Salt what to do?

[jimbrewer]

This flatlander needs some advice.

I guess they use salt here, because there is this white powder on my bumper after a few small snow storms. Oddly, rusting doesn't seem to be a problem around here. Do they use a less corrosive formulation now?

Its still below freezing outside and I have no intention of doing a proper wash until sometime in mid-February (Don't worry, I slapped about three coats of sealant on the thing in mid-November).

Should I go to the car wash place and get under there with some plain water, or would that make it worse? Do they use recycled water with the salt already in it? Does the addition of water to the stuff make it worse? Its very dry around here usually.

 

[Trav]

I doubt if its less corrosive just less overall exposure.
Here in the NE its almost perpetual exposure Nov-April.

 

[SHOZ]

They will mix the salt with water and spray it on the roads when there is little snow. Deep snow they use the regular rock salt. The dissolved salt is much worse as it gets wherever water can and you can't get it out.

Some places offer yearly undercarriage oil treatments. If you are really serious about keeping the car this is what you need to do.

It also depends on what the manufacturer has done as far as treatment. Both my Hyundais come with a rhino liner type under coating. My Fords never did and all rusted out in 10-14 years.

 

[randomhero439]

In winter, i wash my car once a week at a DIY powerwash place. Just make sure to give it a good spray under the car. Rhinoliner is good too. As for the oil treatment, kinda [censored] if you ask me.

 

[SHOZ]

The oil spray is pretty common in Canada.

 

[Donald]

Best to get the car washed in a place with an under carriage wash. Some places add a chemical to the under carriage wash to help better deal with salt.

Most places that use something for ice will use sodium chloride or calcium chloride. Both lower the melting point of water. Both will cause damage to your car.

Get the car treated with Krown or CarWell of FluidFilm.

Spraying used motor oil on the frame hurts the environment.

 

[NMBurb02]

Check your state's transportation department's website to see what they use on the roads. I believe Colorado is/was testing out some sort of "green" (environment-wise, not color-wise) road salt alternative. Don't remember if it was more or less corrosive to automobiles, but other states may follow suit if the results are promising.

 

[JHZR2]

They are brining the roads. They started doing that here a few years back... Kind of a preemptive thing that makes a worse mess, IMO.

What I do is buy a marine product called salt away.

I take a liquid feed garden sprayer, which has a small tank and an orifice that sets how much of the stuff goes in per gallon, and I set it to the required amount.

Then I spray my car down with that solution first (and anytime I can) before doing anything else.

The salt away solution neutralizes the salt.

That coupled with some oil type spray seems to do well...

 

[jimbrewer]

Thanks a bunch. You guys are very knowledgeable. So, I'll hop on down to the do it yourself car wash, and an order of Salt Away is on its way.

I'll forgo the commercial undercarriage spray--That's just not the norm around here, although I suspect Trav is right-- the lack of rust is a dosage effect and they use the exact same corrosive stuff they use back east, just for a shorter period of time.

I do notice the rust prevention store where I buy the Salt Away sells a do-it-yourself undercarriage glop for a little less than $40 per gallon. I might be tempted to try it if I lived back east. They seem to make anti-rust their business at the anti-rust store (How specialized is that?) Just as a matter of curiosity, have any of you all had experience with do it yourself undercarriage sprays?

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: Trav
I doubt if its less corrosive just less overall exposure.
Here in the NE its almost perpetual exposure Nov-April.


Yes, a virtual 'salt soup' bath at all times, save for the occasional warm spell with HEAVY rains.

 

[eljefino]

I think usually (how's that for weasel words) car washes use recycled water except for the final rinse. That's mostly okay as you have to soak the salt & dirt at the beginning of the wash to start it thinking about loosening.

If you think salt is a once-a-season fluke, wash it now. If you're going to get it every week (altitude thing?) leave it alone. Salt is most corrosive at 35'F when it retains water and just sticks to your car like a paste.

 

[Donald]

Some places are using the waste water from hydro fracking.

 

[Malo83]

I would suggest using a lawn sprinkler to wash away the salt under the car, put the sprinkler on the driveway,turn it on and slowly go back and forth over the spray moving from side to side to ensure you get all the undercarriage

 

[Kestas]

I'm not convinced that Salt Away is a worthwhile product. I believe it is little more than a surfactant, an ingredient that is found in many soaps.

