Is this clear cost burn through?

[BenRothman]

Hello all IÂ’m a first time poster, long time viewer. IÂ’m facing a a huge issue right now that I may have burnt through the clear coat on my quarter panel and maybe rear door. The thing that is making me think itÂ’s not clear coat burn through is it only shows up in some situations outside. Today I had my paint measured and the measurements where 4.7 to - 6.6 on the car. The car has been polished before by me using a griots garage dual action polisher. IÂ’m going to post a picture of what the issue IÂ’m having is. I was able to to spot it again today and even polished the car directly outside and as soon as I wiped away the excess polishing residue the lines were still there. But there was absolutely no black paint transfer on my polishing pads.

any help would be amazing. I have an appointment at an amazing body shop next Tuesday. If this is clear coat burn through I will be heading to that body shop to have the quarter panel resprayed

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[DMiglio]

Hey, just a heads up, your picture isn’t showing.

If it’s along the edges of the rear door and quarter panel, it’s possible to burn through the clear easier as it’ll be thinner at the edges.

 

[BenRothman]

Hey, just a heads up, your picture isn’t showing.

If it’s along the edges of the rear door and quarter panel, it’s possible to burn through the clear easier as it’ll be thinner at the edges.

Hi there, Sorry about that. I will try to attach the pictures to this reply. If the picture does show up with this reply, maybe you can help me. Those lines in the photo only show up in very certain lights. But when they do show up they don't move like holograms do. they stay still. But even in my garage with my great lighting these lines don't show up. I also don't get any paint transfer on my white polishing pads when I polish this area.

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[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

If you're not seeing pigment from the area then it's likely not clearcoat burn-through.

Place a strip of tape across the area and buff on just one side then check to see if there's a difference. If not - could it be UNDER the clear?

 

[PaulMys]

That looks like streaking, not burn through to me.

Have you recently waxed/sealed/coated the car?

Used a quick detailer or waterless wash in the sun?

 

[DMiglio]

Looks like the picture is now working in both of your posts, maybe it was my browser not loading it?

Really hard to tell what that might be, doesn’t look like burn through and no paint transfer on you pads should support that.

Give the tape tip a shot and see how that goes. It really is an odd mark and if it can’t be polished out maybe it is indeed under the clear.

 

[BenRothman]

If you're not seeing pigment from the area then it's likely not clearcoat burn-through.

Place a strip of tape across the area and buff on just one side then check to see if there's a difference. If not - could it be UNDER the clear?

I tried that. ( i know you I shouldn’t have done this but just for a test) I buffed that spot directly in the sunlight where I could see those lines. It made zero difference, and I even used IPA on the spot which didn’t remove it. This rules out that’s it’s wax. The weird thing is that sometimes in direct sunlight I can see the lines and other times in direct sunlight I cannot see the lines.

 

[BenRothman]

Looks like the picture is now working in both of your posts, maybe it was my browser not loading it?

Really hard to tell what that might be, doesn’t look like burn through and no paint transfer on you pads should support that.

Give the tape tip a shot and see how that goes. It really is an odd mark and if it can’t be polished out maybe it is indeed under the clear.

Yeah I’m getting zero paint transfer on my white microfiber pad. The weird thing about all of this is that both quarter panels had the thickest paint being at around 6.6 Mils. The car has had zero paint work done besides the front and rear bumpers being painted. Any ideas of what these lines could be? It really bothers me. Almost to the point of getting it fixed. My only concern is the body shop matching the orange peel. They did a great job on my front and rear bumper, and the orange peel matches very well, but considering the doors quarter panel would need to be repainted I’m just worried about that.

 

[DMiglio]

Have you owned this car since new? Is it used? I only ask because the rear corners have the thickest paint may be a concern if it’s a repaint. Just making a guess here.

What polish(es) and pad(s) combo are/have you using?

Like PaulMys mention, what LSP are you using, wax, sealant, coating? They can do funky things sometimes.

Other than the odd mark, your paint looks flawless so I can understand the frustration you’re feeling. You’ve done a great job!

 

[BenRothman]

Have you owned this car since new? Is it used? I only ask because the rear corners have the thickest paint may be a concern if it’s a repaint. Just making a guess here.

What polish(es) and pad(s) combo are/have you using?

Like PaulMys mention, what LSP are you using, wax, sealant, coating? They can do funky things sometimes.

Other than the odd mark, your paint looks flawless so I can understand the frustration you’re feeling. You’ve done a great job!

I’ve owned the car since it was brand new. I’ve used megs ultimate compound, ultimate polish, and ultimate wax. The first thing I did when I saw those lines was i used a quick detailer which didn’t remove it, so then I used an IPA wipe down of that panel which didn’t remove it. Then I tried to polish which did nothing. So then I tried to compound the area which did nothing. Another thing, the area isn’t getting any bigger and from my understanding if it was clear coat burn through wouldn’t buffing that area make the burn spot bigger? It doesn’t make it any bigger. The only reason I got the cars paint measured was to see how much paint i had removed. And the paint depth was pretty good for a modern day car. Depending on the area it was about 4.9 Mila to about 6.6 Mils. The lower numbers where on the roof which i haven’t even touched. The rest of the car was in the 6mil range.

