Clear coat stained, anyone please chime in, need some advice!!!

RoadRageDetail

RoadRageDetail

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Hey guys,

I have a car in front of me, that, while being serviced at a shop, had some type of blue-ish fluid run down the hood(possibly oil or hydraulic fluid). The clear appears to be stained, and slightly raised. A cutting attempt has been made with zero noticable difference and I'm exploring alternative methods. Any ideas would be appreciated. The car is in front of me as I'm typing this and I want to make sure I'm making the best effort I can before walking away.

I will see if I can get a pic up but I only have my phone, it's a tough defect to see but I will do my best.

Thanks in advance AG!!!!
 
Ok, if it's raised, are you sure it isn't something ON TOP of the paint, rather than IN the paint (staining)?

If it's something that's dried on top of the paint, perhaps there is a solvent that will remove it. Kind of like the same idea with a house paint transfer, yes, you can mechanically remove it by polishing, which will also "polish down" the surrounding area, or you can remove it with a solvent that will not affect the clear (mineral spirits).

I presume you have already tried some cleaners like soap & water, APC, etc.?
 
I've tried soap and water, and I've been told that solvent ha already been attempted although I may back up and try that for myself.

I got a couple of the best pics I could with my phone so you can see what I'm talking about, it seems as if some of the foreign material actually absorbed into the clear. This is how it looked when I got here, my one- pass cutting pass with 105 and a wool pad made no change.

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RoadRageDetail said:
Hey guys,

I have a car in front of me, that, while being serviced at a shop, had some type of blue-ish fluid run down the hood(possibly oil or hydraulic fluid).

The clear appears to be stained, and slightly raised.
Click to expand...

I've seen brake fluid stain single stage paint before, usually purple or blue.

I don't think I've ever seen brake fluid stains on clearcoat finishes but that's mostly because I don't think I've ever seen anyone spill brake fluid on a new car.


Old cars have old brakes systems that need work and get fluid added to them so the potential for stains is greater. New cars are so good they just don't have problems, thus less chance for these kinds of issues.

Now if they are doing some type of "Power Brake Bleeding" on the car in front of you, it's possible somehow some brake fluid could have been sprayed?

I'm not sure how but just saying...


If your paint is raised where it was stained, that means the offending substance is swelling the paint, probably attacking it some way. Not a good sign.



RoadRageDetail said:
A cutting attempt has been made with zero noticeable difference and I'm exploring alternative methods.
Click to expand...

If a rotary buffer, compound and wool pad are having no effect it's probably time to wetsand, then hit with a rotary buffer.

RoadRageDetail said:
Any ideas would be appreciated. The car is in front of me as I'm typing this and I want to make sure I'm making the best effort I can before walking away.
Click to expand...


Take a picture FAST!

Then grab the Service Manager and show him the problem, let him know you take meticulous care of your car's finish and for this reason you are familiar with every defect in the finish over the entire car and this defect was not there when you brought the car in to their shop.

Ask what is being done to the car in front of yours?



:)
 
Not saying it is or isn't but to me it looks like the CC absorbed it like a sponge. And then it bubbled up.

Had this happen to a family members car due to snow and not having it sealed or waxed.

I am just trying to help out: my manager uncle saw the car as well and suggested she get it repainted by calling her insurance company.

From what I have learned CC is like a sponge, that is why we apply sealants and waxes. To make a barrier.

That is why water spots happen, and we are always so cautionary about bird poo

Again IMO

Art
 
I can't really see the blue color, but I can see the raised "drops". As Art alluded to, are you sure the spilled fluid hasn't adversely effected the clear already? Swelled/damaged? If it was some sort of solvent based product, it may have absorbed into the paint, and perhaps will ultimately gas out.

Since I can't see the color, and the defect is not what I expected based on how I read your description, I'm going to back off on my solvent suggestion (I was thinking IPA, mineral spirits, and the like).

Sometimes you hit some weird stuff, like a coffee ring on a work bench, you can wipe it with all kinds of solvents, and it won't come off, use some water and it comes right up. I was hoping for you this would be something dumb like that where you polish it and nothing happens but you wipe with IPA and it comes right off...but this looks a bit more serious.
 
Thanks for the advice so far, fellas!!! It is much appreciated!!!

I have a couple more pics on the way to show the damage. The color is very elusive thru a cell phone's camera lens but it had definitely affected the clear in a bad way. I would attempt sanding, I think it would make quite a difference, however: I'm dealing with a less than stellar aftermarket paint job and I'm not certain how much clear I have to work with. The more I look at it, the more I think I may just cut my losses and charge for time spent. If anyone has any other ideas, I'm all ears.
 
Here's one last pic:
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My photobucket app keeps crashing and it's preventing me from uploading anything else.
 
That sure seems like as Mike alluded to, brake fluid...not sure what else they would have at the dealer that would do that. Seems to me most of the other stuff would not do that, even hot coolant.

How long ago did this happen?
 
This happened at a performance shop, they have all kinds of specialty fluids for transmissions, engines, brakes, coolants etc. - our best guess is automatic transmission fluid from a trams am that has had this car under it when they close up for the night.

Update: I put my "big boy pants" on and attempted sanding to a degree of success that isn't 100% but shows very nice returns on my effort. I will make a last update when I'm done!!!

Thanks again AG!!!

Edit: Yes, Mike! That's pretty spot on what I'm dealing with!!! Youdaman!!!
 
RoadRageDetail said:
This happened at a performance shop, they have all kinds of specialty fluids for transmissions, engines, brakes, coolants etc. - our best guess is automatic transmission fluid from a trams am that has had this car under it when they close up for the night.

Update: I put my "big boy pants" on and attempted sanding to a degree of success that isn't 100% but shows very nice returns on my effort. I will make a last update when I'm done!!!

Thanks again AG!!!

Edit: Yes, Mike! That's pretty spot on what I'm dealing with!!! Youdaman!!!
Click to expand...

Good Luck!

(Fingers Crossed)

Keep us updated
 
Well, it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but I was able to improve on it to the point where if you're not looking for it, you'll never see it. The customer is happy, the shop is happy, I'm happy.

I know I haven't been posting here lately, but I'm so very thankful I have a community at my finger tips with a collective pool of knowledge I can tap when I encounter a problem I've never dealt with.

Thank you, AG, from the bottom of my heart. And thanks to all those who chimed in here to help walk me through today's obstacle.
 
Glad it worked out. I hope the paint didn't swell temporarily from some chemical absorption, and now that you've sanded it flat it isn't going to shrink back in that hot Texas sun as the chemical gets baked out. That's why I asked how long ago this happened.

Of course, it might have been permanent "swelling", let's hope it was and it stays looking the way it is.
 
From the info I gathered, this happened 2-3 weeks ago and has been outside whenever it wasn't being worked on. I'm not sure how long this would take to gas out, but I would think it would be showing some signs of improvement by now. Even if some shrinkage (lol Seinfeld pun) occurs, it's still better off as far as visibility is concerned. I guess only time will tell.
 
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