V225

Hi everyone,
I'll be driving my car in the winter(no choice) and they salt the roads here when it snows. I know this is disaster to the underside of cars, but there's a local diy car wash that has a hot high-pressure washer nozzle & a hot high-pressure soaper setting. Would thoroughly washing the underside with this every week keep my car safe?

Thanks!

Bergamasco

This might help in the areas you get to if you can be truly guaranteed that the water is fresh and doesn't contain any salt and other garbage. Many car washes recycle their water. This will not address the areas that you don't wash. You would be amazed at all the tiny cracks and crevices where salt get into. If at all possible I would buy a "winter beater" - a nice used Honda Accord or similar product might be just the ticket and then look for a place to store your favourite toy. Having said all of that many Rennlisters will tell you here that they drive their modern Porsches all year around and I have seen a couple of examples of 996s that don't seem to show any signs of winter use and one of which continues to win at Concours competitions.

IXLR8

You are far better off treating the car with Krown T-40.

Hot water only speeds up the rusting process and I don't have a high opinion of high pressure washers.

My daily driver has been through 11 harsh winters with no rust to be found on the underside. We tested the Krown in our labs.

Of course you can always buy a winter beater.

V225

I'm hoping this is the only winter I'll have to go through without a beater car. I'll look into this T-40 product. Can I just spray this myself, or should a shop do it?

Bergamasco

I use Krown on my daily driver and have done for many years. It works very well but there are some drawbacks. For example: They will want to drill holes in your car to be able to get the spray into all the seams and cracks of the doors and inner body. I most certainly would NOT do this with a Porsche. Secondly, the spray will soften and cause your rubber seals to stretch. This is particularly noticeable on your door seals and these are ridiculously expensive on a Porsche. (eg $300plus per side plus installation) Lastly, the Krown spray will attract dirt where you don't want it and pool in areas inside the engine and trunk. If you are only using the car for one winter I would probably just leave it. If you still want the protection offered by a product such as Krown then I would suggest putting the car on a hoist and using a couple of spray cans which you can purchase from them or at Canadian tire and just spraying the most vulnerable areas keeping in mind what I mentioned above. Best of Luck - Glenn

TOGWT

Road Salt

Although dry salt is inert 15 – 20.oF (9 – 29.oC) is considered the lower limit for salt to melt snow and ice but once H2O, even in the form of moist air (i.e. humidity) is added the freezing point is lowered and the sprayed brine solution (pH 8.5) used on roads will have an adverse effect (the formation of rust and/or corrosion) on the vehicles paint and undercarriage. When washing the vehicle ensure that all salt removed to avoid a brine solution remaining on the paint finish. Using a durable protection (Collinite Insulator Wax) will provide a sacrificial and renewable protection to the vehicles paint finish.

Anti-icing liquids, which according to State authorities, the liquid solution consists of - Magnesium chloride (MgCl2) Calcium chloride (CaCl2) and other liquids that work like anti-freeze, by lowering the freezing temperature of water and preventing ice from forming a strong bond to the road

Use a high pressure hose (Power wash) the wheel wells and undercarriage, and allow to dry. Spray the affected area (s) with Eastwoods Road Salt Neutralizer a high performance rust-preventive coating designed for application directly on rusted metal surfaces; apply thin coats and allow each coat to thoroughly dry

theporscheguy

I time my cleanings with the weather more then planning on a weekly cleaning. If it snows heavily on Monday I usually don't wait for the weekend to get the salt of my vehicle. Prevention at this point can be your biggest friend.

V225

Thanks for the replies guys. I think I'm going to spray some T-40 myself, and like Fred mentions, wash right after the snow falls.

IXLR8

I buy Krown T-40 in pails and spray it myself using a compressor. You can also buy Krown in spray cans. Krown does not set...ever, and will continue to creep.

The shops drill holes, and while the plugged holes do not rust, I prefer to not drill any by removing door panels and getting access to other areas through existing rubber plugs that are usually found on most cars. There isn't a single drilled hole on my daily driver 1999 Honda CR-V.

You can get access to the doors by spraying the product through the drain holes in the doors.

This is what my front strut tower looks like after 11 very tough winters using Krown T-40 (which we also tested at work against other products)...