Drove down a single track lane which was a touch muddy yesterday, so thought Id give the Fab, a splash with the Karcher pressure washer today.

Which I did! Unfortunately the pressure washer has removed some of the paint along the sill/ floorplan join, exposing the black sealant and a creamy coloured wax, which I take is also corrosion protection?

To say Im a bit miffed is an under statement! Spoke to my supplying dealer and they want to have a look at the car and send pictures to Skoda UK.

It looks to me, like a case of rushing the job at the factory and not letting the paint bake sufficiently? Bad quality control. The peeling is both sides underneath the rear doors.

Also the windows keep misting up and the only way to keeping them clear is with the air con on! It seems Autoglym Fastglass isnt doing a very good job at keeping them clean, or is there likely to be a manufacturering film on the glass thats going to take a while to clear?

Im feeling a bit fed up tonight. :S

Grahame

I`ll bet your steaming I would be..It just should not happen but thanks for the info I would normally pressure wash mine over the winter so I`ll keep a sharp eye out now. Hope the dealer is going to get it sorted asap...Please do keep us informed

Is there actually wax there - paint won't stick on top of wax! Do you have any pictures?

There should be no film on the windscreen due to manufacturing or any other reason. Which windows are steaming up - if it's all, then you're getting moisture inside the car somehow.

No wonder you're feeling fed up. :(

to hear about your paint woe's; have noticed myself theres a lot of hard wax along the bottom edge of the sill that breaks off if you catch it while washing it. Not seen so much wax on a car before and certainly not this 'milky bar' colour and texture, oh and there's quite a bit in the engine bay too. :wonder:

TP

Im not sure if it is wax, but like the Plumber says it is very similar to a Milky Bar!! However I love milky bars but not this problem!!

The steaming up is unfortunately on the windscreen!

Regards

Grahame

Im not sure if it is wax, but like the Plumber says it is very similar to a Milky Bar!! However I love milky bars but not this problem!!

The steaming up is unfortunately on the windscreen!

Regards

Grahame

Yep, got the same milky wax on my 2010 FL 105TSi sills, wiped off the stuff that was showing on the paint with a dry rag and left the rest alone.

Never used a pressure washer on my car after I had a water blister form about the size of a 10p piece when the water got under the paint due to a small stone chip.

Sorry to hear your bad luck, hope you can get it sorted to your satisfaction.

Edited 8 October, 201015 yr by Tsi Fly

It the wax underneath the paint or on top?

I thought there is supposed to be wax on the sills to protect it, unlike some other manufacturers that don't put wax on

Maybe there should be wax on top of the paint and I hadnt noticed it before, but it certainly has lifted to exposed the black sealant along the sills

Maybe I need to look at another car for comparison?

Grahame

It the wax underneath the paint or on top?

The wax was on top the paintwork on my car, which i think is a pre delivery/ transportation thing. Usually the sills are sprayed with a thick anti-chip undercoat and then the colour coat and clear coat.

I never pressure wash my car as i heard of stories like this, i'll montior the paint on my car for now.

pressure wash may help to blast away the wax, always best to wash by hand using two bucket method or an alternative.

Well if it's painted properly (i.e. it's formed a chemical bond with the surface) a normal home pressure wash shouldn't be able to remove it.

Without pictures, not sure why you'd want to remove the wax - bit if you did, don't blast it off, just use some white spirit (usual disclaimers apply, test on a small area first etc.) as that's what it's normally thinned with for spray application anyway.

Im starting to wonder If Im making a fuss over not a great deal with my underseal!

As you see on the photo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20279230@N02/5064631823/

the wax appears to be on top of the paint? But there still appears to be some show of the black underseal particulary around the rubber bung that could be a part of the jacking mount? I havent checked that yet.

Im sure you`ll all give your 2 penny`th!!

Grahame

Just taken a couple of shots of the wife's Fabia for you to compare

nearside rear (flash off)

offside rear (flash off)

offside rear (flash on

Hope there of help.

TP

So, you're talking about the little bit around the edge of the sill bung and the bit inside the groove on the chassis member?

I wouldn't worry about either of those, it might even have left the factory like that and looking at the blue one, flat underside of the sill doesn't get a lot of paint - probably the angle of the robotic arm when it sprays along there.

sory to change subject slightly, but is that black oval thing the jacking point?

sory to change subject slightly, but is that black oval thing the jacking point?

Hi,

no the marked jacking point is just a bit further back on the hanging seam. There is a 'dimple' in the sill to mark the position, however it's difficult to spot due the the thickness of the stone guard finish.

Be careful if you use a trolley jack though as whatever reason the seam is particularly 'thin' at that point. Found this out when I jacked the car up to grease between the wheel and drum (dissimilar metal corrosion was appearing very quickly after delivery).

There appears to be a more suitable point further back as the seam is much 'beefier' there.

Regards,

TP

That milky white wax is a cavity wax. Its injected into the sills and other cavities on the car, its very thin and runny so it oozes out of the places through drain holes and the like, hence how it gets all over the outside. Its very good stuff and I am really chuffed that Skoda put so much of it into the car... the sills are covered in stone chip then painted but the paint doesnt seem to take too well and can peel off, as long as bare metal isnt showing itll be OK, just touch up with a paint stick

i had wax on my yellow fabia 2. left it on were posible sills under bonnet in the boot under the carpet and the back seats helps protect from stone chips road salt and so on if you get a bad stone chip scrape some of and rub into chip stop water ingress untill you can touchup

Thanks for all the input Guys. And in particular The Plumber for his photographs!! I think I will leave a visit to the garage it for now as the underneath of Plumbers car is certainly no worse than mine!

Puts my mind at rest.

Regards

Grahame