Todays wash story...

T

twist

New member
Hey everybody, i just washed my 07 white yukon this morning. Here in MI it was about 30 degrees out today so i just went for it, didn't really have a choice, the truck was absoletly filthy and i haven't washed it in about 3 weeks. I wanted to wash sooner but the weather had a different idea. Ok so as i washed i used hot water only and the truck looks alot better than before, but i noticed alot of orange spots all over the truck, is it rust? I clayed, aio, and 3 coats of collenite on her before the winter came. I know my white trans am, that only see's warm summer weather had the same spots on it but only on the back bumper, i thought that came from the brake dust sitting on the paint??? On the trans am i just clayed it and it came off, i will clay the truck in the spring, but is the orange spots rust or brake dust? thanks for any info. The truck stays outside, and lately we've had some crazy weather here so maybe the snow, ice, and salt played a role in it, i don't know. Thanks



Brian
 
Is it a stain or a small spot of something that you can knock off with your finger nail? If it covers all the paint, especially the front of the hood, then its not from brake dust. Can you get some pics?
 
Sometimes the street treatment cities use is brownish-orange in color (I guess they're not satisfied enough with the job salt/sand do on your car...).



The other possibility is leaves. Did any leaves sit on your car for several days? That'll leave brown/orange marks. Pretty bad too - I've seen it really do some damage to white cars.
 
hey, no leaves on car, but we recently had a ice storm and ice was all over the truck and it sat like that for a few days. it kinda looks like little orange rust spots. They are really small looks like rust, some of them came off when i washed, but some are still there. Im sure some clay bar will take if off, im just trying to figure out what is it and where it came from.



thanks
 
Sounds like fall out to me. If you are using consumer clay it probably isn't strong enough to take it out efficiently without taking 4 hours. You can pick up the more aggressive clay online or locally. Where in MI are you?
 
Im in Troy, MI. I use Sonax clay...I dont' get it i thought i had a pretty sturdy detail for winter.
 
Sounds like rail dust to me. The car will need a clay barring when weather permits. My 06 VW GTI was candy white and had that from the day I picked it up. It came off quickly with the clay bar.
 
^ I agree...



Rail dust... small metal particles stuck in your paint that eventually start to rust, hence the orange color.
 
As long as it gets off of there in the next month and a half or so...I'd say your cool. Hell, most people never clay their car so I don't think you will be doing irreversible damage by letting it sit on there for a few months. I would think that your clay would have gotten out all of the fall out, but chances are maybe you didn't notice back when you last clayed your car? Do you have a fine, medium, or aggressive clay bar?
 
yea i just can't understand how i would of missed that much rail dust. I clayed the whole truck and AIO'ed it.
 
With the ultra fine, it will take way to long to complete a full decontamination on a yukon. You are definitely going want to pick up some medium aggressive clay. Your local painters supply plus should have that in stock. I will PM you our local stores website.
 
Blue Clay Magic should remove this problem. If this condition truly wasn't there when you 1st purchased the vehicle, it's not rail dust. It very well could be brake dust particles that sat on your finish too long without washing it. All the wax in the world won't eliminate this if you aren't washing it regularly. The brake dust sits on top of the paint and then rusts from the winter moisture. It's only going to get worse which means the spots will grow larger and more will appear. If it is true rail dust, the hot particles were burned into the finish in transit to the dealership. They might not have been visible at first, but waxing/sealing them in could have speeded up the rusting process. Regardless, the damage is done and get it removed as soon as conveniently possible.
 
That was the reason why I swore off buying another white car. My wife and I both had white cars a few years ago and I was sick of all the little rust looking specs. This was before I knew anything about clay bar, and had very little luck getting rid of the stuff without using massive amounts of elbow grease. Even my wife's current Mountaineer has a gold color bottom and gets this crap constantly.
 
I have sorta the same story. Hadn't washed my car in 3 weeks. It was about 40 degrees and my car was covered in thhe salt, white-ish mess that all northeast car owners deal with. So I'm just spraying down my car to get off the excess salt and dirt and when i take a look at my car there are a bunch of orange specks everywhere. I go absolutely nuts, cursing the road crews and what not. I figure I'm gonna have to clay. Then I start filling up my buckets with water and the water is a bit brownish and orangeish. Stupid hose, must've been sitting there rusting away for a while. I switched out hoses and all was good.
 
well, i just got the sonus grey block clay bar. I was hearing people marring their paint with it, is this bar that abrasive? How should i go about using this? Should i only use the claybar on the tough spots our can i use it all-over? I only clay twice a year usually right before winter and during my spring cleaning before summer. This year i might try using the sonus ultra-soft clay after washes and what not but don't know yet. Any info would be great thanks alot



Brian
 
twist said:
well, i just got the sonus grey block clay bar. I was hearing people marring their paint with it, is this bar that abrasive? How should i go about using this? Should i only use the claybar on the tough spots our can i use it all-over? I only clay twice a year usually right before winter and during my spring cleaning before summer. This year i might try using the sonus ultra-soft clay after washes and what not but don't know yet. Any info would be great thanks alot..
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First off, a summary of what others have suggested: any "orange specs" are oxidized ferrous contamination, i.e., rust spots. Could be from rail dust (which can keep "coming back" if you merely clay as opposed to using a decontamination system), could be from the brakes (tiny bits of iron from the rotors), could be from snowplow blades (not uncommon to see a lot more rust specks in winter for this reason), could be from some other industrial fallout, could be from [stuff] in your water supply or hose. In other words, it could be from a lot of things. That said...



If (big "if" perhaps) it's in the top layer of the Collinite you can use a mild clay like the Sonus Ultra-fine to get it off. Then (since there's more winter yet to come) I'd get another coat of Collinite on there (usually this clay will not remove an appreciable amount of a healthy LSP). If the rust spotting is deeper than that, you'll have to get more aggressive and that'll mean cutting through your wax...this will *necessitate* a rewaxing.



Sonus Ultra-fine is too mild for some jobs, don't know until you try and I'd sure try it first. The current version of Sonus gray is *IMO* aggressive enough that marring is likely. I marred my M3 (pretty hard clear) with it and I've never had this problem before in over 15 years of claying. It *will* cut through the wax (again, just IMO); if it abraded my paint it'll sure abrade wax.
 
thanks accumulator, good info. Right now in MI, it's about 5 degrees, so hopefully will get a day of 35 or above. I'd like to get a wash in, clay and also like you said a fresh coat of collinite on. Im just praying for a warmer day:) thanks
 
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