anyone else having this discoloration?
 

popped the hood this morning and noticed circular discolorations on the plastic battery and brake fluid covers. coincidentally, they line up to holes in the hood frame. the spots dont wash off.. its almost like there was some sort of out-gassing from the holes in the hood that caused the plastic to discolor.

i've had this car since mid april.. 3000 miles and this just now started happening. i'm not fired up and pissed off about it.. i dont really care for the chintzy plastic covers anyway... just wondering if anyone else has this issue and also what might be causing it.

Don't have that issue. http://cache.hyves-static.net/images...iley_shrug.gif

have you had any of the high temp issues that some people on the forum are experiencing? If so then it is probably some kind of off gassing. Its obviously a defect so it should be covered by warranty.

I have 1500 miles on my 370Z and I do not have that issue. Do you park outside in the sun often? My guess would be that the spots may have something to do with that.

By the way, nice choice in music, although a garage is an intersting place for a NIN poster. I've seen them in concert three times and they are the best concert performances I have ever seen.

I have over 14K miles on my 370 and do not have these discolorations.

Nothing like that on mine. And water spots do wipe off the covers (easily).

no high temp issues enoucntered at this point... unless you call living in tx a high temp issue.

my z stays in the garage the majority of the time. i'll take it to work on Fridays as long as there is no threat of bad weather (almost got stuck in a hail storm 2 days after purchase) and cruise it on weekends. those days i take the car to work are the only times the car is left in the sun for more than 8 hours.

nice catch on the poster... it's actually a rare, "closer to god" concert sized poster from the downward spiral tour era. scored it at the NIN/David Bowie show in Denver back in 95. couldnt bear to let it go, so i put it in the garage next to the coolest thing i own. I've seen NIN 7 times now.. the Lights in the Sky show was BAD-***!!. missed the "wave goodbye" tour though. :(

i wish they were water spots.. i would have wiped them off by now. i think the discoloration is due to either temperature or chemical reaction of some sort. i'll probably get them replaced someday when i have nothing else better to do.. or ping someone that's doing a weight reduction and buy from them.


thanks guys for all the feedback thus far on this really unimportant issue. :nutswinger:

Where/how do you wash your car? My guess would be car wash chemical reaction.

i wash the car at home by hand. i only use soap if she's really dirty. this car will NEVER go to a carwash unless i can find one who will wash by hand and who is as OCD about their car as i am.

most of the time i just use a damp synthetic chamois to wipe off the dust. if i do have to use soap, i use as little as possible, and only where needed (usually front bumer and for getting soot off the exhaust tips). i assume we all know how questionable the paint quality is on our Z's and what soap can do to a car's finish when you're trying to keep it showroom sparkly.

i had originally thought washing may have something to do with it, but when washing, the water does not get into the area where the discoloraiton occurs.

Very strange indeed. Mine sits outside during the work week in the boiling sun and I don't have anything like that. I wash weekly with Maguires gold but no water gets up into the hood. Maybe something was left over from manufacturing that you can't see and it melted then dripped out? It could be cosmoline. :ugh2:

I have a VW that leaked an oily gunk out of the back fender well onto my driveway. I figured it was a blown shock that was leaking. Took it to the dealership and they said VW still used cosmoline as a rust preventative on some parts of the chassis. Yep that same yellow-brown waxy goop they used in WWII for firearm preservative is still used in the automotive industry. BTW, it melts between 130-150F. Not sure if its in the new Z's. I've found references of cosmoline being used on older Nissans and Datsuns.

attaboy... you made me curious so I went to see if mine had the same discoloration, and sure enough it does.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2567/...1576aac7cc.jpg

About 17,200 miles - no marks.

sorry to hear that.. didnt mean to prompt you to find a problem with your car that you wouldnt have found so soon otherwise. :tup: yours actually looks a little more pronounced than mine. maybe it's just the lighting.

your car is black too.. i wonder if it's something to do with the paint? none of the others who have weighed in so far are in a MB 370 unless i brain farted missed one.

My car is black too, and while it's not as bad as both of yours, I can see the circles too.

no mysterious crop circle's here

Are the holes above drainage holes?? If so the water you are using (or rainwater) maybe has a high mineral content (or some other chemical(s)) which is causing some kind of reaction in the plastic.

Well, I am truly baffled by the spots, sorry I coudn't be of more help.

The Lights in the Sky Tour was really an experience. I'd say that was the best concert I have ever seen - the visuals and effects were absolutely awesome, and the music was spot on. I saw the Wave Goodbye tour in Columbia, MD and that was also a fantastic show, but more for the music than anything else. They played some oddities that they usually never do live and that was also the only concert I have ever been to that I liked all three acts.

It's the lighting.. ;) I wanted to make sure it was visible in the picture so I found the angle where it was most obvious. From some angles you could barely see it.

I also wondered about both cars being black too... and it looks like we have a third MB reporting the same. Very strange!

Just checked. Nothing here. I have never lived in the Pacific Northwest, but it rains here more than anywhere I have ever lived. It is garage kept, but sits out all day at work

my guess is mineral build up since you live in texas.

some mothers back to black should cure that.

/edit
wow that was an interesting rhyme...

But if its water leakage then that means water is getting inside the hood somehow. We can test that theory: The next time you wash your car then spray it down real good and pop the hood. You should find water beads sitting in those exact spots.

Warm, moist air condensing as the temp drops, leaks out of the holes directly above the spots, possibly bringing with it some errant paint particles, chemicals, etc.

Sounds like a good enough theory to me...

you may be on to something there... i know this is not being caused by water entry during a wash or anything else, like rain, but it could be condensation as you are theorizing. i know it's not rain because this car was a rain virgin up until yesterday. also, i always pop the hood after washing and clean up whatever i can after the outside is done and i have never seen water in the engine bay aside from the edges where the hood meets the the body after washing.

the thing is though, the way these discoloraitons look is almost as though they are not caused by water, but by gas or hot air. there are no circles or mineral build up like one would see when water dries. but nevertheless, it could be water.

all in all, i'm just glad that this is an extremely minor issue and isnt affecting performance in any way (that i know of).

thanks for all the feedback, everyone! :tiphat:

Im up here in north ft worth and im not having this issue, although i do still get shi* on weekly by birds, what do those monstrous things eat anyways?

hehe.. i think they will eat nearly anything... i saw a bird eat a cigarette butt once, so there is no telling whats in their bombs.

dont know about you, but if i dont wash off the burd turds ASAP, it shows in my clear coat :shakes head:

the reason why i wont buy a black car anymore