Engine Cover Silver Paint Flaking

[enfield577]

This may have been discussed before, but I couldn't find it in a search. Judging from pics of other folks' engines, this seems to be a common problem.The silver paint for the VVT-i marking is flaking off my 2.4L engine cover. (13,500 miles, 2009 GT built in Sept. 2008)Has anyone fixed this on their own? Can you just use silver engine paint, mask and spray? Has anyone tried it by hand painting?Is this a paint defect that might be covered by warranty, or a TSB? I mean, it certainly seems to be a paint defect, but I wonder what the dealer would say if I wanted it fixed under warranty.Geoff

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[KNINE]

It seems unlikely to me that engine cover letters would be covered under the paint warranty.

[engineertwin2]

I agree with K-Nine that its unlikely it would be covered under the paint warranty, but being within the bumper-to-bumper 36k warranty, you may be able to push for it.As for fixing it yourself, why paint it when you could get some decals from Grafxwerks that would be an exact fit - it'd be much less headache than masking and painting.http://www.grafxwerks.com/

[A Psycho Martyr]

yeah...engineertwin2 beat me to it.I was gonna say gwdecals.com would be a cheap fix and you could even step it up and get the red to match your car.

[enfield577]

I would LOVE to use a GrafxWerks overlay, but they don't make that exact one (I asked). Maybe I'll try one of the other ones and just give it a shot.My thought exactly, Psycho Martyr - red would look really good!

[vibenvy]

Yes, this is a fairly common issue around here with '09-'10 GT owners. Fortunately I have yet to experience this on mine or my mom's. Ours are both within a few hundred miles of yours (both have just over 13,000) and my mom's was built in October and mine in November. Do you keep your engine compartment clean?

[ParknVibe]

My engine letter panit came off over a year ago, I then just pulled the rest of it off with scotch tape. I did mention it a long time ago, but no one responded. I also want to know what type of paint to use on a hot plastic surface. I also think it failed because it did not have a primer coat under. I had no time to repaint it. I was thinking of a rub on or stick on film.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by Ivibe »My engine letter panit came off over a year ago, I then just pulled the rest of it off with scotch tape. I did mention it a long time ago, but no one responded. I also want to know what type of paint to use on a hot plastic surface. I also think it failed because it did not have a primer coat under. I had no time to repaint it. I was thinking of a rub on or stick on film.I would recommend using Duplicolor engine enamel. In order for it to stick well to the plastic I would also use a couple coats of Duplicolor adhesion promoter before applying the paint itself. Remove the engine cover, use some painter's tape to mask the letters off, clean the letters with a mix of water and isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), let dry, use a couple coats of adhesion promoter and a couple coats of paint. Voila, no more boring black engine cover!

[tpollauf]

Quote, originally posted by J_TO_ENVY »Yes, this is a fairly common issue around here with '09-'10 GT owners. My Vibe GT only has 5100 miles on it and so far everything under the hood looks like it did the day I bought it That will change this upcoming winter as it WILL see snow/salt here on the Ohio/Michigan border.Whatever remedies you guys end up doing I will take note and do the same when my time comes

[ParknVibe]

Thanks for the painting tip. I aways knew that when painting soft plastic car body parts (like a bumper) you need to apply a special primer, prehap the type you recommended. I was going to hand paint the letters. I assume you were thinking of spray painting.The special primer or product is design to prevent the paint from peeling off when the plastic is flexing.The original silver paint looked like a rub on film... like a rub-on letter sheet.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by Ivibe »Thanks for the painting tip. I aways knew that when painting soft plastic car body parts (like a bumper) you need to apply a special primer, prehap the type you recommended. I was going to hand paint the letters. I assume you were thinking of spray painting.The special primer or product is design to prevent the paint from peeling off when the plastic is flexing.The original silver paint looked like a rub on film... like a rub-on letter sheet.You're welcome. Yeah, I actually just got some painting tips from a member of another forum who works at a body shop. I am going to be painting some plastic plugs to replace my front license plate and he said the most important thing is to use adhesion promoter to give the paint something to stick to and make the paint flexible so it won't crack, peel, etc. Hand painting would probably be pretty time consuming. The letters are a pretty good size so it shouldn't be too hard to just mask them off and spray paint them. It would probably turn out better. Just my $.02 though. Best of luck with whatever you end up doing and be sure to post pictures and a how to for us '09 GT owners .

[enfield577]

My engine cover is on the way to GrafxWerks, so hopefully Ryan will have VVT-i 16V overlays for our 2009-2010 2.4Ls sometime in August.Will let you all know how it comes out ...

[ponta2147]

Thanks! That is awesome news.

[areles]

Thanks, Enfield!I need something to spice up the engine compartment

[vibenvy]

Thanks Geoff! Glad to hear you and Ryan got everything worked out. I will definitely be ordering two sets when they go up for sale.Quote, originally posted by areles »I need something to spice up the engine compartmentRon... you know what would really spice up your engine compartment... an intake !

[enfield577]

Ryan at GrafxWerks has finished the VVT-i 16V overlay for our '09-10 2.4 engine covers. My engine cover is on the way back - I'll post photos when I get back home in a couple weeks.It's already on the GrafxWerks page - http://www.grafxwerks.com/prod...-1518Looks great, huh?

[areles]

Geoff,Thanks for doing this!!Ron

[A Psycho Martyr]

wow that looks perfect!

[vibenvy]

Looks great ! I will be ordering two in metallic silver within the next couple weeks. Thanks again for donating your cover Geoff! It's much appreciated !

[enfield577]

Here is the new GrafxWerks VVT-i 16V overlay for 2009-2010 2.4L engine covers. Ryan chose Regular Dark Red - it looks great! Thanks, Ryan!

[vibenvy]

Looks great Geoff ! Huge thanks to you and Ryan !

[06pvibe]

Quote, originally posted by enfield577 »Here is the new GrafxWerks VVT-i 16V overlay for 2009-2010 2.4L engine covers. Ryan chose Regular Dark Red - it looks great! Thanks, Ryan!That DOES look great! Much easier than painting.For my Mazda, I simply used Testors model paint. It took about 5 coats (2 gold and 3 red) to completely cover and look good, but it's held up very well in 6 yrs... even during engine compartment detailing.