mystery oily residue all over the car (ouside)

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Here is the story. My daughter washed her car 2 weeks ago with my cheap no brand car shampoo that I used forever with good results. She drove the car daily since with no problems. My wife borrowed the car today as hers is at a dealer for warranty work. Today it rained for a first time in many weeks. She had poor visibility even though the wiper blades are new. She sprayed the windshield with fluid (water mixed with windshield fluid, nothing new) and completely lost all visibility. She pulled over and manually cleaned windshield with paper towels. The windshield was covered with oily film that didn't mix with water. She called me upset with accusations that I put engine oil in the windshield fluid reservoir (that I didn't of course).

When she come back home I showed her that the windshield fluid container had no oil whatsoever. Besides, I'm not that stupid and no one else touches the engine compartment.
We discovered that most of the car was covered in small oily spots that ware difficult to see on dry car, except for spots with matt black paint (surrounding side windows) where it gave a glossy appearance.

I have no idea where this came from. The car was parked at garage, school, gym and some store parking lots. There is no oil loss or leak in the car. AC works fine. No one remembers anything different.

I've never seen anything like it. Have you?
 
Probably from driving around in traffic. I once got caught behind an old farm truck that was just dripping some type of oil from the bed and it would splash up onto other cars. Of course I had just freshly detailed my vehicle.
 
Could be from diesels. I live near a trainyard and get an oily coating on any vehicle left out front of the house. Also could happen if someone blew a brake hose while driving past tha car.
 
I once got behind a 18 wheeler that was spewing a fine mist of oil from a hydtolic line in the cab area. But I think what happened in the case of your wife was oily spray from the road thrown up in the rain. If you have ever been on an interstate highway and gotten caught behind a 18 wheeler in a rain storm, you will see what happens. I am constantly cleaning the headlight lenses and the tail light lenses and just from regular road film, the amount of black gunk that comes off is amazing.
 
The reason I asked was I've been driving cars for 28 years in all kind of climates and haven't seen anything like that. Look like car was sprayed by thin clear oil. I'm positive this is not the usual road grime. Oh well, she will wash it again.
 
I have been in a similar situation. I was behind an older Cherokee in traffic that was smoking badly and actually spraying little droplets of oil. It got all over the front of my truck, including the windshield.
 
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
The reason I asked was I've been driving cars for 28 years in all kind of climates and haven't seen anything like that. Look like car was sprayed by thin clear oil. I'm positive this is not the usual road grime. Oh well, she will wash it again.


Most likely the car has followed a diesel with a leaking fuel line or a vehicle with leaking coolant. Either diesel fuel or antifreeze will make a real mess out of a windshield.
 
Update: the story gets even stranger.
I mowed the lawn today and noticed similar oily spray on the mower and some other gardening items that were parked next to the car in question in my garage.

Clearly, the oil was sprayed in the garage on the car. Since I have no idea how it happened, I suspect some sort of prank.
 
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