Mysterious White Dots

[rover137]

Hi all

I noticed some small white dots around the fuel flap area on my 8 day old new black car. I’ve just applied the second coat of HCW. They are a bit concerning seems the car is so new. They are a little rough to touch but can’t tell if they are chips or surface contaminants. I tried to wipe them off with HCW with no success. There are around 5-8 in a 2 x 2 foot area.

Any thoughts? Ive tried to upload some pics but not quite sure how?

thanks!

[The Guz]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

Could be overspray of some sort. You could try to clay the area.

[rover137]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

Thanks Guz! I hope so - it was so hard to tell if it was above or below the surface.

I would have thought UQD would remove left over product. I might just clay one of them and see what happens.

There also seem to be tons and tons of clear coat scratches, not always circular either (swirls). Dealer didn’t touch it, I used the two bucket wash, Clay and UP. You can only see it in the sun and slightly see with a phone light. Is compound polish the only answer?

[Old Bear]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

You can use this procedure to move images into your Gallery on the Meguiar's Online Forums server.
The procedure will tell how to add it to a post.
https://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sh...ghlight=images

[Old Bear]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

Sometimes vehicles ship with a plastic film on selected panels.
This gets removed by the dealer.
Possibly some of the white adhesive residue remains from a covering meant to protect the fuel door area.

[rover137]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

I'm pretty sure they weren't there when i did the full detail process or base coast of the HCW Old Bear. I'd be happy if it was that.

I've managed to upload a pic for anyone who is interested. The little multiple white dots are just wind particles the circled ones are the rough spots.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/500/medium/White_dots.jpeg

[Old Bear]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

If you click on the image in your Gallery, scroll down to see info on the image posting.
I find it easiest to locate the HTML code,
click it to highlight it
Control C to copy it to clipboard
then CV to paste it into your post.

Sometimes it makes it much easier by having one session open for the Gallery and one for the post.

[rover137]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

Thanks for the tip! Do the pics make it any easier to identify the white dots? I will clay one tonight and see what happens.

[rover137]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

I Clay barred the area and they are still there but no longer rough and now smooth to touch. I guess that means they are some sort of surface contaminant?

[Old Bear]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

I think the images help.
Although we cannot tell if these are white bumps or slight indentations.
If you put your hand in a plastic sandwich bag, it can enhance the feeling in your fingers.
Then check to see if they are bumps or indentations.

It does look like there is streaking on the surface of the paint.
This can happen if too much HCW is used.
Water is supposed to remove the carrier ingredients and leave the active ingredients.
Possibly using a soft clean wet microfiber towel would help if excess HCW remains.

Post back your results from claying with a lubricant (detailer type spray).
That will help Nick share his thoughts this week.

[rover137]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

Thank you, appreciate your help!

i clayed and buffed with QD and UQD a fair bit and they don’t seem to have changed in appearance but are no longer rough, even when you run you hand over them in a bag. I found a few more that I hadn’t tried to removed and for comparison used the bag test and they are very rough. So it looks like the clay bar is smoothing them out, but not removing them.

[Jonesey]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

Any chance this could be fallout from forest fires? Only news I've seen here in Vancouver is that the fires are worst on the east coast, Sydney and Sunshine Coast areas (I've lived in both areas), not sure what you are getting in and around the Capitol Territory. I'm wondering if hot ash could fall on the paint, and burn itself in a little, making it harder to remove with clay because it is both above and below the surface?

[rover137]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

That

[rover137]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

Not sure what happened to the above post! That would seem to make sense. The fires have been pretty bad down under. Sydney is about 3.5hrs from us and the Sunshine Coast is 10+ hrs. There have been a few fires near Sydney but the major bad fires have been up north 10 or so hours away. Could it still be possible?

I am thinking it might be dried UP or ULW? I don’t know what else it would be but I’d have thought dried product would respond to claying and UQD?

[Jonesey]

Re: Mysterious White Dots

You said the car was new. Could have come from a dealer or lot near the fires, or even been in transport near them. Good luck getting rid of them.