Anyone else get 'diesel dots'?

[Kadiddle]

In the last few years I've noticed that I get little tiny oily dots on my motorhome, primarily on the driver's side and mostly towards the rear. Sometimes there are more than a hundred dots when I return from a trip. With a little time, they get hard and pluck off with a finger nail. The more recently I've polished the motorhome, the easier they come off. But it takes a lot of time to clean them up.

I've been driving motorhomes for more than 15 years and have only recently noticed this. I'm thinking it's from the vertical exhaust of diesel trucks that are usually passing me (speed limited by toad) hence the driver's side getting the worst of this.

Anyone else? Ideas on where it comes from? Cleanup? -thanks

[pppitiful]

Are they similar to this?

AutoEducation.com Car Blog |Little Black or Brown Spots on Car - AutoEducation.com Car Blog

[Gohawks]

If it is artillery fungus it is a pain in the butt to clean off. It usually lives in mulch that hasn't been replaced for a while. We had it on our siding of her house. Pressure washer with the nozzle 2 inches away from it doesn't get it off.

[SidecarFlip]

Sounds like fly poop to me.....

[Still Kickin]

This thread is ripe for constuctive comments. :-) I like the mulch one so far. But, if the OP only has them on the front of his unit, then diesel dots gets my vote. Unless, the mulch spores are target specific......

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Still Kickin

This thread is ripe for constuctive comments. :-) I like the mulch one so far. But, if the OP only has them on the front of his unit, then diesel dots gets my vote. Unless, the mulch spores are target specific......

What if he's parking it next to a mulch bed on his drivers side rear???

[Kadiddle]

Thanks pppitiful for the picture. I should have done the same but thought of posting only after I cleaned off the current batch. Yes, the dots look like pppitiful's picture. And, yes, some of the dots appear on the front and some wind around to the back. It's not likely fungus.

I'd appreciate keeping responses on topic. -thanks

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Kadiddle

I'd appreciate keeping responses on topic. -thanks

So which ones do you think are off-topic?

[Kadiddle]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

So which ones do you think are off-topic?

I thought fly poop was pretty much in the wrong direction. Unlikely given the circumstances. Sorry if I've offended anyone that is trying to help.

[NMWildcat]

Interesting problem. I can't see how it would be semi exhaust. We travel frequently on I-10 between NM and Phoenix which is pretty much one long line of semis. We get passed often as we usually drive 65. No spots on our rig at all, except for bug guts. The artillery fungus is interesting..... Never heard of that before. Learn something every day.

Good luck in finding the culprit!

[dalford]

Originally Posted by Kadiddle

Thanks pppitiful for the picture. I should have done the same but thought of posting only after I cleaned off the current batch. Yes, the dots look like pppitiful's picture. And, yes, some of the dots appear on the front and some wind around to the back. It's not likely fungus.

I'd appreciate keeping responses on topic. -thanks

So why do you reject the fungus? Could be coming from where you park your unit.

I think if it was from passing diesel trucks we all would have experienced it at some time in our life and there would be a cleaner advertised on TV for it. I just can't buy the passing diesel truck theory.. Fungus from where you store your RV is plausible but then again I don't know where you store or park your RV.

[18CrewDually]

I had this on the driver's side on our 5er. I scraped most off with my thumb nail. Truck exhaust, I'm saying no. The article or blog posted earlier is a match as far as I'm concerned. I might of picked them up in a campground, I don't know. But they haven't been back in over a year and a half.

[Evereddie]

It's the fungus, believe me. Been there, done that! Can be random and come from any place you park. Even for a short time. If it was anything to do with diesel it would not get that hard.

[asquared]

Very interesting. I get marroon/rust colored spots on my rig. More noticeable on our old white tt then our current tan fiver but very difficult to get off. Always thought it was some bug or berry thing. Artillery fungus is interesting as we do have mulch at the house and many CG's have mulch.

[Evereddie]

About 10 years ago I was noticing this spotting on our cars. The wife who has an landscaping/horticultural degree said it's sap from the trees. I dismissed it but after washing our cars noticed it was mostly on the sides and not the top surfaces. Google came up with the answer. Many others have had these problems for a long time. Nothing new. Nature is quite inventive, isn't it.

[satdog01]

Get spots like mentioned when traveling over newly paved or resurfaced roads. Figured tv was kicking it up on the. Plenty of that going on now to beat the cold weather. Seems to be mostly from the oil they used to prime to road surface. The spots I get are easy to removed using a liquid bug and tar remover. Test a small spot first, worked great on fiberglass of Flagstaff tt. I do a small area and imediately wash it good wth rv soap and water.

[Kadiddle]

Thank you all for the responses. Interesting potential causes including the fungus. With several posts regarding fungus, it's hard to dismiss. For me, I always notice this right after a trip. Once cleaned, does not re-appear until the next trip. This leads me to believe it's happening while traveling. Where I park is my very open back yard but the driver side is near an untreated wood fence. The substance does seem oily/greasy again pointing to some sort of road grime.

I'll be moving to a brand new home over the winter where I have a dedicated asphalt pad for the motorhome. If it goes away there, credence will be given to the fungus and/or where I park theories.

[dalford]

Originally Posted by Kadiddle

Thank you all for the responses. Interesting potential causes including the fungus. With several posts regarding fungus, it's hard to dismiss. For me, I always notice this right after a trip. Once cleaned, does not re-appear until the next trip. This leads me to believe it's happening while traveling. Where I park is my very open back yard but the driver side is near an untreated wood fence. The substance does seem oily/greasy again pointing to some sort of road grime.

I'll be moving to a brand new home over the winter where I have a dedicated asphalt pad for the motorhome. If it goes away there, credence will be given to the fungus and/or where I park theories.

Well your mind is pretty made up about road grime. I would suggest you check your RV every time you stop to see if you can determine what passed you or what type road you were on. Personally, only time I've picked up bad road grime is when there is road construction and that is pretty much a constant if,on the Interstate.. Good luck on nailing it down...

[mike.t]

Are you aware of any other Motor home owners that have this same issue? And are Motor homes the only victims?

[dalford]

One thought, do you run your generator while underway? Is your generator in the front and exhaust out on the drivers side? Just a thought...