Water repellent coating

E

eschak

New member
So looks like I've destroyed the water repellent coating on my 4R windshield and mirrors. Toyota very intelligently warns on the 1000th page of the manual not to use glass cleaners or water repellers. I drove it back in the rain from the dealership, the night I picked it up about a month ago. The next day I cleaned the glass with Windex wipes since it was muddy. And now I find out it was coated glass.

Why can't they put a warning sticker on the window or somewhere inside where it is clearly visible in a new car? Or have the dealer tell you about it? Don't they know people are going to wash and shine the car the first chance they get, and not wait till they've read every page in the manual?
 
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So the followup questions are

1. Does everyone else on the board have their coated glass intact - meaning am I the only one to do the damage?
2. Does the factory coating really work? I never got the opportunity to see it in action.
 
The factory glass coating eventually wears as the sun bakes other contaminates onto the glass anayhow, and the chemicals at a car wash likely would have done the same thing eventually so don't sweat it... if you want the glass to repel water, just get some aquapel or rainx and reapply it periodically.

With winter approaching and gravel on the roads, I'm expecting to replace my windshield sooner than later.
 
Where in the manual did you read about this?

The only thing I could find in my manual was the the outside mirrors have a "rain clearing" effect. Nothing is mentioned about the windshield having a coating.

Either way, it does not say that a glass cleaner like Windex will hurt the coating on your mirrors. It simply says not to use glass cleaners using compounds, which I take to mean a heavy-duty polishing type of glass cleaner.

I doubt you did any harm with Windex wipes.
 
I agree

I have to agree on the coating issue.I sometimes used windex to take out bugs; and now in light rain,its almost impossible to see without the wiper running fast.I will be adding rainx sometime soon.
On another note - hope everybody in ivan's path is safe..i guess the northeast will be in for heavy rains again over the weekend..
 
there is a thread on this issue i started way back in the early part of this year about the hydrophillic glass. there is more input about this and may answer your question.
 
Hitman,
I got the windshield coating info from the pdf that's in the forum thread '4Runner 101...'.

http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/htruong/2003_4Runner.pdf

Plus if you do a search on google with 'Toyota 4Runner hydrophilic glass', there will be a lot of reviews mentioning this coating on mirrors, windshield and side windows.

NoDak, read your thread - you're right about it being called by the wrong name - hydrophobic would be the correct one. It works on the side windows - at least my friend with an '03 says so, but doesn't work on her windshield either. However, she also RainXed it the very evening she picked it up!

Well, the tornadoes passed through here in MD tonight - will take my 4R out tomm in the rain to see if the coating still works. I washed the Windex off with car soap. Was hoping to Zaino it all this weekend but it's supposed to keep pouring...oh well.
 
The coating is only on the front side windows, the rear window and the side mirrors. There is no coating on the windshield, at least on my '03.

I've used Windex since we got our truck and the coating is still as effective as it originally was. The truck will be two years old next month.
 
When I wash the 4runner I can tell there is definitely a coating on the side and rear windows but not the windshield - posts before made me think I should hold off putting RainX on the windshield - I am pretty sure now that it makes sense to do the windshield - I dont think there was ever anything there.
 
Response from Toyota on a query from another 4R owner.

From: Ask Toyota [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2003 1:06 PM
Subject: Water repellent glass on 2003 4Runner Limited [Incident: 030811-000162]

Recently you contacted Toyota. Below is a summary of your contact message and our response.


Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.


Subject
Water repellent glass on 2003 4Runner Limited

Discussion Thread
Response (Silas) 08/15/2003 10:05 AM
Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
We appreciate your inquiry regarding hydrophilic glass on your 2003 4Runner and apologize for the difficulty you have experienced trying to answer your questions.
The 2003 4Runner does come standard with hydrophilic glass on the windshield, side windows and side mirrors, which creates a water repellant layer on the outer surface of the glass.
Because Toyota does not manufacture Rain-X, we are unable to advise if the hydrophilic glass was damaged by its use. We recommend cleaning the windshield, side windows and side mirrors with a neutral detergent. We highly recommend not using any water repellants in the future.
Your email has been documented at our National Headquarters under file #200308150427. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us.
National Customer Relations

Customer : 08/11/2003 04:03 PM
I've a 2 month old 2003 4Runner Limited. The manual says 'some models may have the outside rearview mirrors coated with water repellent chemical'. A few reviews of this model (truckworld.com, offroad.com etc.) mention that all the windows and outside mirrors are made of hydrophilic glass that repels water. The University of Toyota Product Introduction document, page 25 (http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/htruong/2003_4Runner.pdf) mentions "standard hydrophilic glass on windshield, side windows and side mirrors".

My 4Runner's side windows and rear window definitely bead water and look like they are coated. But not the mirrors or the windshield. I called the Toyota customer service line and the rep knew nothing about it - neither did my local dealer (Mechanicsville Toyota in VA). Oh, and the service line rep didn't know what the Toyota University was either.

The night I bought the vehicle, I coated all glass with Rain-X - because there wasn't a warning in the vehicle about it - the manual does say on page 203 that using water repellent might destroy the coating. Good job on hiding the warning, by the way. So my question is, what is the correct information? Did my vehicle come with coating or not?

And if it did, did Rain-X-ing destroy it? How do I restore it on the windshield and mirrors? And please don't tell me 'read what the manual says' - it doesn't say anything conclusively.

I'm disappointed in the customer service line - this is definitely one case of the consumer being more informed about a product than the manufacturer reps.

Would appreciate some accurate information from some technical personnel who intimately know this vehicle.

Regards
 
Ok - I have worked out what must have happened. Toyota claims there is a coating on the windshield, side windows and mirrors - mine has coating on the rear window and side windows. Obviously they put my truck the wrong way through the hydrophilic machine:D
 
HOW TO REMOVE RAINX

In case you want to remove RAIN-X from your windows... not sure how this would affect the OEM coating. Perhaps you can recontact Toyota Customer Center and ask them if the two products mentioned below would harm the coating:

From http://www.rainx.com/faq_body.htm

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

<B>Q. How do you remove Rain-X® Glass Treatment from exterior glass?</B>

A. <I>Rain-X® Glass Treatment can be removed from exterior glass by using either Rain-X® Glass Polish (Under "Glass Cleaner") or Bon-Ami Cleaning Powder or Soft Scrub cleaner. (Bon-Ami Cleaning Powder is sold at True Value Hardware Stores and Ace Hardware Stores. It can be obtained by calling Agelong Catalog at 1-800-892-8022. If you cannot find this product, Bon-Ami Cleanser - a different product - can be used, only if you add enough water to make it a "soapy" solution). If you require further assistance or have any additional questions, please call 1-800-416-1600. </I>

<B>Q. How do you remove Rain-X® Glass Treatment from wiper blades?</B>

A. <I>Saturate windshield washer fluid onto a clean, cotton cloth and wipe the blade. </I>
 
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I pour about a teaspoon of Rainx into a filled windshield fluid reservoir. Haven't had any problems. I also had my car Simonized?!?! I don't know if that does anything or not.
 
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