Tar removal?

A search for "tar" in thread titles turns up nothing in the maintenance forum or in here so forgive me if this has been covered. The Mod Squad can feel free to move this thread if needed.

So I had the unfortunate pleasure of making a low speed (25 mph) left turn onto some freshly sprayed liquid tar. And by freshly sprayed I mean the truck was 100 ft in front of me.

I was only in it for a few seconds but I did get some splatter on the passenger side front quarter and door.

So what will take it off without taking the clear coat with it? Believe it or not I have never had to remove tar from a vehicle in my life. I know there's tons of products out there but what really works?

I used to have a pearl white nissan maxima - my town used tar and chip everywhere and for some reason, left my road covered in tar one day and chipped it the next. I was not happy.... Walmart brake cleaner worked perfect. I have not tried it on a newer water based paint though. There are a number of bug&tar removers, but the basic ingredient is kerosene. WD40 isn't too far off.

Believe it or not you're burning it... Diesel fuel. Diesel fuel will be gentle on the finish by comparison to most other solvents. You'll remove the nasty stuff and will likely end up with a slight layer of brown over your finish. This layer will easily be removed with turpentine or even gasoline, though I'm not in the gasoline camp.

Wash after tar removal with a good detergent, then wax as you would if you were detailing the vehicle.

non-quick dry electric contact cleaner works well and afaict is gentle on the paint. i've used it on my rabbit with a new one-stage paint job to clean up some spots that got bedliner and adhesives on... next on my list of things i would use is some biodiesel

Bug & Tar remover. Lots of brands make it, and it is even available at WalMart. It is a dedicated product for your issue available in the car care section.

They make a bug and tar remover product you can find in stores. It's right in the aisle with waxes and cleaners.

i tried one of rustoleums bug'n'tar remover once on a few things... and it barely cleaned off anything, it was useless. perhaps it would if you soaked it in it like evap-o-rust...

WD40 works.

Coca Cola also does an excellent job of removing tar from a car.

nord said:

Believe it or not you're burning it... Diesel fuel. Diesel fuel will be gentle on the finish by comparison to most other solvents. You'll remove the nasty stuff and will likely end up with a slight layer of brown over your finish. This layer will easily be removed with turpentine or even gasoline, though I'm not in the gasoline camp.

Wash after tar removal with a good detergent, then wax as you would if you were detailing the vehicle.

Click to expand...

This man is right. Diesel fuel will remove the tar easily. Soak a rag with fuel and gently wipe. After that simply wash the car with detergent and then wax and you will never know it happened.

Got Coke and WD-40. Maybe I'll give those a shot first. I would have never thought diesel fuel or kerosene.

Thanks all for the replies!

"TAR" is a petroleum product. So are diesel fuel and kerosene....

Bill

Try dampening a microfiber cloth and sprinkle some baking soda on it. You gotta use a little elbow grease, but it works wonders on tar and bugs. And the baking soda will not scratch your clear coat or paint. I wouldn't try it on a freshly (less than a month old) painted surface though.

Kerosene works great, was getting my car washed many years ago and a deaf guy was cleaning tar off of another car, just wiping it with a rag that was soaked in something he had in a bottle. I asked what was in the bottle and he wrote on his hand, kerosene....
I used it a few years ago to remove the undercoating on a car I was restoring, worked great.

I have an old school can of Turtle Wax Bug & Tar Remover that is basically gelled kerosene and it works great. This is not the new stuff in a spray bottle, but some stuff in a heavy gauge steel can I got ages ago.
I would think kerosene on a rag would work just as well or like other say, diesel fuel which is essentially the same thing. Clean and wax afterwards and job done.

Lived out on rural oil & chip roads for 40 years. Diesel fuel or kerosene.

Finally got around to it today and the WD-40 worked great.