Gasoline on paint

[lee1dew]

What happens to paint if you leave some gasoline on it?

Some gas overflow dripped down on my paint yesterday. I blotted it dry with paper towels at the gas station, then dabbed it with some Opticlean when I got home, but it made me wonder what would happen if I had just dried it and skipped the Opticlean step.

[Grifftech]

Just shake the nozzle a couple times to get those last few drips out, but if shake it more than twice you are playing with it :)

What I do is I always grab a paper towel at the gas station and just hold it underneath the nozzle as I remove it. But if I do get gas on the paint I usually have a bottle of water in my car and pour it on it and then dab it dry.

[TroyScherer]

What happens to paint if you leave some gasoline on it?


Your paint will melt and be ruined forever.... :dig:

[mwoolfso]

I'll take a couple of guesses and draw a conclusion....

1. A carnauba wax will be degraded after the gas rests beyond a certain amount of time. How much time I do not know. Then again, using paper towels to wipe the gas off would contribute to degradation as well.

2. A hybrid wax or sealant will likely hold up significantly better; again durability affected by how long the gas is on the surface.

3. The only thing going for the paint protection is that gas will tend to vaporize quickly.

In short, I don't think it will do a lot. Repeated exposure on the other hand is another matter. Over time gas will eat away at the paint if allowed to sit in the pores of the paint; particularly the detergents in the gas being the largest factor in my opinion.

[lee1dew]

Just shake the nozzle a couple times to get those last few drips out, but if shake it more than twice you are playing with it :)

That's what I normally do, but this nozzle must've had a defective shutoff mechanism, because immediately after it triggered, about an ounce or so of gas flooded the area and dripped down the side of my car.

[RTexasF]

Nothing will happen other than it strips everything off. No big deal.

[oldmodman]

Spilled once or twice. Nothing.

A semi permanent leaking gascap that lets gas spill down the side of the every time you turn right really fast. Permanent yellowish stain in the paint. That nothing will remove. At least that's what happens on old Ford single stage white paint that was never waxed on a 1961 Ford Falcon.

[ScottB]

I too would reapply the protectant of my choice when possible, as I bet its gone !

[Flash Gordon]

What happens to paint if you leave some gasoline on it?

Some gas overflow dripped down on my paint yesterday. I blotted it dry with paper towels at the gas station, then dabbed it with some Opticlean when I got home, but it made me wonder what would happen if I had just dried it and skipped the Opticlean step.

If you look close to where you found the paper towels, you'll find a stick with a sponge attached soaking in muddy water. This thing is designed to wipe away gas spills

[RoadRageDetail]

If you look close to where you found the paper towels, you'll find a stick with a sponge attached soaking in muddy water. This thing is designed to wipe away gas spills

I thought it was there for homeless people to steal and use it to rape your windshield at a stoplight and demand a dollar.

[Old Tiger]

Keep an MF and a small bottle of Opti Clean in the car. If you add a coating like CQUARTZ or Opti-Coat, you wont need to reapply a wax or sealant.

[Waxy]

Exterior automotive paint is gasoline resistant.

[Paul Mitchell]

That's what I normally do, but this nozzle must've had a defective shutoff mechanism, because immediately after it triggered, about an ounce or so of gas flooded the area and dripped down the side of my car.

I hate to tell you this but it's a problem with some Mustangs and has been for years. The same thing happened to my 2010 GT at two different pumps at the same gas station so it wasn't a defective nozzle. I checked on a Mustang forum and they said to hold the nozzle at a 90 degree angle and it should work fine. I changed gas stations and found a pump that shut off properly and haven't had a problem in over two years.