ghettopro

I was looking at some older pics of my car and was wanting to get it back to looking to like it used to, gettin some touch up paint and a good washing, but I need some help, what can take tree sap off of a car?

and also, i had my car serviced today and had to have wheel cylinders replaced...what in the spoot is a wheel cylinder??

MazKid

For sap, and this might sound funny...raid a First Aid kit and get the alcohol towlettes. Then rub each sap spot...you'll notice the towlette turning yellow...eventually the sap will be gone but I advise that you wax over that spot once you have all the sap off.

It'll also take a good amount of the towlettes to do a whole car. On avarage you can wipe off about 10 sap droplets with 1 towlette. I had to do this to a Mazda 3 at work...took a long time and the customer had to come back so that I could finish it.

Roddimus Prime

wheel cylinders are the little pistons inside of drum brakes that push the shoes onto the drum. They are hydraulic and leak with age and wear.

kargoboy

Until this past summer we had a stupid pine tree that dumped sap onto whichever car was parked under it. It was a real PITA.
I would use bug/tar remover and then re-wax and buff the area.
It's not fun.

MazKid

Yeah, my dealership network has this "Super 700 sale"..."700" used cars(not really, but it's a catch number huh) are brought on our lot for a 3 day sale once a month during the summer...then our new cars have to go to a bowling alley lot a block away. Well they hire old tards to move the cars on the wednesday prior to the sale then bring them back the wednesday after...these guys are dumb and too old to be driving new cars...anyway they parked a few of our cars directly under these trees at the bowling alley and when they came back they sat in direct sunlight every day and air temps reaching over 100F. So it baked on the cars...this one I had last week was the last of the sapped up ones and it just sucked, especially since the car got back to me at 4:15 and we close on Saturdays at 5, so I was rushing to get it done so I could go out to eat with my family after work, and I got it done but our lighting in the cleaning bay is weak(and even when I complain they say they'll fix it, but they don't...) so I missed a ton on the roof. The lady came back on Monday and I spent another hour + making it look decent.

Sap blows...I really just want to cut down the trees sometime...we have this huge tulip tree over our driveway and I refuse to park on the driveway during the summer...I park on the street no matter what.

Bill

Wheel cylinders are the parts in the back brakes(DX right??) or any drum brakes that "activate" the brakes. The brake fluid is forced into the cylinder by pressure, and it spreads your brake shoes apart hitting the brake drum. It's the part that has 2 black rubber boots.

pass the peas

Man, what kind of country-*** junkyard car dealership do you work at? the best equipment you've got for removing stains from paint is alcohol towelettes from the first aid kit? I hope to god I never buy a new car from y'all.
sheesh!

MazKid

LOL. Well at other dealerships, they would take a car with sap to the body shop where they could fix it, but nooooo at our dealership they just have us try to fix it and then if it doesn't work out it goes to the body shop...it's dumb and time consuming, but it saves them money.

Hell, they have these retirees come in to move the cars for the sale, and these guys can't drive worth a damn. I've witnessed countless "hits" where they are backing a car infront of another and they just back up til they hit the car. Then the other old guys just laugh. Worst of all, we were using a MPV as a shuttle from the bowling alley to the dealership, and this guy who can only drive(can't walk worth a damn, he limps terribly) accidently put it in 3rd instead of drive. Well, getting onto the road he's like "damn thing come on" then realized he had it in 3rd...so what better to do than keep your foot mashed on the pedal, shift to N then to drive, at 20 or so mph. It actually peeled out when he did that, then the other guys are like "Come on Ray, get 'er in gear!".