 

[jimbrewer]

Re: 35 degrees. Well, then I blew it, since the high today was maybe 26 degrees. Its probably 35 in the garage. (The beading from the water had frozen by the time I got home). I chucked quite a few quarters in there and hammered the undercarriage pretty well, so I'm pretty sure I'm OK anyway.

Re: Salt Away. The reason I come here is because you guys know all the good chemicals. I figure the car people could be fooled for a good long time with a flim-flam before the manufacturer got busted, but the people who buy the product for their stuff used on the ocean wouldn't be fooled very long.

Still wondering about the do-it-yourself undercarriage glop. Seems like its a thing that would lend itself to DIY.

 

[jimbrewer]

never mind about the do-it-yourself glop. There is a huge thread about it on the first page.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
I'm not convinced that Salt Away is a worthwhile product. I believe it is little more than a surfactant, an ingredient that is found in many soaps.


My angle is that even if it is just a surfactant, it appears to be optimized for removal of salt. I see that salt residues have been removed yet the dirt that is on the surface does not go away. Assuming that it does something besides just rinse the salt, specifically neutralize it in crevices and other areas it still strikes me as worthwhile.

It is less viscous and because of the sprays easily in a common garden sprayer. To get sudsing coverage like this within automotive so you would have to use the foam gun which is quite expensive. And even if I use some sort of soap, I'd still be using a product to help me to remove and release the salt.

I've tried a lot of different approaches and the salt away prerinse really is the simplest. I'm sticking to it.

To the OP, tonight I was putting on the snow tires on my old 91 BMW. It was a lousy day and threatening to rain, so I decided not to pull out my air compressor and apply rustproofing oil via compressed air. I had just purchased some spray bottles of the product called corrosion X. I decided in my laziness that I would just spray this in by hand into the wheelwells, and get the underside some other time. It really worked spectacularly well, so long as you squeeze the trigger on the sprayer with a lot of force so it can actually atomize the thick oil... If you do that it really sprays a nice mist and it applies very nicely. Corrosion X is a well-known product and I wouldn't hesitate to buy some of that and use it for spring at least some areas as convenient.

 

[jimbrewer]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Kestas
I'm not convinced that Salt Away is a worthwhile product. I believe it is little more than a surfactant, an ingredient that is found in many soaps.


My angle is that even if it is just a surfactant, it appears to be optimized for removal of salt. I see that salt residues have been removed yet the dirt that is on the surface does not go away. Assuming that it does something besides just rinse the salt, specifically neutralize it in crevices and other areas it still strikes me as worthwhile.

It is less viscous and because of the sprays easily in a common garden sprayer. To get sudsing coverage like this within automotive so you would have to use the foam gun which is quite expensive. And even if I use some sort of soap, I'd still be using a product to help me to remove and release the salt.

I've tried a lot of different approaches and the salt away prerinse really is the simplest. I'm sticking to it.

To the OP, tonight I was putting on the snow tires on my old 91 BMW. It was a lousy day and threatening to rain, so I decided not to pull out my air compressor and apply rustproofing oil via compressed air. I had just purchased some spray bottles of the product called corrosion X. I decided in my laziness that I would just spray this in by hand into the wheelwells, and get the underside some other time. It really worked spectacularly well, so long as you squeeze the trigger on the sprayer with a lot of force so it can actually atomize the thick oil... If you do that it really sprays a nice mist and it applies very nicely. Corrosion X is a well-known product and I wouldn't hesitate to buy some of that and use it for spring at least some areas as convenient.


That's what I figured; nothing really high tech, but some combination of el cheapo surfectants optimized to neutralize and remove sea salt. If they get it right they are entitled to their money. Of course, we are dealing with a chemically different salt, so who knows? The boat people are adamant that it works and works better than its competitors so that's enough for me.

 

[JHZR2]

Chemically different? Doesnt seawater have sodium and calcium chlorides the same as road salt? Seawater may have more variety and all...

Totally agree.

 

[Kestas]

Salt cannot be neutralized (or otherwise rendered chemically impotent). It's already neutral. It can only be dissolved. That's one of the reasons why I think anything beyond water and surfactant is overkill to wash salt from a vehicle.