Car ?'s

a c i d.f l y

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<Silver Donator>
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bought a hose and r134a to recharge the AC, all i know is look for "L" and avoid "H".
I'm curious to hear this story, as I've had a partially pressurized system blow up on me. Also, those valves fail like fucking nobodies business. Replace a low line on my old Civic and it held charge for the last several years I owned it. An $80 part increased the car's value by $500 when I resold it because the AC still worked.
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
60,596
132,614
I'm curious to hear this story, as I've had a partially pressurized system blow up on me. Also, those valves fail like fucking nobodies business. Replace a low line on my old Civic and it held charge for the last several years I owned it. An $80 part increased the car's value by $500 when I resold it because the AC still worked.
i get it shipped at the end of the week, 4th is probably messing w/ shipments, i did goto bigbox stores, but they didn't have a nice looking hose to reuse, they just had the can w/ a cheap hose to pump n dump.
FJC 6036 R134a U-Charge Hose with Gauge is what i nabbed
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
60,596
132,614
driving at midnight to get some factory guys some dinner, noticed the fireworks were brighter than my old headlights, finally decided to get LEDs on the civic (subaru already has em, they are viciously bright, and worth it)
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
60,596
132,614
with the ac recharge i bought 3cans of 134a, the subaru required 2 cans to reach pressure. i actually over filled it a bit, my ac compressor clutch was going all wonky. I bleed it a bit by sticking a screw driver and pushing in the pin, after that it was running great, and cold ac air.

I tried the same on my civic that hasn't worked in years, i guess it was bleed dry and i had a leak, there was zero pressure, also when i added the can it turn to like cold ice, my glove stuck to it, guess i'll try to find either ac uv dye and see where the leak is or just hope and pray ac sealer works.
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
60,596
132,614
LED lights were horrible to install in the honda. had to remove the battery to get at the passenger headlight, the dainty retention clip basically fell off, so there was no way of keeping the new LED in, but there was this rubber hood, i guess that keeps water away from the lamp, i cut it to fit the LED headlights, its loose, but driving the car, i don't hear it rattling.

driver side LED was worse, had to unhook and push away the brake fluid reservoir, and still it was tight.
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
60,596
132,614
I'm building up stuff i'm doing for the cars, figured i really need a good torque wrench if i wanna go anything beyond oil changes

buying all the stuff i need for a front/read diff oil change in the subaru, and deciding on torque wrenches

between beam vs. click and how both can go whacky is why most ppl end up stripping, i decided to get this digital adapter.

digital torque wrench adapter
 

ShakyJake

<Donor>
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Can anyone identify what in the hell is going on with my car's paint? The image I attached is from the rear bumper. I know for a fact that these spots were NOT there two weeks ago when I last washed the car. At first I thought it was some kind of gunk on the paint but it appears to be the paint itself has been either damaged or is defective somehow? What is weird is that these spots are kind of in a diagonal line as if something splashed on it. But I have no idea what it could have possibly been since the car is literally driven from work to home and nowhere in between.

I did a quick search on paint defects for my model car, but turned up nothing like this.

paint.png
 

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
<Bronze Donator>
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Can anyone identify what in the hell is going on with my car's paint? The image I attached is from the rear bumper. I know for a fact that these spots were NOT there two weeks ago when I last washed the car. At first I thought it was some kind of gunk on the paint but it appears to be the paint itself has been either damaged or is defective somehow? What is weird is that these spots are kind of in a diagonal line as if something splashed on it. But I have no idea what it could have possibly been since the car is literally driven from work to home and nowhere in between.

I did a quick search on paint defects for my model car, but turned up nothing like this.

View attachment 173385

Hail or a stone?

It looks like the UV clearcoat got cracked and it looks like momentum impact cracking with initial impact being big then medium then small, but I really can't say.
 

ShakyJake

<Donor>
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Hail or a stone?

It looks like the UV clearcoat got cracked and it looks like momentum impact cracking with initial impact being big then medium then small, but I really can't say.
It doesn't look like impact damage. It's completely smooth except for the little honeycomb pattern. It's very bizarre.

I'm going to try using my buffer with a high grit polishing compound to see if it makes a difference.
 

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
12,024
11,484
Can anyone identify what in the hell is going on with my car's paint? The image I attached is from the rear bumper. I know for a fact that these spots were NOT there two weeks ago when I last washed the car. At first I thought it was some kind of gunk on the paint but it appears to be the paint itself has been either damaged or is defective somehow? What is weird is that these spots are kind of in a diagonal line as if something splashed on it. But I have no idea what it could have possibly been since the car is literally driven from work to home and nowhere in between.

