OK, Astro is nearly 1 year in a few weeks. After the summer months last year (I told dealer NOT to detail my car upon arrival - and the paint is still swirl free and flawless), the goo started to melt into the front/rear plastic fender trim.

We've seen plenty of posts, and NO, nothing, including peanut butter or Mrs. Butterworths took it out. Dealer replaced the fender trim no charge under warranty. And I'm a detail freak, so I knew the stuff had merged with, and become one with, my plastic trim.

I made as sure as I could that all the goo was gone from the bonnet underside over the detailings I did from then on, and all was good.

Fast Forward - it's 90+ degrees here in NC now, and the heat is causing yet more goo to seep from who knows where, mostly the bonnet cavity, out onto the trim again!

Pissed does not even begin to describe it.

So tomorrow I'm going to seek out all things cosmoline with whatever tricks, tools and products I need, and get all that shiz out of my Mini! Damn brits, they don't need that much goo to protect it!

So I'll await word from those who have DE-Cosmolined their Mini, with advice or tips on what to use to get it out of every corner of the car so this will stop. I was wondering if I need to get a steam machine to do this! But high power hose? Chemicals? Lasers?

I was thinking about P21S Engine Cleaner (have it, but don't use it hardly at all - quite harsh), or something else????



Thanks.

 

mine goo'd again after almost a year as well. undiluted simple green works for me.

 

How about cleanser and a Dremel?

Seriously, I'd like to know, also. Will be following with bated breath.

Wonder if Black Wow would work?

 

You need to get hold of Heather at Detailers Paradise. They are about to release a product I have tested that eats Cosmoline for lunch. The stuff is phenomenal. Totally removes the Cosmoline and won't wipe out your un-clearcoated paint in the engine bay.
Tell her you are needing the Cosmo product ASAP. It will be worth the wait since nothing I had every used worked better.
BTW - my MINI is 3 years old and the Cosmo-crap is still seeping out.

 

Could you take some pics of the damage? I am curious to what this is doing to the trim.

 

This is great news. I was in a Mini dealers showroom a couple of weeks ago and the salesmen was showing me an '09. He opened the hood and the first thing I looked at was the underside of the "bonnet". Sure enough there was the telltale signs of the dreaded cosmoline which hadn't been thoroughly cleaned in the prep and inspection. I thought to myself, "yep another owner will have to deal with this crap this summer".

BTW...I slowed down the cosmo dripping on my MCS last summer by stuffing some small pieces of paper towel into the bonnet framework which is located directly above the wheel trim. Not to elegant but it worked.

 

Here you go. I took these last summer about 2 months after I took delivery of my car. It was so bad I had to clean it from under the hood myself as best I could. The dripping continued even after cleaning because there are so many nooks and crannies in the bonnet framework. It can be cleaned from metal but I have found nothing that will remove it completely the trim, once it has hardened to any degree.

 

Pardon my ignorance but what is that crap? What is it for and why does it seep out everywhere?
TIA!

 

Thanks. I will make sure to keep a eye on it I had no idea that stuff would damage the trim. I have to detail under the bonnet anyways I will try to clean that junk off. Plus I all ready have stuck my fingers in that crap a couple of times.

 

They coat the cars with it before shipping to keep corrosion at bay. Then once the car arrives at the VDC it gets a steam cleaning which is supposed to remove the Cosmoline. Obviously they don't get it all.

 

googone eats cosmoline like there is no tomorrow. I used 1/2 a bottle to de cosmoline my car. look for the gel version as it doesn't run as much as the regular oil version.

 

mellowmcs,

Are you saying the Goo Gone removed the cosmoline from the black wheelwell trim, or just from metallic surfaces under the hood? Thanks...

And krim, I tried undiluted Simple Green and it didn't touch the cosmoline on the trim, even when scrubbed with a toothbrush for several minutes.

I also tried Black Wow, which removed the white car polish stains on the black trim, but the cosmoline stains themselves reappeared after about 2 weeks.

