How do you remove water spots from engine compartment panels?

I can now report that rubbing compound does NOT work well for this issue. IT definitely cleans up some of the spots but the whitish discoloration is still present after the work...

 

Rather than edit my previous post I have tried some other products and here are the results:

Vinegar: Takes too long.

CLR: See above vinegar results

Meguires Scratch X: Perfect. and you can find it at your local Pep Boys/Auto Zone etc.

I saw this on a youtube video and almost fell out of my chair. The guy took a hand sander, clean cotton towel (dry) and the polish he sold on his web site (didnt order, used the Scratch X instead). I had a ton of hard water spots that was caked on the windows of my Range Rover. Its an outdoor car that I usually just spray off once a week, thus the caked on spots. Worked like a charm. I then did the hood, same results. I finished off the hood with some carnuba wax. For the mirrors I just did them by hand and elbow grease. I also did the airbox intake on my TR (semi flat black factory paint). Again worked great.

So If you dont want to wait and mail order something, try the Scratch X and a clean dry cotton towel. Remember Polishing compounds come in cuts. The Scratch X worked well to take out the water spots. I havent tested it on other applications such as general polishing.

 

The vinegar trick does work for hard water spots that formed fairly recently. I use various spot removers on my boat and they are all made with some amount vinegar. Cleans spots up fast, but will strip wax so you must protect the paint after using it.

I have a water softener in my garage and had a hose bib added so I can get soft water for washing the car to minimize this problem.

If you wait too long to clean up a hard water spot, it will eventually etch the clear coat. Then you have to polish the spot with a polish like eventually worked for some of the folks on this thread. So prevent hard water spots by washing with softened water, clean them up promptly if you do get them by using vinegar, or deal with polishing out etched paint.

 

+1 on success with Meguiar’s ScratchX. I started with the Auto Glym but it wasn’t having any effect on the stains that were really baked in. I used a 3” sponge on an electric drill to apply it. It took several applications.

Before/after attached. Some of the water marks were from a recent wash, but a lot of it was “permanently” on there.
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Huge difference!


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I'll tell you what made it worse: "Scrubbing Bubbles"

 

CarPro-Spotless (waterspot removal).