Drivers mirror glass

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Justbob

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My drivers side mirror has what seems like heavy water stains that will not come out. It’s not a big deal during the day but at night it reduces the visibility pretty dramatically. I’ve tried vinegar, rust/iron scale bathroom cleaner, and mild polishing compound. Nothing seems to get rid of them. I am now thinking it may be behind the glass. Trying to find replacement glass, but it seems like everyone sells either the whole mirror assembly or they indicate the glass but “without puddle light”. I am asking what does the puddle light have to do with the mirror glass and any suggestions to resolve this.
Thanks for the help.
 
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rabidranger

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Mine is the same way. Drives me crazy at night. Tried all sorts or cleaners like you as well as rain-x and other water repellents. It’s really my only bitch about this truck!
 

Hogvet

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My drivers side mirror has what seems like heavy water stains that will not come out. It’s mot a big deal dieting the day but at night it reduces the visibility pretty dramatically. I’ve tried vinegar, rust/iron scale bathroom cleaner, and mild polishing compound. Nothing seems to get rid of them. I am now thinking it may be behind the glass. Trying to find replacement glass, but it seems like everyone sells either the whole mirror assembly or they indicate the glass but “without puddle light”. I am asking what does the puddle light have to do with the mirror glass and any suggestions to resolve this.
Thanks for the help.
I had some spots that looked like dried water but would not come off. I used a little baking soda and the came off.
 

FordTechOne

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Have you ever taken the truck through a car wash? A lot of them spray acid to clean the wheels; that same acid can get on the mirrors and cause chemical staining.
 
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Justbob

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for mineral water spots, look for a glass polish instead of glass cleaner. I've had good luck with a Griot's product: https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/fine+glass+polish+16+ounces.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=Search
So I tried this from Amazon (cause I'm cheap and it came with, what actually worked out as a really good sponge for polishing)
I was surprised that it seemed to work pretty well on the mirror. I still have to test it out in a high humidity/rain situation where the water stains really showed through but it seemed to work so far. I can only surmise that the polishing components of the glass polish are much harder/larger than that of paint polish since rubbing compound and polish didn't put a dent in it. That being said, the passenger side of my truck was covered front to back with water stains that wouldn't come out when I had it detailed, when I first bought it. (The previous owner parked next to his condo sprinkler system and between the black paint and sun, really baked them in). I ended up polishing the whole side of the truck by hand seeing as the detailer I had wouldn't do more than a light polish with a machine because of his fear that in chasing the water stains he would burn the paint. I noticed the water stains on the passenger side glass (oddly not on the passenger mirror) and tried polishing compound on the glass, to no avail.
I tried the glass polish on the passenger windows and after about half the bottle and 30 min, got about half the stains gone.
Lesson from this is, use the right product for the application, water stains on glass are a shit ton harder than you think, and if your going to be doing a lot of glass (I will eventually do my windshield) invest in a 4"-6" orbital polisher.....and a larger bottle of polish.
 

B E N

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Standard automotive polish uses alumina which is a Moh's hardness of 3.4, and is friable (brakes down to a finer and finer abrasive as you work it). Glass polish uses Cerium Oxide which is Moh's hardness of 8 (Moh's is logarithmic) and is non friable. Since glass is Moh's of 5-7 an automotive polish isn't going to do much. Auto polishes are usually Ph balanced, glass polish is usually basic, so slightly caustic (don't get it on your paint) and will break down any petroleum based stains quickly.
 
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