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Rust Never Sleeps -- Questions About Rust Problems

67 messages,  Last post on Jan 25, 2011 at 10:18 PM

You are in the Maintenance & Repair Forum.

What is this discussion about? Car Safety, Exterior, Auto Body, Paint, Car Warranties, Coupe, Convertible, Hatchback, Truck, Sedan, Wagon, SUV, Van

Messages Page 6 of 7

#48 of 67 Re: Cutlass Ciera - possible rust problem? [Mr_Shiftright] by pgilbert

Nov 09, 2005 (10:57 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 08, 2005 11:52 am)
Precisely. I accepted the vendor's offer to do an inspection with the vehicle on a hoist and will get it to a body shop if necessary.

#50 of 67 Re: Rust Never Sleeps--Questions About Rust Problems [KarenS] by safouane

Feb 05, 2006 (8:25 am)

Replying to: KarenS (Nov 26, 2003 7:55 am)
I have major rust all over the edge between the roof and the glass wind shield, the workshop is concerned as removing the windshield could break, he is advising the use of chemical material that is supposed to "consume" the rust and fill in the hole gaps, then paint.
 
Issue, he's got no chemicals, any heard of this treatment and can advise manufacturer?
 
Thanks. safouane

#51 of 67 rust and safety by ivan5

May 09, 2006 (12:00 pm)

Hi
not sure if this "rust" thread is still active, but I have one for you... I just bought a 1991 4runner for $500. Runs strong enough, but it's a total rust bucket. The owner just had the brakelines replaced due to rust, so they're OK. It's all through the undercarriage, but as far as I can tell there are no holes in the actual frame, just some flaking. My question is this: is this thing actually dangerous to drive? I only use it on the rare occasion when I need 4WD (camping etc, maybe 20 times a year). I'll happily drive it until it crumbles unless it is actually dangerous. Could some major piece of the suspension or frame actually fall apart on the freeway? Thanks

#52 of 67 Re: rust and safety [ivan5] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

May 09, 2006 (1:21 pm)

Replying to: ivan5 (May 09, 2006 12:00 pm)
Well no one can say without a thorough inspection. If the rust has weakened some point where the suspension attaches, you're damn right it's dangerous. That would include such things as shock towers, steering box mounts and rear axle mounts. Rule of thumb, if you can jam a sharp awl into the rust and it penetrates, and this rust is near a suspension mounting point, you have a problem.

#53 of 67 Re: rust and safety [Mr_Shiftright] by ivan5

May 09, 2006 (1:42 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (May 09, 2006 1:21 pm)
thanks for the reply... The mechanics who looked at it were vague about the safety piece. They said it was "more or less" safe, but I couldn't nail them down. Would a body shop be better equipped to tell me? Do they do that kind of thing (i.e. inspect for rust damage)? It looks like the shock towers are a little flakey, which make me nervous. thanks again

#54 of 67 Re: rust and safety [ivan5] by cpmike

Jun 01, 2006 (9:07 pm)

Replying to: ivan5 (May 09, 2006 1:42 pm)
I'm a motor vehicle inspector who owns a 1991 toyota 4runner. Your best bet to find out if you have a saftey issue is to go to your autobody shop and have a structural integrity inspection done. I'm currently replacing several sections of my body that have rusted out. Common places that they rust are around and in the rear wheel wells, (this could have your side sections of your rear bumper falling off), your front fenders and the drain hole plug up in the lower part of the doors and tailgate causing that area to rust. Take a screwdriver to any areas of the frame you think might be bad. If your truck is like mine, it will just be the paint scaling off.

#55 of 67 RUST OLDS CUTLASS by 127horse

Jul 06, 2006 (11:03 am)

We had rust bubbles and some breakthrough around the gas cover on our 99 Olds Cutlass. The body shop attempted a patch that failed because in one day the bubbles were back! Subsequently we authorized the replacement of the rear quarter panel. We saw the removed piece which has a large area of rust and the body shop said they've never seen anything quite like it on a car just 7 years old. The warranty booklet says rust through is covered through 6 years. Has anyone heard of similar Olds problems that GM is covering?

#56 of 67 Re: Quite true [early74b] by early74b

Feb 12, 2009 (11:34 am)

Replying to: early74b (Dec 23, 2003 7:38 am)
Hey --- starting up again in posting in another forum (it's been quite awhile) and looked up my 'recent' posts and came across one from over 5 years ago -- well, we still have that DGC and it now has 107K miles on it. The good news is that the rust repair has held up quite well, the bad news is that other parts are starting to bubble and eventually they'll rust as well. In late '05 we had the tranny rebuilt (which was guaranteed for 12K/12 months) which was really worth it as the van still performs well 3 years later. We dropped collison coverage a few years back as the van is probably only worth about $2K in a trade-in but as it still looks OK, is safe and reliable (have taken it on two 2K round trips without incident within the past year - needed more room than our other cars) so we'll keep it until the next big repair exceeds that. Here in the rust-belt it truely is the climate that limits how long cars bodies last -- we also have owned a '99 Miata since new (has 47K miles now) and as we store it during just the winter, the body is almost new -- I'm glad I had the rust repaired on the DGC as I'm sure it would have just gotten worse but as it doesn't get driven much now, it may just last a few more years for us!

#57 of 67 Re: Quite true [early74b] by hpmctorque

Feb 16, 2009 (11:38 pm)

What's a DGC?

Messages Page 6 of 7

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