Clearcoat Failure?

[NoleFan]

Well, looks like I had this all written up with pictures attached and only viewed it in Preview and didn’t follow through. Ooops, let’s try this again.

Ok guys and gals,
I washed the ol girl (2005 Nissan Xterra Black) a few weekends ago after riding some dirt roads and being filthy. The attached pictures show what I found on the hood after the wash.

About a month or so earlier I used a light polish on these spots as I thought they were just hard water spots. For the most part they were gone, but have raised their ugly head again. This makes me think that it is possible clearcoat failure and the polish was just covering up the damage. There are two main spots on the hood, and you have to look at just the correct angle to see them, which is why you can barely even see the damage in the pictures.

So what say you experts of AG? Is this clearcoat failure? How do I determine? I don’t want to take a strong compound and pad to it if it is, guess I would rather just compound/polish the rest of the hood and put on a good sealant to help slow the damage.

Would a paint thickness meter be of any use to diagnose it? I do have access to one, and actually brought it back to work after forgetting it was in my garage for almost a year, oops again. I am afraid this really may be cc failure, as the paint on these Nissans stink!!!

Thanks









I wish I could get them to show up better in the pictures.

[Dr_Pain]

I suspect the "light polish" did not do what you wanted it to do. In the last picture, I am almost sure I can still see some scratches/swirls, which would indicate that if the initial defect you are talking about (long standing water spots) were not "removed" but minimized and masked by the polishing oils or the LSP you put on it after the fact. It only takes a couple of months for the LSP/oils to degrade and then "BAM" they are in your face once again.

Since you don't have some quality close ups, I would suggest you research the forum for articles regarding "clear coat failure" or the classification of water spots (see Mike's article). You will see a couple of pictures shared that may resemble or appease your mind.

Don't forget that water etching can go pretty deep in the clear! Also, just looking at the paint, I would say that there is some embedded dirt/stain (first picture).... Hard to say though!

[NoleFan]

Thanks, will try and get some better pictures with the DSLR camera from above the hood. That was just the ol camera phone.

Looking at pictures, seems it could be 50/50.

[Setec Astronomy]

If that's failure, I'm not seeing it. I see some waterspots and dirt. The car was dirty when you took those pics, yes?

[NoleFan]

Yes, that was yesterday afternoon and this morning trying to get a good angle. Washed it a week ago? Heck, I can't remember. Will clean it with some waterless wash and try and get a better angle from overhead. Liking the answers so far, but the pictures aren't good enough.

[Setec Astronomy]

You did a light polish by hand? What did you use?

[NoleFan]

Used the orbital with a light polishing pad (don't remember which one) with Sonax Paint Cleaner.

[Dr_Pain]

Used the orbital with a light polishing pad (don't remember which one) with Sonax Paint Cleaner.

HHhhhhmmmmm.... a dual action (5" or 6") polisher or one of those 6" or 10" orbital buffer?..... if the latter, then you just "spread" the product, meaning you did not CORRECT the problem, just smeared the stuff. Orbitals are referred to as "wax spreader" because they have no correction power. Do a little search on the subject.

[NoleFan]

Wrong wording, sorry. Used my Griots DA with a Lake & Country pad. Just can't remember which density foam I used.

[c8n]

Did you see any paint transfer when you polished?