Oxidation UNDER a clearcoat??

[Wildcat Rudy]

This is an odd one for me. I've owned a few Hondas over the years, all with clearcoat finishes, and never had this problem. My '97 CR-V has the popular San Marino Red, which was that solid red they used on everything from Civics to CRXs and Preludes. The clearcoat itself is not flaking or chipped, but the color itself seems like it is oxidizing...beneath the clearcoat. I have never seen that before. When my ex ran it off the road several years ago, many of the panels on the left side were refinished and still retain the proper color. As you can imagine, it is worse on the roof or other top-facing surfaces, where sides are not quite as bad.

Even though I knew it would do no good, I did try some #1 Medium Cut Cleaner and it made no difference. I wondered if there was any other type of polish or cleaner that might penetrate and restore the color. I'm doubting it, though--my gut feeling is that the whole thing would need to be repainted.

I can post a photo tomorrow, taken in daylight, that shows the vast difference. Some of us on a Honda forum are calling it "pink" rather than "red". Unless I could fix the rust in the rear quarters, it is not even really worth repainting. But at least if I could restore the color, it would not look so bad.

Typical Michigan car though. The road salt and potholes tear it up, yet I have 242,000 miles on the clock and it still runs great!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Oxidation UNDER a clearcoat??

Well, if the issue is truly with the color coat then nothing can be done to fix it short of a repaint. As you can well imagine, you can't actually "touch" the color coat with any product due to the clear coat being in the way.

Tell us a bit more about how you used the Medium Cut Cleaner - by hand, with a buffer, for how long, did you notice any change at all? There could be a couple of different things going on here: A) the clear coat could be badly weathered and dull, which can be corrected with a liquid paint cleaner as long as it's not actually starting to fail, or B) the clear coat was somehow lacking UV screeners and the underlying color coat is fading because of that. Clear should be very effective at protecting the underlying color from UV damage, which will burn out the pigments used in the color coat, and many pigments used in reds are among the least stable pigments in use. But if that's what's happening, you've got a real problem because, like we said, you can't reach the color coat through the clear.

Some fading of color is pretty natural, almost regardless of the color. This is why we see so many cars that have had their badging removed and a shadow of the badge is left behind. We see this on all different colors, and the older the car is when the badges are removed the more noticeable the shadow effect can be. Even wet sanding and compounding can't fix this because the issue is with the color beneath the clear - it was protected by a solid barrier (the badge) and therefore has exhibited zero fade when the rest of the car has had even a tiny bit - just enough to see the difference once the badge is gone.

[Wildcat Rudy]

Re: Oxidation UNDER a clearcoat??

Thanks for the feedback!

You've confirmed what I thought: the damage is under the clearcoat, which no restoration product can penetrate. I'm not the only one with a San Marino Red CR-V that has this problem, so like you've said, it is a combination of unstable pigments in the red, and likely a lack of UV protectors in the clearcoat.

I tried #1 Medium Cut Cleaner with a rotary buffing wheel on one small portion of the rear, but after a minute or so, there was absolutely no change at all.

We just picked up a used Acura TL that appears to have retained most of its original color (Dark Emerald Pearl)--it looks fantastic for its age! I'm still debating which of my Meguiar's cleaners I will try on it. I'm most comfortable with #1 on the worst of the scratches and scuffs, #2 all over, #9 to buff out the swirls, and #26 to keep it nice. Time to stock up...and I may start another thread once I begin that project.

Thanks again!