WATER SPOTS!!!!

JonesNTN · July 17, 2003

My truck is starting to show what appears to be water spots in the paint. Washing helps for a while, but it comes back after a few days without even getting wet. I've washed with different types of things, dried it after washing and waxed it several times. Nothing seems to make these things go away.

Can you help a brother out?!

woyster_00z71 · July 17, 2003

My Tahoe is showing the same type of water spots. I have Zaino but haven't applied it yet. I guess I have the same question...what needs done to remove them? Will the Zaino claybar do the trick or is there something else that needs to be done before Zaino?

B.J.

JonesNTN · July 17, 2003

While waiting for a response I found a site that recommends using white vineagar and the re-waxing since the vineagar takes off the wax. I may try it on my glass and hood.

This crap pisses me off to no end.

Greg · July 17, 2003

I use Z18 claybar, Z7 carwash, Z5 & Z2 polish, and Z6 gloss enhancer. Using an electric leaf blower to dry the vehicle helps, but I found that I needed a few coats of Z5 / Z2 to make it work really well. Using Z6 between coats of polish and when done finally eliminated the waterspots for me on my black vette.

woyster_00z71 · July 17, 2003

White vinegar? Hmm...I may have to try that. I had a '97 silverado that had waterspots pretty badly and nothing would remove them. The only thing that came close was clear coat polishing compound but that was a big pain in the arm!

Anyway, let me know if the vinegar works.

B.J.

JonesNTN · July 24, 2003

Vinegar helped some, but I think I need drastic help. I am going to take it to a detailer to be buffed here in a couple of weeks. Hopefully that will help the paint, I may even have him buff the glass.

Here is the info I found on vinegar from Advance's web site.

By: Leonard Emanuelson/autoMedia.com

Water should be a fairly harmless liquid. After all, we drink it, we bath in it and we even use water to wash our vehicles, so how bad could it be? The answer to that question depends on where you live and the minerals that are present in the local water supply. For example, the water in the Southwestern portion of the U.S. is full of hard mineral deposits that will literally etch themselves into paint and window glass if they are left on your vehicle for an extended period of time. Lawn sprinklers are the worst. Leave your vehicle where it gets water-spotted by the sprinklers, then baked by the sun, and the spots are not only difficult to remove, but they may do irreparable damage as well.

Offense, Defense

Like most problems, the best defense is a good offense. In this case, keeping a good coat of wax on your paint and window glass (that's right, use a glass wax) is the first line of defense against acid rain or water-spot etching. The second line of defense is to act fast to remove any water spots that may get on your vehicle. Time is relative. If you have a dark-colored vehicle and it stays out in the bright sun, you have less time to deal with the problem than a white vehicle in overcast conditions. It all has to do with surface temperature—the hotter it is, the tougher the water spots are to remove.

Removing water spots is fairly easy if you catch them soon enough. Re-washing your vehicle won't do a thing. Instead, mix up a solution of 1/2 distilled water and 1/2 distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle and carry it in your vehicle along with a soft, clean cloth. When you notice water spots, move the vehicle into the shade, let the surface cool down, spray the paint with this water/vinegar solution and wipe it off with the soft, clean cloth. The spots should come right off. Your waxed surface may be dulled by this solution, so apply a coat of wax when you get the chance

If you don't like the smell of vinegar and don't mind spending more money, commercial water-spot removers are available at most boat shops. They work the same way: Just spray the surface down and wipe off with a clean cloth. (I've found the white vinegar just as effective and a lot less expensive.) What if the water spots have gone too far and actually etched the clear coat of your paint or the window glass? More drastic measures are called for. For window glass, try a good dry scrubbing with 000-grade steel wool to remove the spots without damaging the glass. If that doesn't do the job, then the windows will have to be polished with a commercially available glass polish and a power buffer.

Because today's water-based paints are very delicate (especially the clearcoat), you'll want to experiment with the least-aggressive polish available. Try hand-polishing with a cleaner-type liquid wax. If the spots persist, then have a professional buff the surface with a fine polishing compound and machine buffer. Follow with a good hand waxing. Today's clearcoats are very soft and thin, so make sure that everyone who attacks water spots with a power buffer knows what they're doing. Ideally, you'll keep the water/vinegar "first aid kit" handy so that the water damage will never get to this point.

New vehicles and new paint jobs are expensive. Keeping your vehicle looking new will add miles of driving pleasure and protect your investment.

woyster_00z71 · July 24, 2003

Thanks for posting your results. I washed my tahoe this weekend and there are definately water spots that won't come off. They aren't as bad as they were on my '97 truck so maybe I can get them off with the vinegar treatment. I'm going to try it here in the next couple of weeks and then put a couple coats of Zaino on it and hopefully it won't happen again. They seem to only be on the hood so if I have to use the clear coat polishing compound again as a last resort at least I won't have to do the whole vehicle.

Thanks again.

B.J.

JonesNTN · August 20, 2003

Well dropped my truck off for the detailers to work on. He says he will essentially have to go through a 6 -step process and follow up with mequiars no26. Cost $130. I'll let you know how it works out. He said he doubts he can get it completely out of the windows though.

WEFs99 · August 21, 2003

My truck is Onyx Black with a bad case of the pox. I've tried the vinegar with a lot of work and small results. A cleaner wax was a last resort but it still left traces of the spots. The glass is a lost cause for some reason. I've tried Bon Ami and RainX glass cleaner (very abrasive) with limited results. Someone could make a fortune for a fix.

JonesNTN · August 21, 2003

He also asked me about my Truck washing habits. He said never wash it in the sunlight or even while it is hot. He aslo said that I need to be drying the paint instead of letting it dry or just driving it off.

simple · August 21, 2003

I have the same problem on my Z71. The water spots are on my hood only. They are definitely etched into the clear coat because I used meguiars medallion paint cleaner 3 times on the whole hood and the spots are still there. I also followed the cleaner up with meguiars #7 pure polish, then #26 high tech yellow wax. It helped, but I can still see the spots. This is what I get for letting my truck air dry everytime I wash it. The only way to get these spots out is to have them removed by a detailer. (use a rotary buffer) As a result, I will never let my vehicles air dry. Oh, my truck is black which doesn't help the situation. You can see everything with black!

1998 Z71 ext cab

5.7L