I searched, honest.

Just had the car in for the 1 year service. The dealer had to replace the bonnet stripes (viper) due to staining/discoloration. As an unrelated issue, there was damage to the bonnet paint from what looked like some liquid that had fallen/splashed/sprayed onto the bonnet. The detailer who buffed most of this out said he'd seen it before, and attributed it to the windshield washer fluid. I rarely use the washers, and I haven't seen any damage to the paint on the roof (but I haven't been up there with a ladder or stepstool either). Has anyone else seen this sort of paint damage from the washer fluid?

 

It's not really the fluid itself, I don't think. There was something going on where cosmoline was getting in the lines during shipping, and would leak out, staining stripes/paint/etc. I had this issue, got it cleaned up, and then ran two full tanks of clean water through the jets. Never had the problem again after that.

 

I dunno. This wouldn't even buff out, much less wash off, even with the usual cosmoline-fighting agents (WD-40). There was no palpable residue at all, just the disruption of the shine and paint surface.

 

Yeah I don't know if it was the combination of the two things...it was bad stuff though. I clayed mine. Some people ended up getting bonnets or boots repainted! I think it just depended on how bad it was and how long it was on there. But you might try running lots of water through the lines if they're still leaking. And if you're under warranty, go get the stains fixed! They owe it to you!

 

There was some discussion about this during the Week 19 thread recently. The factory washer fluid was leaking out of the jets and runing the paint on the hood. Some of the posters said the fluid was very much like acetone, and recommended flushing it out of the system as quickly as possible.

 

Holy smoke. I'm going to siphon that stuff out and flush it tomorrow. Thanks for the info.

 

I've got marks from my rear wiper that I am almost certain are from the wiper fluid. The previous owner must have used it a bunch or something. I haven't tried buffing that spot though so I think I'll go try right now.

 

It is quite common - I have some long marks that look like paint runs, or dribbles from the washer points. As soon as I get my Mini back from Customs, I'll take some photos.

The only thing you can do is make the rest of the car look so good that you don't look at the hood.

 

's kinda what I was thinking/afraid of. That and siphon the rest of that s**t out of there.