 

[Farmallluvr]

It looks to me like something was flapping against it in the wind,,,,like a the fabric part of a ratchet strap ,a rope or even sheet plastic,,have you tried anything more aggressive than Ultimate Compound?

 

[DMiglio]

Man that’s just so strange, good to see you’ve got some thick paint though!

Being you bought it new, possibly a defect from the factory?

Only other thing, big shot in the dark here, possibly a light reflection off the chrome window trim shining onto the paint? At this point I’m all out of ideas :/

Keep us updated!

 

[BenRothman]

It looks to me like something was flapping against it in the wind,,,,like a the fabric part of a ratchet strap ,a rope or even sheet plastic,,have you tried anything more aggressive than Ultimate Compound?

I didn’t think I needed to. The problem is that I can only see these lines in very certain lights. So I will think that i fixed it, and then a week later I happen to park the car in the right light and I see these lines again.

 

[BenRothman]

Man that’s just so strange, good to see you’ve got some thick paint though!

Being you bought it new, possibly a defect from the factory?

Only other thing, big shot in the dark here, possibly a light reflection off the chrome window trim shining onto the paint? At this point I’m all out of ideas :/

Keep us updated!

It could very well be a defect from factory. But I’m honestly not sure. My only thing I want to know is that is it clear coat burn through? If it’s not clear coat burn through or the beginning of clear coat burn through, I can probably live with it.

 

[DMiglio]

It could very well be a defect from factory. But I’m honestly not sure. My only thing I want to know is that is it clear coat burn through? If it’s not clear coat burn through or the beginning of clear coat burn through, I can probably live with it.

Gotcha. At this point I’d be more inclined to say it’s not burn through. If possible can you get paint depth readings along this mark and then paint along this panel? Juuuuust to be sure it’s not extremely thinned clear.

Here’s to it being nothing major and not needing a repaint :cheers:

 

[PaulMys]

Only other thing, big shot in the dark here, possibly a light reflection off the chrome window trim shining onto the paint?

Keep us updated!

Funny you mention this, David.

I was on a Ram forum and a guy was trying to polish out the same kind of "marks" on his tailgate with no avail.

Turns out it was the light reflection from the "spoiler". (The part that juts out on the top of the Ram tailgate). I have actually seen this happen on my Ram in the right light.

I'm not saying this what is happening to Ben's car, but you made a great point. And it happens.......

 

[Sizzle Chest]

It almost looks like a hologram/buffer trail...

 

[BenRothman]

Gotcha. At this point I’d be more inclined to say it’s not burn through. If possible can you get paint depth readings along this mark and then paint along this panel? Juuuuust to be sure it’s not extremely thinned clear.

Here’s to it being nothing major and not needing a repaint :cheers:

I’ll cheers to that. I have taken a paint gauge to that part of the car and it was 6.6 Mils of paint. But now that I think about it. It really only makes sense that it’s a reflection of some kind because it only happens in some lights. I have been on really sunny days and the car has no lines there. If it was clear coat burn through, it would show up if I shined a flash light on and wouldn’t only show up in certain lights. Also it would be kind of weird to have 6 Mils if paint and already be through the clear. Especially when using a griots garage dual action polisher. What do you think?

 

[DMiglio]

Completely agree, if it’s not there consistently I’d probably rule out burn through. You have lots of paint proven when measured. Might just be some anomaly due to reflections.

Strange things happen at the factory and delivery of vehicles so it’s always possible there’s a defect of some sort and as Mike said, possibly under the clear coat. Again, the fact it’s not consistent and only very specific circumstances adds to the confusion of what it may be.

Sizzle Chest’s post has me recalling a memory I’d rather forget..

Only time I personally have seen a line like that is when I used a pad perfectly fitted to my backing plate. As I polished I came across a large concave area of a body panel. Trying to move too quickly, I then hit the backing plate on the paint. This unfortunately left a very hard to remove mark.

Although it didn’t look exactly like your mark, just got me thinking of another way something like this may happen.

 

[BenRothman]

Completely agree, if it’s not there consistently I’d probably rule out burn through. You have lots of paint proven when measured. Might just be some anomaly due to reflections.

Strange things happen at the factory and delivery of vehicles so it’s always possible there’s a defect of some sort and as Mike said, possibly under the clear coat. Again, the fact it’s not consistent and only very specific circumstances adds to the confusion of what it may be.

Sizzle Chest’s post has me recalling a memory I’d rather forget..

Only time I personally have seen a line like that is when I used a pad perfectly fitted to my backing plate. As I polished I came across a large concave area of a body panel. Trying to move too quickly, I then hit the backing plate on the paint. This unfortunately left a very hard to remove mark.

Although it didn’t look exactly like your mark, just got me thinking of another way something like this may happen.

I agree 100%! also the fact that after seeing the line I compounded and polished that area and still nothing pretty much means that I have not come close to clear coat burn through. The reason I think that is because if that lines was the start of clear coat burn through, then compounding and polishing that area would have definitely removed the remaining clear coat. Since that did not happen I don't believe its clear coat burn through and I also don't believe its the start of clear coat burn through.