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After I used Zep degreaser to clean my engine bay, there were white spots everywhere. Mostly on the metal areas, some plastics and rubber/silicone areas too. I tried getting it off with rubbing alcohol, dried and then it came back. Tried WD-40, looks good when it stays on then after it gets washed off, then it comes back after again. What can I do? 🙁
The shiny metal that used to be the engine now has pasty white marks/streaks/spots on it.
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A chemical plant makes some substance, it gets hauled somewhere, the drum leaks and it spills on the road. So, what you drove into could be anything.
I doubt this is what got on it but it sounds like what happens when acetone gets on certain types of plastic. Acetone messes up plastic and rubber. That doesn’t mean you have to replace a bunch of stuff, it just means you will have ugly white spots.
Just with the plastic and rubber parts, give them a good detailing with armor all. May have to do that a couple times. Some may say it is a bad idea, but I have never had any problems. Just DON’T use it on belts.
For the metal parts, maybe try some car polish (I like Nu finish).My initial thoughts (I’m not certain by any means) are:
1. The degreaser left a residue on everything.
2. If the cleaner is strongly alkaline or acidic, it may have corroded (gnawed away at) the metal surface or the protective coating. It’s also possible that the cleaner contained an organic solvent attacked the plastics (i.e. solvent craze) and/or dried out the rubber.If the cleaner had pitted the surface, the uneveness from the pitted surface would cause light to scatter and the object would appear cloudy or white – incidentally, it’s the same reason why snow is white even though ice is transparent. Also, WD-40 could fill in the voids creating a smooth surface that no longer scatters light. When the WD-40 is removed, the voids can then scatter light again.
Have you contacted Zep’s customer service to see if they have heard of this problem and can provide any solutions?
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