My Taco has the plague!! Thoughts??

I was detailing my truck today to get a fresh sealant on it before snow gets here and noticed this on the top of my truck. At most it has been a month since I last washed it and am usually much more frequent than that. It is only on the top of the truck and not on the hood at all. It is not in the middle of the top or on the sides but simply like two racing stripes. So I began to see if I could get rid of it. It was not elevated at all or ingrained. I could rub my hand over it and it was smooth. I started with a rubbing compound which had no effect even when I focused just on one spot. I was due to clay bar today so I proceeded to clay bar the roof. Followed by Mirror Glaze #9 using an orbital buffer. Followed by 3M scratch remover again focused on a single spot. I finally gave up and applied my NXT wax and called it a night. The surface is smooth as glass but I made no improvement.


So here comes my questions. Has anyone seen anything like this before?? My only thought was that I had changed my windshield wiper fluid recently so I drained it and refilled it but the fluid was definitely windshield wiper fluid. Rain X All Season was what was in there.

I have been detailing my cars for years and never seen anything like this and being the perfectionist I am, this is killing me.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

Scott, Thanks for the response. Would this happen in a matter of weeks? There was no noticeable trace this summer. How would you fix a clear coat problem?

It is just so puzzling that it doesn't affect the entire top and respects the boundaries of the raised areas.

 

Could it be hard water spots? I live in Utah and we get hard water spots like that. I can usually get it off with some meguires quick wax.

 

it almost looks like a touch up

If it is clear coat failing you have to respray

 

To be honest to me it looks like some kind of chemical got splattered on it. Maybe accident in a parking lot? If the clear coat was failing wouldn't it have some sort of texture?

 

Not clear coat failure. Try clay bar or Meguiars ultimate compound, then wax.

 

He already used a clay bar and a polishing compound with a buffer. Short of wet sanding I'm not sure what else you could do. Wish I could be more help.

 

Maybe he used crappy materials. We don't know.

 

Now that I look at it closer, I may be able to help. I had a 94 Ford Probe that was also red...red is very susceptible to environmental contaminants and sun damage. One weekend I had been working near a Dow chemical plant and then my car was rained on that following week. I didn't immediately wash the car and a few days later I noticed similar spots on the hood, roof and trunk. I thought it was hard water spots but like you it didn't come off with Polish and elbow grease. I'm assuming some type of chemical dust from the plant settled on the paint and then the rain burned it into the clear. I ended up doing a wet sand with 2000 grit, then a cutting compound, polishing compound and finishing with a sealant and 100% carnauba wax on top. It wasn't perfect after that but it was very, very close. Only I knew it was there and only in direct sunlight. Maybe try wet sanding a small area and see if that works.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Sorry I am just now responding to the previous comments. 99% of my products are from the meguiars mirror glaze line, so pretty good stuff. Sadly the detailing that I noticed this was my winter prep and winter has been pretty frigid this year. So I haven't had much more time to mess with it. I am always nervous with wet sanding and will have to see how it looks once I do my spring cleaning. I will definitely update everyone and hopefully snap some better pictures of the results. Thanks again for all of the responses.

Kevin

 

Just out of curiousity what buffer are you using?

 

Porter Cable

$139 7424xp PORTER-CABLE Car Polisher and Buffer, 6", Orbital, Variable Speed (7424XP)

7424xp with meguiars pads

 

Still really new to the whole power stuff. Much more at home detailing it all by hand.

 

First thought when I see this picture is hard water stain that etched into the paint. Even if you are careful with your washes...you could have parked somewhere and sprinklers sprayed your truck and it sat in the sun for a day or two...that's enough to etch paint. It's much easier to see on black cars. Ask a local detailer to see what they think... you're going to have to cut and polish to remove it if it didn't etch through the clear

 

My truck has it too. Not as many spots, but larger. Nothing like a bright red truck with pink spots.

 

i've always assumed 'hard water as well

 

What "rubbing compound" did you use? Mirror Glaze #9 is super mild. It's basically just a non-abrasive paint cleaner iirc.

 

Now that I have been up on my roof with a clay bar I think the paint problem is from windshield washer fluid overspray. The distribution of the spots matches up pretty good with the WWF nozzles I think.

I do think wet sanding will work, and I can't think of anything easier or quicker.

 

This was my original thought as my spots line up with where there would be overspray. I immediately drained my fluid and bought a different brand. I was using rain x bug fluid (the orange stuff) . I thought I was just being paranoid as I couldn't imagine it being strong enough to eat at paint. I bought the cheap blue stuff, wondering if it would be safer.

Has anyone had experience with which fluid might be safest?

Now the reason I haven't completely bought into this theory myself is that any other spray (acid rain, salt, road work chemical?) that I would have come across while driving would wind up in the same spot due to the windshield wipers. . And I have always used windshield wiper fluid (not sure I have been consistent with brand) for the last ten years with the spots only popping up now.

I'm so timid of wet sanding. I just worked up the nerve to start using an orbital buffer. Once it warms up (which better be soon ) I'll detail it again and research what is involved in wet sanding.

Thanks again everyone for your input. TW is such a great community.

Kevin

 

I use the same Rain-X Orange washer fluid and have never seen anything like this on my roof or hood. Very odd indeed.