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Ice scraper scratching windshield??

55K views 30 replies 20 participants last post by  trevoracus 
#1 ·
Has anyone here experienced this? I had to use an icescraper to get heavy frost off my window yesterday morning, today being a sunny day I noticed scratches all over my windshield. I've been scraping windows every winter for the past 20 years on all types of vehicles, and have never seen this. What is Ford putting on / or not putting on their windshields now? I don't want to have to buy a new windshield every spring, and I know insurance won't cover it. Maybe we need to have winter windshields and summer windshields, and just swap them out seasonally with our tires? I don't think it is acceptable to have to wait for the window to defrost on its own!
 
#2 ·
Oh man that sucks, thanks for the warning!
Did your scraper have something hard stuck to it like some dirt? I don't know if it wil help you but when i used a product like rainx on my older cars windshields a side effect was that most of the small pit marks would get filled in and seem to dissapear from the drivers perspective. Of course it wears off eventually but if helps hide the scratches...
You may want to try giving your windshield a really good cleaning with some alcohol as maybe what you see is some residue left on the windshield from the scraper?
 
#3 ·
Yes, I am hoping they are just scuff marks. I use a plastic scraper, and it's clean. I will get the car into the shop this weekend hopefully and see if they are just scuffs, not scratches.. but at this point and with just some minor rubbing. I am pretty sure they are scratches. I do have some rain-x that a buddy brought back from SEMA for me, but it has been too cold to apply. So that's my goal for this Saturday I guess. Clean and rain-x my windshield!
 
#6 ·
I think the dealers are putting a coat of sealer or something on the car exteriors, the water beaded and ran off my windshield in a rain storm before I ever washed or waxed it myself. It could be just marks in the wax/sealer that they put on. I highly doubt your plastic scraper could mar glass.
 
#7 ·
Hey alotta ford dealers put on a rain-x type film either before delivery of your vehicle, or at your first oil change...I have had rain-x make it look like scratches after scraping a frost off...your plastic scraper physically cannot scratch the harder glass, unless there is a foreign object enbedded in your scraper...if you run your fingernail over the marks, do you feel the "scratch"? If so, its a scratch, if not, clean your windsheild thoughroughly and it should be clear again...
 
#8 ·
Maybe those scratches are just leftover frost? I've had frost on my windshield lots, but had only used a scraper on my focus once and didn't leave any marks. What I usually do is use the windshield wiper fluid that's for -45C and just spray it whenever there's frost. Melts away almost instantly. Maybe you can give that a try?
 
#9 ·
Windscreens Scratch easy.
I Once used a Brillo Pad to clean Birdsh!it off the windscreen (not on the Focus)and it got damaged.Went scratched and milky. You could see the damage from the inside.
Had to be replaced {School Fees}.
Sponge with Car Wash Soap and water should melt that snow.
 
#10 ·
Any object that is harder than glass will scratch it. A metal brillo pad is harder than glass and will scratch it...plastic ice scrapers are softer than glass and physically cannot scratch glass. And when you see a windsheild (screen over seas:) with winsheild wiper marks across it, its usually because they failed to replace the blades timely, and they wore out, causing them to collapse on their side and scratch the windsheild the the metal retainer portion of the wiper blade...
 
#13 ·
I don''t thing foreign contaminents are the issue. Other then the ice, nothing was on my windshield. It was a heavy freezing rain/ice fog covering my window. No dirty snow, as yesterday was the first day we saw any amount of snow here. I will do my best to get my car into a warm shop tomorrow, give the windshield a thorough cleaning and apply rain-x. I will update as to whether the windshield is scratched or not. A quick google search indicates other Ford users reporting the same issues, so it's not isolated either.
 
#14 ·
Hopefully the damage is not too bad or maybe not at all.
RainX won't remove scratches if you have them, It might make the screen easier to clean.
Something must have caused the scratches. ?
Even crappy glass is harder than plastic.
 
#22 ·
Last year in the northeast we had a mild winter. I do not think I had to use the ice scraper at all, besides the brush part because I have remote start. Turn defrost on before you shut the car off...then start it with remote start and the defrost goes on. By the time you go out to your car in 5~ minutes you can easily brush the ice off the windshield and the car is nice and toasty on the inside!
 
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