salt damage

[III]

How long can salt sit on a vehicle before some damage occurs? 1 week? 2 weeks?

[MorBid]

What type of damage we talkin? I don`t think salt in of itself will cause damage to the paint. But it is abrasive and and can cause some minor scratches as it`s moved around on the surface.



If the car`s paint was sealed and waxed before the winter then I would think even a month wouldn`t be that big of a deal.



The real probelm with salt is it speeds up corrosion of the metal (rust).

[togwt]

Originally posted by MorBid

What type of damage we talkin? I don`t think salt in of itself will cause damage to the paint. But it is abrasive and and can cause some minor scratches as it`s moved around on the surface.



If the car`s paint was sealed and waxed before the winter then I would think even a month wouldn`t be that big of a deal.



The real probelm with salt is it speeds up corrosion of the metal (rust). :xyxthumbs



Be aware that once you add water to salt it becomes acidic (corrosive); "Always add the acid to the water, never add the water to acid" Chemistry 101, take care to dry the affected area thoroughly after the salt has been removed.



JonM

[III]

Originally posted by MorBid

What type of damage we talkin? I don`t think salt in of itself will cause damage to the paint. But it is abrasive and and can cause some minor scratches as it`s moved around on the surface.



If the car`s paint was sealed and waxed before the winter then I would think even a month wouldn`t be that big of a deal.



The real probelm with salt is it speeds up corrosion of the metal (rust).



I`m talking about corrosion mainly.

[III]

Originally posted by TOGWT

:xyxthumbs



Be aware that once you add water to salt it becomes acidic (corrosive); "Always add the acid to the water, never add the water to acid" Chemistry 101, take care to dry the affected area thoroughly after the salt has been removed.



JonM



So, what if a vehicle sits in a garage with salt on it, but the paint never gets wet? Would this still be considered bad?

[Accumulator]

On paint, it`s just not a real issue. On bare metal, *that`s* where salt can do damage.



While it`s not great to have salt on much of anything that`s made out of metal, I dunno if it`s as big a deal as we might think.



Yeah, water will speed up any corrosive action. So will warm temperatures. But when it`s very cold, salt doesn`t seem to do much. The problem in a garage is that the temp might go up a bit, and the warmer temp plus any moisture will contribute to rusting.



Seems to me that a good rule of thumb is that if it`s warm enough for the salt to be a problem, then it`s warm enough to wash, so clean it off. Otherwise, if it`s too cold to wash, then the salt might not be that big a deal.