my car have be crapped on by birds. i never know that bird crap had acid that can eat paint. now my car looks like it haves permanent water spots. Can this be fixed? and how much, and where? i even have one spot were i can see metal!!! @#$%#@$Q BIRDS!!

 

Bird Excrement:
(Or insect excrement like Gypsy moth, June bug, Honeybees, etc) contain highly acidic concentrates (uric acid (pH 3.0-4.5) which if left for any length of time the will cause the porous clear coat to occlude (a non-transparent clouded area) or may cause etching (a depression in the paint or glass surfaces) so they should be removed without delay. Birds use gravel to help digest their food so grit and sand are some of the major components, which can cause scratching. Insect honeydew (sometimes mistaken for tree resin) excreted by aphids or scale insects that infest the leaves and branches is also acidic. Residue should be removed (see below) as soon as possible as it could compromise the clear coat.

Take your time and be careful with its removal, these acids should be removed and/or neutralized as quickly as possible. Using an IPA (isopropyl alcohol) no ammonia based (ammonia acts as an acid accelerant) glass cleaner or a gel alcohol hand cleaner (Purell®) place a small amount onto the immediate area, let dwell for two or three minutes. The alcohol content, a drying agent, will extract the acid, then thoroughly flush with water to rinse away any grit or sand, etc or use detailers clay to encapsulate it, re-spray the area let it dwell for 2-3 minutes and wipe dry.

Avoid using a QD spray to flush residue, as they contain either carnauba wax or polymer sealants, which will seal the acid and not allow it to dissipate. Using an alkaline rinse of baking soda and water (to neutralize the acid) as soon as is practical is highly recommended, if the affected paintwork is not neutralized any remaining acid residue will be reactivated .If the paint or glass surface has been etched the surface can be levelled with a suitable polish and then apply a paint protection.

Do not scrub hardened/dried excrement residue as it is very abrasive and will scratch the paint surface, once they are softened (re-liquefied) it enables their removal with less likelihood of damage to the paint surface

The paint system is porous; when you add water and heat to an acidic substance it will erode the paint system very quickly (the heat opens microscopic fissures in the paint allowing ingress, the water provides a carrier system for the acid, and heat acts as a catalyst each time water is reintroduced the acid will be reactivated).
The paint surface should be periodically neutralized / decontaminated
(Automotive International A B C Decontamination / Neutralization wash system (http://www.autoint.com )

{each one / teach one][then student /becomes teacher}
JonM

 

Thanks for the heads up, yesterday i parked under a tree and two bird droppings fell into my car. Because of your post, I immediately wipe it off with baby wet wipes, don't know if it helps, but at least it's off my car. Again, just wanna let you know. If not for your post, I would've let the droppings take refuge in my car until my next wash.

 

Kinda hard to assess damage without photos. You may want to try a pro detailer, he may have skills and know how to salvage and clean the other areas. IMO, if it's etched through and you can see metal, there's really no recourse but to have it repainted.

 

Get some Meguiar's Scratch X and work it in really well using a cotton terry towel or foam applicator. Scratch X needs to be rubbed in really well and do NOT let it dry like wax. Otherwise you will have to have it buffed out using a rotary buffer. I do not think a random orbital polisher (PC) can do it.

 

If I park outside (or in underground lots with overhead pipes) I do a "circle check" for brid crap. Seeing firsthand what dried-up bird bombs can do to the clearcoat or glass, it made me paranoid about etching and marring. I always keep a bottle of QD and regular household papertowels in the trunk. I soak the towel with QD then blot the affected area(s). Make sure to leave it to soak for a few minutes and DON'T rub! You would want the wet towel to pickup whatever crap is on the clearcoat. In direct sunlight you may want to spray QD on the towel to keep it from drying.

But with Klasse AIO and a few coats of SG, I don't worry about scratches that much anymore since the crap rubs right off once I get it wet. Tree sap also comes right off and doesn't stick to the SG.

 

Yeah, we need photos.

 

i have the same issue.
4 quater size water spots.
not sure if its the birds poop or what.
but acura won't do anything to help.

 

 

What type of "help" are you expecting from Acura?

 

Perhaps Acura's famous Musiclink/Anti-Paint Problem accessory....

 

How could I forget that M/APP accessory

 

Yeah I'm looking for some help. I've been bombed four times in one week. Is it ok to wash it of with water a MF cloth? And then if I have any water spots I can:

 

I came out of work last night only to find a big ol' pile of poop on the hood.

Grabbed a MF towel from the trunk and went to wipe it off - when I did it crumbled like dust and simply flaked off.

Must have been sitting there for quite a while ......

I contribute the "Teflon Coating" to my Zaino.

 

I need some help... I know all about the harm bird shit can do to clearcoat. I never let it settle for long at all. However last month I went away for the weekend and came back to find a huge pile of sitting on the drivers door in the burning hot sun. My car is NBP too. It had been extremely hot all weekend and it was very noticable after I washed it off. Its a stain in the clearcoat and wont come out. I have all sorts of detail products and have tried... 3m perfect it , 3m hand glaze, mothers step 1 polish, various cleaner wax's. It still catches my eye everytime I walk to my car. My boy (autobody painter) says at this stage wet sand is the only alternative bc I refuse to use any real harsh cut-polish, or rubbing compound. Does anyone have any alternatives cause it looks to me like its sitting on the top layer and should just come right out. You can still see color thru it. Thank you for any help you can give me.

 

Autobody guy is probably right - I've seen a few posts here to fix chips and the poster did a wet sand with something like 3000 or 4000 grit sandpaper. Once he was done he put some rubbing compound on it and it was looking perfect when he finished.

 

There's nothing much we can do unless of course keep it garaged most of the time. A few hours outdoors exposes the car to not just bird crap but all kinds of contaminants that may do damage to the finish. The protection added by a long-term product like an acrylic sealant not just allow us to remove crap with ease, it also provides a barrier to keep the acidic poo from eating right into the clearcoat. The sun just aggravates the problem even more. It's also not just the finish that we should worry about but also the windshield (yes, poo etches glass too!) and the lexan headlight lenses.

Whatever you do, NEVER remove bird poo dry. You WILL definitely abrade the surface. I speak from experience when I panicked and scraped off the poo from the front winshield of my old TL. It left a bad etch and the area was scratched to sh*t.

Acura paint seem to be thin (and soft). it may be easy to remove defects but be very careful when you use serious compounds. Try a good polish like Optimum Polish on different speeds on the PC and see if this evens the defect out.

 

Thanks alot for the help. I ended up calling my autobody shop boy over, and he brought some "detail pro" brand compound, and his new variable speed buffer. I didn't think it would be done that quickly but he took the haze out in about 2-3 coats of two different compounds. I know he used my perfect it for one of those. So we ended up doing the whole car and debaged the acura letters in the mean time. He even found another bring crap haze that I thought I got all the way off cause I did it the same day the bird bombed me. But thats why he does what he does.