Exhaust Stain on rear Bumper????

Hello all I am new to this site and love it already. I am a passionate clean freak when it comes to my rigs. I have a 1990 VW Golf GL, and the previous owner had let their tail-pipe create a nasty Brownish tarnish on the silver back bumper. Do you folks have any ideas on how one would remove this stain? I was thinking bug and tar remover with an SOS or Brillo pad yet will this be too abrasive? Also does anyone have any wiring diagrams or sites that they would recommend for such. I have the strangest problems with my headlights. I can't find the root or shall we say bad ground. When I turn my headlights on I don't have directionals, and when I turn them off I suddenly have them. I know this is a detailing site and I apologize to all for blabbling, yet am very curious over this rather troubling circumstance. All help will be welcomed thankyou.

BJ,

You should be able to remove that stain with a good pre-wax type paint cleaner. One that has a low to medium cut power.

What comes to mind right now is Meguirs #2 follwed by a paste wax.

OR you can buy a clay bar, and after washing the car rub the clay bar over the stain (while car is still wet, if needed mist the area being clayed so at to keep it well lubricated) in a back and forth motion, dry the area and it should have removed most if not all of your stain. Then polish and wax.

Let me know how it goes.

Anthony

I would try a cleaner/wax first, then try a paint cleaner like the #2 As for your electrical problems...have you tried looking for a VW webboard? Too, your car has been around a while so there should book books from HAYNES and CHILTONS available for it to help you chase down the bad ground.



Don M
'02 Cavalier LSSC
2200 DOHC

I detailed a 1997 Infinity G20 forest green this morning. The car is kept up fairly well, garaged kept. The paint is in very good shape except the hood, the hood has these white water stains of some type that refused to come off. I used meguiars paint cleaner, liquid glass and a couple other cleaners, Nothing touched it. Where could these spots have originated from? Is there a secret you guy's could pass on to me? it would be much appreciated. By the way they were not sprinkler stains, the paint feels smooth no harshness to it at all.

Try dampening a towel with some white vineager and blotting/wiping the spots. If they are hard water stains, the vineager should dissolve the minerals.



Don M
'02 Cavalier LSSC
2200 DOHC

Regarding your directional light problem.

I'm betting that one of the turn signal bulbs is not completely installed, or is shorted internally. Turn signal bulbs typically have two filaments and two contacts on the base of the bulb. One is for the dim parking lamp, one is for the bright turn lamp.

I've seen something similar happen when one contact on a bulb crosses both the parking and turn lamp contacts. When you turn on the lights, power from the parking lamps goes through the turn signal circuit and causes the turn signals to not work. Also, if one filament burns out and falls against the other, the same thing can happen.

Diagnosis should be rather simple, if this is your problem. Turn on the parking lamps only (preferably at night) and see if one is either burning much brighter than the others or if one is not burning at all. If either happens, replace the offending bulb.

You can also try turning on the turn signals without the parking lights on (again at night). If you see the parking lights flashing on the opposite side of the car the turn signals are blinking on, then it is a bulb problem on that side.

Hope this helps.