:worthlessThey were brown in color, and hard to pick off. You can tell a rust spot just by the way it looks, the hard raised spot in the center and it kinda spreads out a little around it. Trust me I wish it wasn't so.
I may be telling you something you already know but these spots are not your car rusting, they are what are otherswise known as"fall out", where I come from. These are particles from local atmospheric fall out that rust once on your vehicle. They are only on the surface of your paint and are especially noticeable on white vehicles. I would use a clay bar and wax the vehicle once the spots are all gone. Have fun.So Today was pretty nice so I took my 4Runner to get it washed. Once I got back I was looking it over and noticed tiny rust spots in various places on the driver/passenger side doors. I'm not sure what can be done about it. Has anyone else had this issue?
As mentioned- it's not rust. Go to Canadian Tire (or whatever you guys in Quebec have) and get either Meguiar's Smooth Surface Clay Kit, or the Mother's Clay Kit and clay bar your hood (or wherever these spots are most noticable). Make sure you use lots of quick detailer/clay lube and always re-work the clay to a clean piece as it gets dirty to avoid scratches. Re-examine the area. If everything looks good/better, apply a coat of wax to the area you clayed. I personally use Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid Wax- I'm sure some on here may disagree and there may be a better product but Meguiar's overall has a pretty good reputation IMO.I have noticed that also on my truck today after I washed it. There seems to be like very small bubbles of rust or something like that.
Rust is rust and if it really is rust, will they just paint the doors, or repaint the whole car ? ...
As an alternative to claying to removing the rusting iron particles, you can use Carpro Iron X.
Iron X Iron Remover, CQuartz IronX, Paint Cleaner, paint decontamination
Way faster, easier, and more thorough then claying. Well worth the $20!
Most likely plow dust.
Hydroflouric acid washes it off with no elbow grease, but I wouldn't try this unless you have some serious detailing experience!
I definitely would recommend Iron X to remove rail dust!
I spent many hours researching on detailing forums and discovered that this stuff came highly recommended by detailers. If preferred, you can clay bar as the next step though pictures on these sites show very little contaminants on the clay bar after use of Iron X.
We used it on our (white) Lexus that was riddled with rail dust as well as the 4Runner. It absolutely works like a charm! This stuff can also be sprayed on your wheels but try to avoid spraying your wheel weights as Iron X may discolour them.
Just a warning that it smells extremely horrible though lol!
Not that the average person could get Hydrofluoric Acid (HF), but I think you meant Hydrochloric (HCl). HF is some really nasty and strong acid that if you get on you, you will never forget it. It targets the calcium in your body has to be neutralized by using Calcium Gluconate gel.
My suggestion would be to clay bar and see if that works before using any chemicals (especially strong acids or bases). I have used dilute acidic acid (vinegar) to remove water stains with good results but I did not leave it on long and washed it thoroughly very quickly to make sure I did not damage the clear coat. If you have any doubt, take it to a detailer and have them look at it. There are a lot of tricks to that trade. Good Luck
Would that work on windows?
Now the real question, does it harm paint or plastics?