Paint Cracking on Black Explorer

Got a year?

This is a 2002 Explorer.

TSB 02-17-01 deals with your symptoms.... "premature clearcoat cracking". Sorry, warranty status is listed as "information only".

Apparently, some body panels have too much paint on them. I haven't seen any problems like this in our area so climate may play a part in the appearance of the problem.

HTH.

Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

Same issue with my '95 Sport. Paint or clearcoat on the hood started cracking when the vehicle was 3 years old, just out of warranty. Several Ford dealers claimed that nothing could be done about it.

mike

cracking".

Can't say for your car... the TSB only refers back to 1999. There are just too many things that can affect a paint finish at every step of the chain - from initial factory prep all the way up to the last wash/wax job.

When I first got into this group back in '96, there was a HUGE thread about the lack of durability of Ford's paints due to their reformulation to comply with EPA rules.....or some such excuse for a lack of quality. Is my black

2003 XLT Sport going to start spider-ing like my '94 EB?

dave

Too early to tell.... the TSB only refers up to 2002. I can't even remember when we got from Job1 to Job2 on the Exs..... Paint problems aren't strangers to any of the manufacturers and may have to do with what we subject them to. As I'd mentioned, we see between zip and nada for paint problems (rust can be another story) but I live about 200 miles past sphincter - actually, it's beautiful here and it is the town where I will breath my last - as far as civilization is concerned. We don't measure in people per square mile (even though I live in a town) as much as square miles per person.

When I drive to Edmonton at night, I can see the "dome" over the city from

60 miles away..... If you are used to an urban setting, it is hard to explain (not to mention our ideas of urban may be dis-similar) what I see where I live. Back in the 80s, I saw several pick ups purchased in town with peeling paint. Currently, I see many different makes peeling... all bearing dealer decals that indicate "life under the dome".... No scientific proof but I'm only voicing opinion... and Dirty Harry summed up opinions better than anyone.

You are quite right about reformulating paint chemistry, though. IIRC, lead gave paint some sort of flexibility or something. I still believe that many of our changes are more due to over-reaction than any real need. Lead was removed from paint because babies chewed their cribs and toys (we wont mention irresponsible parents) - I can't recall an instance of a baby chewing a fender. Removing asbestos turned into a bigger problem than leaving where it was. Since tobacco is such a big problem, smokers are the only hospital patients that get anything approaching fresh air...

If the paint on your old car peeled, I'd have to guess the paint on the new one has a good chance of peeling but time will be the only proof. If I am to believe the TV ads, you folks in the states wax your cars much more often than we do..... proper care of the finish will go a long way to preserving it.

For a guy who came down heavy on "Freon" dispersal, you are letting lead off pretty light. Not putting lead in auto (and other) paints must have the effect of reducing the presence of lead at every point in the system all the way back to the mine eventually, no?

Agreed, asbestos removal had to be one of the biggest farces of the 20th Century.

Jack

Well... yes and no... the lead in auto paint would become a problem at disposal time..... but the whole car is a problem at disposal time, anyway. Once the paint is on the car, it's pretty much there until an outside force comes into play..... In all facets of auto repair, we are subject to fumes, dust and chemicals that should have had us all in our graves a long, long time ago. Many youngster in our trades are using protection but some of us old guys have been doing it for so long......... Even then, the protective measures are scant and anything better will interfere with the taask at hand (read that as higher costs to the consumer..... in case you didn't notice, that is you). If anyone suffers from the lead content in automotive paint, it will be the autobody tech.

I'm going to pass it down to the tire conumdrum..... everyone feels that the tire manufacturers should pay for the disposal of used tires..... unfortunately, the tire manufacturers don't make used tires - we do. We take those brand new, ever-so-black (and sometimes black and white - blue, too, if you chose ElCheapo tire) circles of rubber and turn them into old, worn out circles of rubber. There is a price to be paid for everything.... Sometimes we have to sign the cheque, sometimes everyone has to sign the cheque.

Like refrigerants, paints are not naturally occuring compounds. Are we further ahead to apply a lead based paint once or something else a couple or three times? I've said it time and again, it's all about minimizing the footprint we leave behind. Based on what knowledge I have, I have formed my opinion... right or wrong, I'm open to new information and reserve the option to change my opinion when someone convinces me that there is something better.

I've seen a lot of history in the making first hand..... some of the old stuff was real good - some of the old stuff, in hindsight, was a problem waiting to happen. If we don't learn from this history, we are bound to repeat it.

When I was a wee tyke, I'm sure that my crib was liberally coated with lead based paint. I don't recall seeing tooth marks in it but my dear old Mum didn't drop me in the crib and leave me while she watched the soaps (might have something to do with not having a TV back then). Though some may disagree, I don't think I came away with any brain damage.

Going back the good old lead mine.... all the new hybrids feature some super-wowee batteries that are scarier than the lead/acid battery you probably have in your current ride... the same lead/acid battery that millions of cars have. The same lead/acid battery that contains many pounds of lead. The same battery that you might see lying in a ditch in your travels. Battery technology is there.... consumers wont pay for it and there's a good chance the environment can't handle it. MINIMIZE the footprint, remember?

As consumers, we are faced with choices.... in todays world, all these choices are evil. Each and every one of us needs to look at the facts, do research and separate advertising hype from real stuff..... form an opinion and make a responsible choice. Don't base your choice on my ramblings.... I've been wrong before and I'm sure to be wrong many more times before I breath my last. I can only suggest we forget the wallet for a while and make conscious decisions to leave the best possible world behind.

Getting back to your inital response... not putting lead in auto paints appears to have made rich men out of scabby painters. IMHO, many repaints would not have happened if paint formulas were allowed to progress with heavy metals in their chemistry. Since the deletion of lead in paint, we have seen a history of automotive refinishing. I can't say which is the lesser evil but I have an opinon. Which is worse... something really bad once or something we don't know how bad more than once????

I'm not letting lead off pretty light (notice I don't talk about pre-70 gasoline??).... I'm saying we need to be responsible.

Jim Warman wrote: > Paint problems aren't

Jim -

I'm amazed that this is still going on. Re Brand X: Years ago I bought an expensive full-sized Chevy Blazer - 1989, IIRC - the latest in a long line of Blazers that I owned and enjoyed. Within 3 months, the finish coat of paint (not just clear coat) started lifting off of the primer in great big hand-sized sheets. My Chevy dealer blew me off, Chevy corporate blew me off - and I never bought another Chevy.

I find it hard to believe in 15 or 20 years, and millions of vehicles produced, they still can't make paint stick.

Bill Jeffrey