My wife took my truck to the store today and managed to find the only road being resurfaced in the state. Long story short, I now have tar "dots" all over the driver side windows, doors, etc.

What should I use to remove the tar from the windows and paint that will not cause any damage? I imagine whatever I use will strip my wax, so a full detail will follow.

Thanks for any help.

DJ

 

I'm sure someone is going to say to clay the areas first.

An friend of mine's dad is an auto body instructor. He told me one time to use dawn dish detergent. Put it on the fingers and rub the spots. And as you suspect, a full detail will need to follow. I don't know if its bunk or not, never tried it.

I have used the turtle wax bug and tar remover before. It worked really well but did require some elbow grease.

good luck

 

Dawn is a great prouct for cleaning if used rarely and followed by a full detail. I use it on all customer cars that haven't had a good detail before or have a bad wax job(ie: drive thrugh car wash-type wax)

I reccommend using dawn and the 2 bucket (at least) then detail. If you are scared for some reason (No reason to be), use Stoners Bug/Tar remover. Great stuff. Clay will work great, too. I'd definately rewax all affected areas...I don't know if road tar removes wax, but it can't be good for it.

Just so long as you don't use dawn for every wash (ie: once a year tops, unless ABSOLUTELY necessary for more often), you'll be fine. I' suspect you could use dawn at every was, but you'd have to rewax every wash...that would suck and waste a craploadof time.

If you encounter a particularly hard spot, WD-40 is great--just not a product for daily use (Just like dawn)

aside from that, you don't really need help. Seems to me like you know what you're doing--you know how to do a full detail. (But it was probably a wise choice to ask first)

Good luck (and et your wife Microsoft Streets ad Trips---have her avoid construction!!!)

 

I've had to work around asphalt plants alot and my whole truck would be covered with specks. I always had good luck with Gunk Bug & Tar Remover on the paint. Then on the glass, I would take GOJO (without pumice) hand cleaner and just smear it all over. Then I would scrape it off with a razor.
Now this summer when it was real hot, they resurfaced my road with tar and my truck got wiped out around the wheel wells. It took alot of scrubbing with the Gunk to get the tar off the plastic flares. I noticed after I got done that the plastic seemed kind of streaky, but I don't remember if they were already like that or not. But a coat of protectant made them look new again.

 

A good bug & tar remover would be my first choice of products... you *WILL* need to follow that with a solid wax following the removal...

Don't scrub... especially on darker colored vehicles. Allow the chemical to do it's work (in short, allow some dwell time). Once the chemical has worked, it should make it such that it's simplistic to WIPE the specks off of the paint (with no harm). If you scrub, you're going to introduce potential micromarring and/or scratching.

 

I've had wonders using WD-40 and paper towel. Used it on a week old Sierra brand new (that made me cry haha). Anyway, just spray the WD-40 onto the tar and let it sit for about 5 mins, you will actually see the colour of the tar start to drip down the sides because of the WD-40, then use quite a bit of elbow grease and wipe it off. Spray more as you need. Then jsut rinse your car and wash and detail.

 

When I bought my Supercrew the wheel wells and fender flares are covered, two bottles of bug & tar remover & sore fingers did the job.

 

I've also had great results with WD-40.

 

WD-40 would not be my first choice, but it does work .. but please don't use a paper towel .. especially if you are going to be applying elbow grease .. that is a sure prescription for marring the finish ..

 

I have always used WD-40 for removing tar spots and bugs....Don't use Dawn dish soap unless you want to remove the wax. Dawn also dulls your clearcoat, you can tell who uses dish soap for car wash suds from their dull shines. WD-40 contains just a little bit of solvant mixed w/ the lubricant to break up the tar w/out removing the wax. Just spray some on a dry terry cloth and rub lightly over the spots until gone. Then just use a spay on wax or quick detailer mist. works like a champ.
I learned all of this from a guy who has been in the auto detail business for over 30 years.

 

ah...another one to add to the 1001 uses of WD-40!!

 

Thanks for all the replies. I figured some would say clay and I was thinking WD40 but wanted to hear others opinions b4 I attempted anything. Detailing is nothing new (5 vehicles) but removing tar is something new. I have had a few specs, but it came right off when washing. These specs were the entire drivers side and windows. I think I was just overwhelmed with what looks to be a long removal process, but one that needs to be done.

Surely, I will thank the wife at some point when I am finished for the extra hours of added work and fun she provided for me. LOL I guess she noticed how much I was enjoying college and pro football on the weekends.

Again, thanks all for the advice.

DJ

 

I use gasoline. Dab a little gas on a papertowel and then rub lightly on the tar and you will see the gas dissolve the tar then quickly wipe the gas of the paint. Works good.

 

I did not have any tar but I did have bubble gum baked on my truck. I used a non-pumice citrus hand cleaner and it did remove the gum. Did not damage the paint but did require wax afterwards.

A guy at Autozone suggested it instead of buying the more expensive removers. Worked great. Just make sure its DOES NOT have pumice or you will give your paint a good sanding.

 

Gasoline works wonders for tar. We use it at my dads detail shop all the time for big spots of tar on the inside of the wheel wells. and just behind the tires on the paint.