I did a quick search on paint defects for my model car, but turned up nothing like this.

View attachment 173385


It looks like it could be a few things, but hard to tell from the pictures. Is this OEM paint or has the vehicle been re-painted?

1. Someone touched the paint before it dried.

2. Touch up spots done with very poor clearcoat and it's starting to fail.

3. Rocks, debris, something hitting and caused it to crack as stated before.

4. Car was re-painted with very poor quality clearcoat.

5. Paint never taken care of, no waxing etc.

6. Shitty OEM pain, see purple neon's from the 90s.
 

ShakyJake

<Donor>
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It looks like it could be a few things, but hard to tell from the pictures. Is this OEM paint or has the vehicle been re-painted?

1. Someone touched the paint before it dried.

2. Touch up spots done with very poor clearcoat and it's starting to fail.

3. Rocks, debris, something hitting and caused it to crack as stated before.

4. Car was re-painted with very poor quality clearcoat.

5. Paint never taken care of, no waxing etc.

6. Shitty OEM pain, see purple neon's from the 90s.
This car was purchased new 10/16 and no, it's never been repainted (as far as I know...). This is the rear bumper so highly unlikely a rock or debris hit in these spots. And, again, there are no physical scuffs or indentations from an impact. It's like the paint or clearcoat has puckered up in that pattern.

I might take it by the dealership and see what they say since the car is under warranty. Although I suspect getting them to honor the warranty for paint defects will be like pulling teeth.
 

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
12,024
11,484
This car was purchased new 10/16 and no, it's never been repainted (as far as I know...). This is the rear bumper so highly unlikely a rock or debris hit in these spots. And, again, there are no physical scuffs or indentations from an impact. It's like the paint or clearcoat has puckered up in that pattern.

I might take it by the dealership and see what they say since the car is under warranty. Although I suspect getting them to honor the warranty for paint defects will be like pulling teeth.

You either got something on the paint or the OEM clearcoat is shit, How often did you wax it?

It looks like the clearcoat is oxidizing but I've never seen it in that pattern, usually it's just a bubble and it will eventually start flaking.
 

ShakyJake

<Donor>
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You either got something on the paint or the OEM clearcoat is shit, How often did you wax it?

It looks like the clearcoat is oxidizing but I've never seen it in that pattern, usually it's just a bubble and it will eventually start flaking.
I waxed it probably 6 months ago. I hand wash the car pretty regularly -- usually once a week.
 

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
12,024
11,484
I waxed it probably 6 months ago. I hand wash the car pretty regularly -- usually once a week.

Yeah, but how often do you wax it? Did you go a long time before waxing it? You could have got someone on the paint.
 

ShakyJake

<Donor>
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Yeah, but how often do you wax it? Did you go a long time before waxing it? You could have got someone on the paint.
About every 6 months I'll wax it.

Doing a search for clear coat failure I see a few images of a similar pattern as mine:

watermark.php
 

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
12,024
11,484
About every 6 months I'll wax it.

Doing a search for clear coat failure I see a few images of a similar pattern as mine:

watermark.php

Your best bet is just to take it to a pain specialist and get them to look at it, they should be willing to give you an idea what happened and what it'll take to fix it. I definitely wouldn't take a buffer to it, you'll probably rip it off and make it look worse.
 
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A5150Ylee

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Did you have any harsh chemicals around the car? It almost looks like it could be a paint stripper that was left on and allowed to dry back out.

It could also be caused by the plastic panel flexing, the the harder clear coat not flexing but cracking instead. If you do clear coats too thick on plastic, that can be one of the problems down the line.

But ya, don't try to fix it yourself, and get it to someone who knows what they are doing.
 

Siliconemelons

Avatar of War Slayer
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Paint stripper or caustic chemical looks most likely with the pattern.

To me the other example pic you posted looks like when water is seeping up through a substrate to a surface that has a seal/barrier - it would be very odd for that to happen in a car...

If you have used paint stripper you would see how it softens and constricts stuff- so then re-orging as said.

But I have no clue that is just really odd... I would bug the dealer. It really looks defect-y with it being same type of issue in random places
 

Frenzied Wombat

Potato del Grande
14,730
31,802
About every 6 months I'll wax it.

Doing a search for clear coat failure I see a few images of a similar pattern as mine:

watermark.php

As long as there's no texture to it which would indicate you got some chemical substance on the paint, the dealer should absolutely cover it under warranty.