Rusty well water stains all over my Olds.

Hey gang, I got a problem. We moved into a new apartment complex a few months ago, and I'd been parking right next to a patch of grass with an underground sprinkler system. After a few weeks the entire half of my car that faces the grass has an oily-looking discoloration. All the chrome has a brown tinge. The paint is a little less obvious, but very noticible, and when the sun hits it just right it really looks like I drove through an exploding toxic waste plant. I wasn't worried until I took it to a car wash and the stuff wouldn't budge.

I asked the apartment manager about it and she said it was probably the rust in the sprinkler's well water, and to try a product called "Iron-Out" which they use to clean the buildings and sidewalks. Googling revealed a few mentions of it being used for this purpose without damaging car finishes, but it's not an indicated use and I'm hesitant. The only thing I have tried is straight vinegar, which did nothing.

Anyone dealt with this, and/or used Iron-Out on auto paint? I know I could just spot-test it if I had any, but I thought I'd ask here before I purchased anything.

Thanks!

 

Straight vinegar won't do that. If you mix 1 part of water, 2 parts vinegar, and a teaspoon of salt (per gallon of vinegar, so a pinch or two for say two quarts), you'll have a mild hydrochoric acid wash. Leave it for a half hour (no wind or direct sunlight to dry it off) and wipe down. A lemon-based cleaner would likely do it too. You might start with a wax-remover, then either of those. Lemon-juice also eats rust or aluminum oxides (white powdery stuff).

 

What a shame, Cermo. Too bad the apt complex isn't willing to accept responsibility for it, but that's no surprise, certainly.
If that Iron Out is used for cleaning buildings, I'd be pretty wary about using it on my car's paint. Sounds like it may be too heavy duty. Have you tried a cleaner wax? I use one by McGuiars that I've had pretty good luck with. I'm sure compound would get it out, but I'd try something less abrasive, like the cleaner wax, before I'd resort to that.

 

Hey Norm
I was given a eddlebrock (sp?) intake, It's one of the older ones has 289 stamp on.
Any way it's looks like chalk.
Will the lemon juice clean it up?
Sorry for the hi jack.
Thanks,

Rick

 

Not as good as Por15's Metal Ready. Lemon juice dries too fast to penetrate cast metals. The Vinegar solution might get it off, but cast aluminum does seal up and keep it off with the coating that Metal Ready leaves. Might take an overnite soak though.

Whatever you do, you'll want to coat the aluminum with some kind of clear finish, maybe a powder coat.

 

That chalky stuff isnt' rust, can't you just scrub it off with soap and water or whatever?
Then start polishing....

 

Florida is notorious for pissing people off with the 4 lane median sprinklers. What you have may NOT be rust but an acidic water damage problem. Or both. In Florida they had suits against the cities for ruining some car finishes. Some areas have a water from wells that damage car paint. When I lived on the ocean my GF & I parked underneath the condo building. My GF parked where the outside sprinkler system found a joint that would let the water through and run across the parking area ceiling and it dripped down on her car. Ruined the hood and the condo association paid to have her hood painted no questions asked. They are familiar with the problem in Florida. I would be SURE what is causing the problem before attacking it. Find a good body/paint guy and have him look at it. It may buff out and it may not. If not, I would be going after the apartment owners real quick.

 

Thanks Norm. I made the mix you said and tried it on my drivers-side mirror, and it worked a treat.

I tried to test it on my windshield first, by laying a rag across it and soaking it, but the wind kept pushing it off. I really wish I had a garage right now. I ended up just wrapping the rag around the mirror, checked it after about half and hour, and viola!

Damned if I can figure out how I'm gonna do the rest of the car though. I have 3 or 4 rags, I'll just clear 3 or 4 rag-sized patches at a time (on a still day) until it's clean.

I'm a little embarrassed to say I really have no idea how to take care of a car's finish, as I've never had a car with a finish worth caring for. Several cars I've owned I would get laughed at just for WASHING them. Would keeping it waxed prevent this from happening again? Not that I'm tempted to park near the sprinklers again...

I'm looking at Meguiar's website, and I didn't see cleaner wax exactly, but the "deep crystal system paint cleaner" sounds like it might be a good plan "B". Is that what you were talking about, Snooterbuckets? The other things advertised to clean up paint were compounds, and I know you were talking about something other than a compound.

Anyway, thanks everyone!

 

It's aluminum Oxide, extruded aluminum forms a tight surface from the heat (molten billet to formed piece), then they usually plate it or coat it. Sheet aluminum gets a coating, except the thicker stuff for welding (aircraft struts, etc.) but cast aluminum, especially on old manifolds, loses it's protective coating, and the fungus starts (aluminum oxide).

 

Cermo, if you've got a tarp or car cover, you could take your wife's tea towels... An old flannel sheet under some plastic, more likely. Go to the unlikely 'Parts Store' - a secondhand shop and pick up a few, soak 'em in the vinegar bath and go for it. Glad it worked.

 

I'm no expert on car cleaning but I have been very impressed with this line. I have a whole shelf in my broom closet with this stuff! Allover(my Jimmy) gets a bubble bath every weekend wether he wants it or not. He gets waxed twice a year with "Carnauba Cleaner Wax". Interior gets "Protectant". Rims get "Chrome Polish" (more than twice a year). But my favorite product is "Back to Black" for all exterior trim. Because I was always parking in the same place, the trim around the back, passenger window had pitted and turned grey. A two local bodyshops put me onto Back to Black. It worked like a charm. Still pitted, but it's back to black, this can be used on any color trim. I love this stuff...and I get A L O T of compliments on this finishMy neighbors tease me too...but I've got the shinest truck on the street!


http://www.mothers.com/02_products/02_products_01_line.html

 

Yeah, I guess that's the stuff I use. I don't have it here so I can check and make sure but it was from McGuiars and it was a cleaner, so that must be it.

 

Yup....back to black is a good product. Works for a lot of things on your car. It does bring it back.

 

My stuff is "Mothers" not McGuiars. All the bottles are red. It has to be Mothers...what else would we use on our babies

 

You haven't met Mother. He's one big mother, you wouldn't expect your pitbull to survive.