2014 Silverado rust through paint

Yz125n101 · July 17, 2016

My white 2014 Silverado 1500 has small "pin head" sized rust specks on pretty much every body panel. I normally wash it at the car wash but washed it by hand this weekend and found what looks like hundreds of little rust spots. I will be taking it to the dealer this coming week. I just wanted to know if anyone else has had or heard of this issue.

Yz125n101 · July 17, 2016

Here is a pic of what I'm talking about.

martha3065 · July 17, 2016

I've heard it referred to as "rail dust", like from railroad tracks. It should just be on the surface of the paint. I had this on my white G8 and white Grand Cherokee. Polish or clay bar and wax should remove it.

Yz125n101 · July 17, 2016

Thanks for the info I looked it up and it looks like rail dust to me. I think I'll still take it to the dealer and let them deal with it seeing how it's all over the truck.

BlackZ71Silverado · July 17, 2016

Have you attempted to use a clay bar to remove it?

Taking it to the dealership most likely won't get you anything but terribly swirled, destroyed paint! Get yourself a good clay bar, it should take that dust right off.

Yz125n101 · July 17, 2016

I haven't tried a clay bar but I'm also not someone who will except a sub par job from the dealer. I have a few GM phone numbers to contact if it doesn't come out perfect.

Yz125n101 · July 17, 2016

There's also much rail rust on the truck it would take me hours and hours to clay bar it

BlackZ71Silverado · July 18, 2016

OK, don't try and remove it, leave them there and live with those ugly little brown spots all over your truck.

Rail dust usually happens when the trucks are being transported and are usually removed by the receiving dealership once they are noticed.

If you live by a rail yard or tracks that get used heavily, those spots are most likely going to be an issue forever, hopefully that's not the case.

Didn't you look the truck over before you purchased it? Your truck is two years old, is this the first time you are noticing the little brown specs all over the place?

Not really sure what you expect the dealership to do, it's really not their problem to deal with.

You will, and should most likely be told that the rail dust is not a defect in the factory paint quality, and it's not a defect in the factory paint job.

To be honest, it's not the dealerships problem to take care of and they would be correct in telling you exactly that.

The paint warranty is against factory defects, rusting prematurely, paint chipping/peeling due to poor adhesion, what you have is neither, it's outside contamination.

Really sorry for suggesting you remove the spots with a clay bar. I didn't realize you expected someone else to do that work for you at zero cost.

LTZDaddy · July 18, 2016

It is ABSOLUTELY rail dust, as well as semi-metallic brake dust.

First thing I did with mine last week was a snow foam with IRON-X.

Actually you can get IRON-X in a spray bottle and spray it on by hand and let it do its job and then that's it.

You can also get it at a snow foam type application that you put it in your foam cannon and do it that way.

The first thing I did was rinse it really well with a little electric pressure washer then snow foam it with the IRON-X solution and rinsed, then repeat and rinse.

Claying it WILL NOT remove below surface contamination. Think of it as shaving... When you shave you just knock off the what is above the surface with the follicle hair remaining below the surface.

And that's exactly what will happen with these microscopic particles unless you chemically remove them from the paint!

After IRON-X-ing it then yes you do want to clay it. When doing that you can do the old fashioned clay bar method or what most detailers (like myself) are doing these days would be to use a neoprene clay bar substitute.

One of the brand names for instance is Nanoskin. You can get a six and a half inch Nanoskin pad and use it on your DA and do the entire truck in about 20 minutes. Or you can you getNanoskin pads for instance. Of course there are a number of different brand names but they basically all do the same thing.

You do want however to make sure that the truck is SURGICALLY clean before you start claying or Nanoskinning getting to remove surface contaminants because if you don't all you're going to end up doing is scrubbing your paint with all the dirt that's already on the paint!!!

Is it / has it gone to far at this point to the point of no return? Probably not. However... you really do need to chemically clean, clay, AND BUFF the paint then get a quality sealant on it as soon as you can.

I was fairly shocked just 9 days ago when we picked up our new LTZ to measure the paint and find film thickness all over the truck well under 90 microns pretty much everywhere.

When 10 years ago our Envoy Denali (we still have) had 55~60 microns inside the jambs and 150+ outside... generally 154~160 without fail.

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silveradosid · July 18, 2016

thx ltzdaddy, i have a white truck with these spots. will give it a try

pm26 · July 18, 2016

Another good way to remove these spots is to use scratch remover wax. You can find it at Auto Zone, it comes in a small yellow bottle. It will not scratch the clearcoat or paint and does a great job removing surface impurities. I had good luck using this product on stubborn diesel exhaust deposits on the paint surface that would not come of with any cleaner, Also, minor blemishes. This wax is too fine to actually remove serious scratches, it works well on very minor ones though.

TJay74 · July 18, 2016

Ok, rail dust a term used wrong a lot of the time, this is one of them. Those are specs from the brake pads/rotors material getting on the paint. Those little bits of iron get on the paint and one they start to oxidize leave those rust dots. The dealer wont do a thing for you, this isn't a warranty nor a paint issue. This is wear and tear that falls on the owner to take care of a prevent.

Pick up a clay bar kit, clay bar the entire truck. Then once done put a good coat of wax on the truck.

You will see these more often the closer you get to winter as well due to the brine/salt/chemicals used to treat the roads causing those iron particles to oxidize.

This is my 5th white vehicle, seen it on every one of them.

LTZDaddy · July 19, 2016

thx ltzdaddy, i have a white truck with these spots. will give it a try

You're certainly welcome Sid

FWIW... you can find me on the autogeek and autopia forums where they call me CarDaddy. ;)

I've not been on autogeek for a couple of months because other things have come up but there's quite a few threads there with me in the middle and there's a lot of good information to be found over there. ;)

The Autopia Forum is where I hang out more these days because it's just much more laid-back (and the Forum Nazis don't tend to jump all over you for the least Little Thing You Do). LOL

If you have any questions just shoot me reply here or an e-mail and I'll be glad to help you however I can.

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pm26 · July 20, 2016

Ok, rail dust a term used wrong a lot of the time, this is one of them. Those are specs from the brake pads/rotors material getting on the paint. Those little bits of iron get on the paint and one they start to oxidize leave those rust dots. The dealer wont do a thing for you, this isn't a warranty nor a paint issue. This is wear and tear that falls on the owner to take care of a prevent.

Pick up a clay bar kit, clay bar the entire truck. Then once done put a good coat of wax on the truck.

You will see these more often the closer you get to winter as well due to the brine/salt/chemicals used to treat the roads causing those iron particles to oxidize.

This is my 5th white vehicle, seen it on every one of them.

That may not be true if it can be shown that the rusting flakes imbedded in the paint are a result of over-the-rail transport of new trucks to their destination. There have a been a few cases like this discussed on these forums and dealers took care of the problem. However, I would strongly caution one not to use a power buffer and polishing compound to solve this problem, as it will needlessly remove some good clearcoat and the paint will be more susceptible to oxidation and deterioration. Clay bar or scratch remover wax applied by hand is the best way.

WhineyTTwins · July 20, 2016

Do exactly as LTZDaddy said. No need to worry. Just be sure you use a good clay bar. Griots Garage clay is very weak in terms of grit and you will be there all day (if it even removes it).