Update, Pontiac Montana Body Cladding Streaks

C

CharlesW

The Rainmaker
Rather than resurrect an old, long thread, I thought I would start a new one.
1. The streaks still have me stumped.
2. I e-mailed Pontiac customer service and not only received an e-mail, I also received a phone call. They suggest taking it to my Pontiac dealers body shop for their inspection. They are contacting the dealership to be expecting me. They will follow up with me in two weeks to see what was determined. If I want to contact them prior to then, they would like to hear the results of the dealership inspection.
And yes, this is General Motors customer service. Unbelieveable!

I really didn't have great expectations when I e-mailed them, but even though I don't have the problem corrected, they did seem sincere in their interest.

Charles
 
Write that one down on your calendar...that's great news!!! NOw I can't wait to see what the dealership says and does....With the big boys on your side I bet they put new ones on......They might want to look at yours so they can do tests to see what it was the stained them.....That could be a huge problem for them if they stain easy
 
Well, the dealership has made their inspection. Since I know the owner personally, I went to him first. He felt it would polish off and referred me to their paint expert. The paint man took one look and said, "Crap", that isn;t going to polish off. (I already knew that) It appears to be in the coating, (Yep), and probably isn't going to come off/out. He tried a couple of products, (I have tried 20+) and had the same non results I have had.

His decision, refinish or replace. Given that it is a very uncommon problem, he doubts that Pontiac will do anything about it. It really isn't a factory defect, so I can't argue a lot about that.
Anyway, the information has been sent to the Pontiac Customer Service people and I hope to hear from them tomorrow.
He did say that if I had to refinish it myself, it was a pretty easy job. The product they use has a chemical cleaner that is applied befor the coating and no sanding or special prep is required. Wash thoroughly, use the cleaner, spray on the coating. Covers easily, doesn't run if you use any care at all, and is easy to blend because of the matte finish. They do it a lot on used cars that have some light damage. SEM and Malco were the two brands they had on hand.

Charles
 
Charles

That sounds great I would really like to know more about the coating stuff as you see more and more of this on cars....could be a grea extra to have for detailing services
 
Hopefully you'll get some new panels. That would be great although unlikely.

Well you 'll be getting experience on the painting panels . Add that to your detailing resume..
 
Hawaiianelement said:
Hopefully you'll get some new panels. That would be great although unlikely.

Well you 'll be getting experience on the painting panels . Add that to your detailing resume..
Click to expand...
I have mixed feelings about the new panels. They told me at the dealership that it isn't always the easiest thing to remove and replace the panels and have everything line up correctly again. When I said something about removing the panels to paint them, he didn't encourage it.
Since we are not long from the winter weather here, I think I may wait till spring if I do it myself. If I park in the shade, it's not too noticeable and I really think the warmer weather would be beneficial to the project.

Charles
 
CharlesW said:
I have mixed feelings about the new panels. They told me at the dealership that it isn't always the easiest thing to remove and replace the panels and have everything line up correctly again. When I said something about removing the panels to paint them, he didn't encourage it.
Since we are not long from the winter weather here, I think I may wait till spring if I do it myself. If I park in the shade, it's not too noticeable and I really think the warmer weather would be beneficial to the project.

Charles
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hey charles, i have seen them replaced before at the dealership i work at. there is clips to mount them on, so don't worry about them lining up properly. they will be fine. good luck.
 
maximv1 said:
hey charles, i have seen them replaced before at the dealership i work at. there is clips to mount them on, so don't worry about them lining up properly. they will be fine. good luck.
Click to expand...
Has your dealership replaced any panels in warranty because of the staining? Mine said they have never encountere the problem before and because it is not common, they doubt that Pontiac will be much help. As I said before, I'm not really saying that Pontiac did anything wrong, but I would still rather spend GM's money.:)

Charles
 
jimmybuffit said:
Here's some info from GM/Automotive International referring to 02-04 Chevy Avalanches

Avalanche Cladding Issue

This may be completely unrelated to your issue, but I thought you might like the additional information.

Jim
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link.
The Avalanche cladding is slightly different than the stuff on the Montana. Where the avalanche cladding is bare plastic, the Montana plastic on mine is coated with a chardoal grey material. In some instances they are painted to match or contrast the body color. When painted, they seem to have a clearcoat applied, but the charcoal cladding I have does not have clearcoat. The product Ketch refers to that isn't quite doing the job is probably Armor Dillo. GM had a TSB covering the problem and supplied the Armor Dillo product in some instances.
I have talked to the people at Armor Dillo and they say that their present product won't help my situation any.
I don't remember for sure, but I think he referred to my plastic as TPL which can be painted/coated and would be his suggestion for correcting the problem.
What is frustrating to me is that something penetrated the coating causing the stains, but it is impervious to anything I have tried.
Acid wash, EO A2Z, EZ Off oven cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, so many cleaner/degreasers that I have lost count, and if someone were running a test on this coating, you would have to say "Nothing penetrates this stuff".
Yet something has.

Charles
 
Hey Charles...

I know you're probably way beyond this, but have you tried EO/A2Z Wheel & Tire Cleaner?

I've read reports that it does wonders for plastic exterior trim... A2Z Link Here....
 
Luster said:
Hey Charles...

I know you're probably way beyond this, but have you tried EO/A2Z Wheel & Tire Cleaner?

I've read reports that it does wonders for plastic exterior trim... A2Z Link Here....
Click to expand...
Thanks Bill, but that is another of the dozens of chemicals that didn't touch the stains.
I think most of the remedies suggested would work on an uncoated plastic, but the coating on the cladding is just like a matte finish paint without clearcoat.
I am certainly open to any/all suggestions.

Charles
 
CharlesW said:
Thanks Bill, but that is another of the dozens of chemicals that didn't touch the stains.
I think most of the remedies suggested would work on an uncoated plastic, but the coating on the cladding is just like a matte finish paint without clearcoat.
I am certainly open to any/all suggestions.

Charles
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Try longer dwell times on the acid wash . It seems my streaking was from the acid water spot remover that dripped down and sat overnight.
 
Hawaiianelement said:
Try longer dwell times on the acid wash . It seems my streaking was from the acid water spot remover that dripped down and sat overnight.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I actually thought that the area I have been concentrating on recently looked a little better. Maybe not from dwell time but from all the cumulative effects of the many products.
Anyway, the A2Z is on an area and I will leave it for a while and see what happens.
Thanks for another idea.

Charles
 
maximv1 said:
hey charles, i have seen them replaced before at the dealership i work at. there is clips to mount them on, so don't worry about them lining up properly. they will be fine. good luck.
Click to expand...
A clarification from the dealer. Removing and replacing the original panels, (If I took them off to paint them), is the problem. Evidently the clips are good for one installation, but iffy for a second time around.

Charles
 
The vehicle is at worst 2 years old (assuming it was originally bought in 03), why is it your problem?
Isn't there some type of warranty on the finish?

"J"
 
jaybs95 said:
The vehicle is at worst 2 years old (assuming it was originally bought in 03), why is it your problem?
Isn't there some type of warranty on the finish?

"J"
Click to expand...
17 months old, purchased in April of 2004.
I'm not really sure that a chemical stain on the cladding is GM's fault. I think the warranty pretty much excludes damage from acid rain, owners, detailers.:)
That's one of the things I am waiting to hear from Pontiac about.

Charles
 
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