting worse. It really sucks that you use a product correctly and results in damage that will cost me $500 to repaint my hood and plus the cost of the new Vortex generator I replaced. Worse part is the Company will not message me back and help resolve this issue. For those users of Prestone windshield washer fluid be cautious, I don't want this to happen to anyone else. I'm not a chemist so I didn't do an extensive analysis to figure out if there was some type of impurity in the washer fluid. All I know is every bottle I purchased had an intact seal and the pictures are proof enough, plus the partial bottle of fluid I have at home.

19DB794

iTrader: (33)

I would try a clay bar and some polish. It's hard to tell from the picture but I have to same markings on my lancer. I'll have to give it a try and let you know what happened.

egis

op is your hood original or was repainted before?

flippymcbean

iTrader: (7)

I would try a clay then a compound. Looks like your paint needs some love though.

free ride

iTrader: (8)

That's the original factory paint, I bought it new in '05.

free ride

iTrader: (8)

I've used a clay bar and wax without any noticeable change. Haven't used a compound yet. In person the scratches and staining is pretty bad.

rongdoer

iTrader: (1)

Mine has that. Clay bar doesnt help. Its like the clear is stained.