 

It may take several applications to resaturate the plastic and eliminate the stains for good. A good example is the trim under the gas door. Spill gasoline on the trim and you will get similar white marks. After a several applications of BW the white markings will stay gone. Keep applying BW and over time the markings will stay gone longer and longer until eventually they will be gone for good.

 

just from metallic surfaces under the hood. there are many orifices that oooze out the excess cosmoline. I used many qtips and lot of googone to remove excess cosmoline. so far so good but we haven't hit our hot summer months yet. I'm sure i'll have to reattack the left over cosmoline once we have several hot days.

 

Anyone heard anything from Aesthetic Creations? Didn't someone say they were coming out with a miracle product?

 

Yep...my experience too. The BW does help make the stains less objectionable but I can still see them even after two applications. Maybe/hopefully they will disappear eventually. The key thing is to try not let this stuff harden/dry on the plastic trim.

 

Mr Clean Magic eraser works great on any cosmoline on the trim, then just follow it up with some Black Wow.

 

I have used kerosene for years as a cleaner and have good luck with it
with removing tar and now cosmoline on Mini..
I spray some on small paint / tooth brush and get into tight areas like seams on Mini.
And I also clean chassis with it when I get under there at times.
I have used it on motorcycles on cleaning chain oil off rims and used it for cleaning the chains themselves on bikes.
It does not hurt the paint and comes off with not to much effort..
Joe

 

Hey Eric, this is mdrums from rennlist and speed. I just got a mini yesterday for my dailey driver....like on our Porsche's doesn't this stuff just burn off eventually?

 

I wouldn't be to keen on using kerosene on plastic or clear coat paint.

 

mdrums, the problem is this: there is a trail of the stuff buried up inside the cavities of the front bonnet. Leave it out in the hot sun for the day, and you will see the drool along two spots of the fender trim, one near the front corner, and one halfway back near the scuttles.

UPDATE:
After discussing this with Phil at Detailer's Domain, we agreed that the product I had on hand that I could do it with yesterday was P21S Engine Cleaner - it's a degreaser, and I've had it on hand for years, but never use it much.

I let the Cooper sit out in the sun for just a bit (95 yesterday), then I squirted this into every cavity of the underside of the hood itself - there are several nickel-sized openings, and if you reach in you can scrape the junk with your fingernail. It's like hardened carnauba. I let the P21S sit for a few minutes, then hit it with a high spray hose (not pressure, just standard). Not much came out.

The issue I think is that this stuff has set up and it is not going to be easy to remove unless it gets super hot.

So then I figured I'd try hot water. I have a 5 gallon sprayer and filled it with hot water, then shot the hot water in those same holes and crevices, again very little result.

I think the only way to do this perfectly would be to separate the welds on the underside and scrub the junk out - it's that hard no matter what chemicals I used. You can see drippings inside those openings if you look closely - and it's hard wax, not slimy anymore, until it gets really REALLY hot.

But short of that, Phil agreed I ought to leave it in the sun on a very hot day, and repeat the above process, perhaps with better results from the heat (no need for hot water, just heat from sun, then more P21S).

The problem with this crud is that as it oozes onto the plastic fender trim, it blends into the plastic and once it's there, and sits in more sun/heat, it becomes one with the plastic.

I might just go ahead and paint the trim, but don't really want that look either. Oh well, I'll await word on any new 'miracle' cures to rid all traces of cosmoline from the bonnet, or any other suggestions. Not about to use flamables on the bonnet or near the engine either...so I'll await word on anything new. Might even write to MiniUSA with some close up shots to see what, if anything, they say.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

Klasse AIO = eradicator of Cosmoline

 

Isn't Klass AIO a polisher/wax product, not a degreaser?

 

it's also a mild cleaner. i've never used it but I would think it's a bit expensive to use to clean up all the cosmoline.

 

After speaking with a few experts in the detailing/products field, I'm sticking with the P21S (citrus degreaser, mild). I'll give it another hot day outdoors this weekend, and then have at it one more time. So far, have not seen too much oozing on the fender trim, at 90 degrees both yesterday and today and it was sitting in the hot sun. Maybe it did more good than I realized!

Thanks.