Needing help with oxidation

[Grimes]

Hello! I have a black 2003 GMC Yukon that gets the honor of basking in the lovely central Texas sun for over 10 hours a day. I've recently inherited the truck from my dad who kept it in great shape but only "car washed" it, nothing by hand. Due to the high amount of sun exposure and simply the age of the paint, some oxidation has began to appear on the hood and roof. I first noticed the major spot (pictured below) on the hood back in December and could've sworn it happened overnight. Either way, since then I have been rinsing at least every 2 weeks and waxing every month. I use the ArmorAll Wash & Wax and then follow it up with 1-2 coats (depending on the recent weather) of Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax, a spray wax. Reason being I am strapped for time during the school year and both are simple. The past month or 2 I have been putting an extra coat on the hood just to keep the oxidation from getting worse, and that has seemed to work.

Now that the school year is winding down I am able to do something about the spot. Repainting is always an option, sure, but even though I have not yet gotten a quote I am trying to avoid major shop work like that. I am also trying to avoid electronic polishers and such. Keep it in my hands, and just my hands. We'll see how long I am allowed to follow that policy. Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions on what to throw at this oxidation spot? I am willing to learn how to clay or really wax or **** it up and repaint.

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t143/RRkiller/IMG_0001.jpg

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t143/RRkiller/IMG_0002.jpg

(Now that I look at the pictures I realize they may be misleading. Yes, I am do for a wash next weekend. The oxidation spot is only present in that 4 inch black/white textured circle, everything else is just distorted reflection)

Thanks in advance for any help on this, it really is a bit of an eye sore.

[smack]

Re: Needing help with oxidation

That is clear coat failure and is best to be re cleared by a body shop. In the meantime you should really open you point of view of the G110v2 D/A polisher. It is one heck of a machine that even a newb can use without fear of damaging his paint.

[BillE]

Re: Needing help with oxidation

Yup...clear coat failure. You can try some compounding by hand (like Ult Compound). It won't make it go away, but it may make it look better.

Other than that, it's gonna be paint time.

Bill

[h_bomm]

Re: Needing help with oxidation

That's a bummer about your paint . After you get your Yukon repainted, which I assume you're going to do, read up on the 5 Step Program. There is A LOT of good information in there, it can be found in the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of the forum. As far as using a DA buffer, they are really safe to use, if I can do it, you can do it! There is an article in the "Hot Topics" titled "How Much Paint Am I Removing" it was started by Superior Shine on Dec 11 2004 it is another excellent piece of info to help calm your nerves about using a DA buffer. It looks like he used a rotary buffer for a good portion of his article which can be much more aggressive than a DA. Looking forward to hearing about your results, sorry again about your clear failure... Good Luck!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Needing help with oxidation

As others have mentioned, this is indeed a clear coat failure situation and the only fix is to repaint the panel. In a recent email to a customer who contacted us about a similar issue on his Lexus, we gave the following response which is appropriate for your situation as well, so we'll share that here:

OK, this is what I was afraid of - you've got clear coat failure happening on the main horizontal surfaces, and it's most common to those surfaces because they take the most direct hit from the elements, and from UV radiation as well. The clear coat in a multi part paint system is just clear paint, nothing more, nothing less. But in a multi part system it's what gives all the gloss to the finish, and it's what protects the color from UV exposure that used to cause colors to fade badly back in the day of single stage lacquer paints. That's when a red car would look more pink and chalky than really red. But those old single stage lacquers, while very susceptible to oxidation in the form of fading of the color, could also be "buffed out" and brought back to a deep, rich color because you would literally abrade off the dead, oxidized paint and reveal healthy paint underneath. Of course, there was a limit to how often this could be done before quite literally removing paint all the way down to primer, but it could be done numerous times.

A modern clear coat uses vastly different chemistry than than those single stage lacquers did. Where color would burn out in those old paints (think about leaving a newspaper with a full color image sitting out in the sun all day - oxidation will cause loss of pigment in the inks, same as it did with those paints), a clear coat which has chemically catalyzed and hardened tends to either break apart or delaminate from the color coat beneath it. Delamination results in peeling clear coat, but if it's just breaking up it will look much like a weathered, oxidized single stage paint would. But chemically something very different is happening with these catalyzed clear coats, and they can not be buffed out. And once the failure starts, whether a delaminating issue or a break up issue, it can't be stopped. And it can't be made to look nice again. Even if you cold fully strip off the clear coat you could never make the color coat under it shine like you want it to. The best products in the world, used by the most skilled detailer, can bring a bit of shine to that paint, but it will only last a matter of days before reverting back to what you see currently.

[Grimes]

Re: Needing help with oxidation

Thank you so much for all of the replies! It looks like I'll be getting the hood completely repainted then. I'll start my calling for quotes in a few hours. Unfortunately my schedule still isn't ideal. I did howver check out that recommended 5 Step program and will certainly look into getting some of those products, including a DA polisher. And thank you for the in depth info on the clear coat; that'll certainly help me out in the future with maintaining this truck.