Advice please for dealing with Dodge Mastershield paint sealant

3

3gee

New member
Hey folks, I have black, month old Dodge Ram. In a weak moment I agreed to have the Mastershield paint sealant applied before delivery (too late, it's done). They did a decent job with it, but after washing the truck I figured why not apply a coat of my favourite Collinite 845 wax. It went on nicely, but the next day I noticed it had almost a muddy haze or film.

I figured I must have not applied it properly, so I went over it with some Optimum Detailer. Same thing. Obviously these products aren't playing nicely together. Any advice? I have access to a Flex 3401, numerous pads and many products, but I'd rather not polish off the Mastershield (at this point anyway) due to the pretty good warranty.

I have put wax over sealants before with good results but something in the Mastershield has me stumped. I figured I would check in with the experts before I proceeded further. I guess I'm hoping for a solution involving just buffing/blending these products instead of stripping and polishing but I'll listen to all advice. Thanks.
Don
 
Never heard of "master shield" is it some type of dealership coating??

If it was me I would remove it and start fresh. My guess is that you are going to get smearing no matter what goes over it.
 
I'm a little bit out of that loop on this so don't quote me because I may just be blowing hot air. If it's the same product they've offered for a decade, I believe it has the same characterics of other sealants. It's a proprietary product that requires periodic updates. I've heard of people having this product in a bottle with the Mopar logo though I think it's intended to be installed by the dealership. Hence the reason we don't hear much about in in the aftermarket.

You're problem is odd as most sealants don't have a problem with a real wax topper. I know this isn't what you want to hear but if you're getting a polisher out it should be gone when you're finished. Before I got that far I'd try giving it a good waterless wash and see what happens to the haze. You also might want to try Collinite's pre-wax cleaner or an IPA wipedown just for giggles.

Edit: Ha, found this for what it's worth.

http://www.autopia.org/forums/profe...ussion/58689-mopar-paint-sealer-question.html
 
Thanks guys. Yes, it's a dealer-applied sealant. It has a 5 year warranty against pretty much anything paint related, I can get it re-applied in 5 years and go for another 5 years. It sounded good at the time, this is my retirement truck and if I can keep the body in good shape, I know I can keep the Hemi going forever.

I think I will try some mild cleaners first, see if that works, any product recommendations would be appreciated.
 
My friend called me a week after getting his brand new black Ram and explained that there was film that he could not remove on his truck. I never did get a chance to look at it but I suspect it is the same stuff. He's not one to detail. Farm boy who just drives through a brushless or sprays it off. For him to complain it must have been pretty bad.

He fought with the dealership for a while until he gave up and took it elsewhere to be professionally detailed.

I personally wouldn't accept any "coatings" from dealerships.
 
I Googled this after I responded to your query realizing I may be giving you bad advice. I apologize for that. That said, I don't think there's anything I suggested that would give you a problem. From what I can see there's quite a bit written about it going clear back to 02. The understanding of the warranty, it's updates and what's covered in the warranty seems to vary widely. One of the posts I read made it sound like this was a prodcut that was also available over the counter through Mopar. Others said it's a Valugard or even a 3M product branded at that time for Daimler/Chrysler. If that were the case maybe with a bit of research you could find a similar product from the manufacturer or perhaps seek advice through that company.

Did they give you documentation with the installation of the product? I think I'd like to know what it's supposed to be good for duration wise. If it happened to be a product that needs annual updates I wouldn't sweat moving forward with it's replacement. If the warranty is actually a benefit for you I'd go slowly.

Master Shield

One last thought, when you buy something like this how would they know if you were to replace it with a product you like and trust? I'm not suggesting you do something dishonest but in essence you have the warranty in hand for something that is very difficult to determine if it's on the car or a replacement, perhaps of better quality. How would they know? For me one of the biggest down sides to a product liike this would be feeling I couldn't go out and play with my car when I wanted to work on it.
 
GearHead_1 said:
I Googled this after I responded to your query realizing I may be giving you bad advice. I apologize for that. That said, I don't think there's anything I suggested that would give you a problem. From what I can see there's quite a bit written about it going clear back to 02. The understanding of the warranty, it's updates and what's covered in the warranty seems to vary widely. One of the posts I read made it sound like this was a prodcut that was also available over the counter through Mopar. Others said it's a Valugard or even a 3M product branded at that time for Daimler/Chrysler. If that were the case maybe with a bit of research you could find a similar product from the manufacturer or perhaps seek advice through that company.

Did they give you documentation with the installation of the product? I think I'd like to know what it's supposed to be good for duration wise. If it happened to be a product that needs annual updates I wouldn't sweat moving forward with it's replacement. If the warranty is actually a benefit for you I'd go slowly.

Master Shield

One last thought, when you buy something like this how would they know if you were to replace it with a product you like and trust? I'm not suggesting you do something dishonest but in essence you have the warranty in hand for something that is very difficult to determine if it's on the car or a replacement, perhaps of better quality. How would they know? For me one of the biggest down sides to a product liike this would be feeling I couldn't go out and play with my car when I wanted to work on it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this Gearhead, really appreciate it. I think I agree with everything you said. I did get documentation with this warranty, they really seem to stand behind their product. There are no annual applications, just the once and then re-apply in five years if I want to extend. Your link is probably exactly the same product and no doubt I got ripped off big-time for the application.

None the less, I have to deal with what I've got now, smearing on top of this. Your point about how would they know is valid, how would they? Well, I guess if I were the warranty guy I would spray on some detailer spray and see if it clouded the paint, then I would know :)

I still would very much like to leave on this product but polish gently to get back my shine. I'll let everyone know how I make out but would still love some recommendations.
 
I figured I would update this thread in case anyone else had this issue in the future. It was frustrating, I tried many methods of hand wiping with cleaners to take care not to remove the dealer application, nothing worked. Today I used Optimum Pol-
seal with a mild blue pad and mild pressure with my Flex 3401. It worked great, smear is gone and I have a deep shine. Maybe I removed the dealer application, maybe I didn't ;)
In any case, I am finally happy with my shine and I can add whatever I want on top. In the future, undercoating is fine but stay away from the paint dealer.
 
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