What Are These Spots??

[erichaley]

This past weekend, I completed a paint correction, wheel coating, CQuartz application, and CQuartz Dlux application on a brand new 2013 Honda Pilot.

For being brand new, this thing had some issues. Besides the DISO, there were a few good scratches, some really nasty type II water craters... I mean spots... and these mystery spots all over the hood and roof that, after after claying and trying many different combinations, would only come off using my PE14, a 4-ply twisted wool pad and some M100.

The question is, what were they?? Pics are below:







And here are the type II water spots I mentioned (I felt they were too deep to remove completely):

[Andr3wilson]

From what I am seeing in the first three pics, I just see orange peel unless there's something finer you are trying to show.

[erichaley]

From what I am seeing in the first three pics, I just see orange peel unless there's something finer you are trying to show.

There's definitely some orange peel there, but that's there to stay. The dots are pretty tiny, I tried to capture them as best I could with my iPhone 5...

[JHZR2]

I'm seeing tiny dots like that on my black Accord Hybrid. Only have an iPhone 4s with me and haven't gotten a satisfactory shot, yet.

Two days after prep and application of CQUK. Looked great yesterday (cloudy day though) when trying to get SLR shots....

[JHZR2]

Ok, I think these work. Went to a gas station where there were brand new LED lights. I applied CQUK on Saturday afternoon, it certainly didn't rain or even get dew for many hours after application. In fact it never rained since I applied, though am dew may have happened. But as I said, didn't see these when taking SLR pics or until tonight when I stopped. The car has 100 miles of road grime and some condensation on it at this point.

Note on this one that similar spots are on the glass.



A few more attempts:





I did put a finger smudge on one there, and note the road grime and condensation there...

Same? Any ideas?

First thought from searching was some sort of residue from the films they put on for shipping. But then why on the glass? I don't think those white films are applied to glass. The car was built in June, delivered in August, hasn't been hit with tree sap or salt from the sea, though it does sit outside. I never washed it until the prep for CQuartz, which was identical to what I did for our Odyssey (ie dawn, iron x, optimum hyper polish, eraser, CQUK).

Could it be water etching in tiny spots where the CQUK didn't cure or didn't cure flat?

Nothing the car encoubtered between Saturday and tonight would strike me as a cause. Did I prep wrong? Was it a mistake to not wash from Aug until this past Sat?

The car is kept outdoors.

Thanks!

[RonID]

I have a million tiny dots like this all over my glass. In my case it developed two months after buying the car and definitely was not there at first.

I've concluded it is tree sap which blew around in the wind near where I park at work. I feel pretty sure about that because I found large globs of sap on the car in a few spots as well.

So far I've tried glass cleaners, 99% alcohol, mineral spirits all with no luck. The best technique seems to be a razor blade but I've held off doing any more than a test section for fear of scratching the glass.

Ron

[AZpolisher15]

I have a million tiny dots like this all over my glass. In my case it developed two months after buying the car and definitely was not there at first.

I've concluded it is tree sap which blew around in the wind near where I park at work. I feel pretty sure about that because I found large globs of sap on the car in a few spots as well.

So far I've tried glass cleaners, 99% alcohol, mineral spirits all with no luck. The best technique seems to be a razor blade but I've held off doing any more than a test section for fear of scratching the glass.

Ron

You could try CRL Sparkle. Good stuff.

[Mike Phillips]

First of all.... for anyone reading this thread, the original issue with the paint started by the OP was posted in 2013

Here's the time stamp: 09-03-2013


I'm not sure what Eric ever ended up doing with this but the "issue" with the 2013 Honda Pilot was almost 3 years ago.

I have a million tiny dots like this all over my glass.

In my case it developed two months after buying the car and definitely was not there at first.


Ron

Hi Ron,

Defects are either,

Topical - That is on the surface

Below surface - An issue that's below the surface or IN the material.


If the dots you're seeing are on the surface than you can use a razor blade carefully to remove the dots of contamination off the surface but use something to smooth over the sharp corners of the razor blade first. A fine cut file, grinding stone, emory cloth, etc.

You could also try a plastic razor blade or some glass polish by machine with a foam cutting pad.


IF the dots are some type of etching or void in the glass then you'll need to machine polish using a glass polish that contains Cerium Oxide.

I have an article on this...

How to remove tiny pinhole pits in glass windows using a rotary buffer


Not sure how the tiny pinhole pits got into the glass but using my finger to enable the camera to focus on the glass surface you can see them here...

Tiny tiny tiny pinhole pits in the glass

[Mike Phillips]

Here's a very in-depth article on how to machine polish glass.


Glass polishing - How to remove scratches in glass

[RonID]

Thanks, Mike.

I'm going to try to get and post a photo.

The car definitely didn't have this problem for the first couple of months of ownership. If it is glass pitting I can't imagine how it could have happened in a span of a week or two, but then again I'm not sure what would cause glass pitting like that.

I'm going to to try the razor blade technique (carefully) and I take your point about the corner of the blade. I guess that's where you can get into trouble if the point digs into the glass.

I will also read your article about glass polishing. Is that a risky operation for someone who hasn't done it before?

Ron