Ford Corrosion Repair Pics.

greengiant

greengiant

greengiant

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Finding door / tailgate seam corrosion due to sealant problems with my 53 plate Mondeo I managed to get them to fix it under warranty (after a couple of months phoning garage and chasing the warranty claim up!).

Dropped the car off at the Ford bodyshop Monday, got the car back yesterday evening, and today I managed to get a look at what they have done.

Rear passanger door before:

RearPassangerRust.jpg


After:

reardoorfixed.jpg


(Not a good photo, but lots of fresh sealant and paint)

Tailgate Before:

tailgate1.jpg
and
tailgate2.jpg


After:

tailgate1fixed.jpg
and
tailgate2fixed.jpg


again lots of new sealant + paint. Ford have taken fresh sealant all the way around the tailgate.

Drivers side rear door was starting to show paint bubbling, and looks like Ford have stripped it back and redone the sealant + paint after treating the rust.

LeftRearDoorCorrosion.jpg


Fixed:
rightdoorfixed.jpg


Not too bad a job, at least it didn't cost me a penny! :)
I guess the real proof in the pudding will be if any of this new sealant / paint starts peeling off in a few months time :rolleyes: However once the paint has fully set (a few weeks?) then I'll get plenty of wax on the door and tailgate edges.
 
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OllyM, it's a known problem with a bad batch of doors / tailgates made in 2003 / 2004. Seems they didn't bake the sealant on properly before painting.

However free repair from Ford!
 
greengiant said:
OllyM, it's a known problem with a bad batch of doors / tailgates made in 2003 / 2004. Seems they didn't bake the sealant on properly before painting.
Click to expand...

It's not a bad batch, it's a combination of the design of the clenched flange protection and bad sealant that soaks up moisture and deposits it into the metal where it's not galvanised. It affects cars from the start of production to late 2004 when they changed the design of the doors. I had a bit on the back doors of my 2002 Mondeo when I got rid of it, the 2005 one I swapped it for had the new doors and didn't have a problem. I've seen them much worse than this one - I looked at a 2.5yr old one that had lived by the sea and had big holes in the bottom of the passenger door. Definitely something to check for if you're buying one.
 
Nice job.


greengiant said:
OllyM, it's a known problem with a bad batch of doors / tailgates made in 2003 / 2004. Seems they didn't bake the sealant on properly before painting.

However free repair from Ford!
Click to expand...

Akin to the common problem of rust on 1986 / 87 D plate Fords? - Iirc due to bodyshells sitting untreated due to strike action.

Somebody will correct me I'm sure.
 
I think this actually applies to almost every Ford ever made...seriously, I had a 3 year old Ka that had rust all over the place (rear wiper hole, door sills, around the petrol cap etc) as did nearly every member of the owners club! Why can't Ford seem to get this right?

NS
 
NightShadow said:
I think this actually applies to almost every Ford ever made...seriously, I had a 3 year old Ka that had rust all over the place (rear wiper hole, door sills, around the petrol cap etc) as did nearly every member of the owners club! Why can't Ford seem to get this right?

NS
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i noticed that on the Ka's when looking for a car forthe ex about 3 years ago. was looking at 3 yr old Ka'a but in the end went for a vauxhall as ford's just weren't very good. as you say, there was rust everywhere on 3 year old cars.
 
I've got a Ka.. It's a 1999S with approx. 85k on it. It's had "advisories" on corrosion on the MOT for the last few years. had a bit of welding a couple of years ago. It's gone in the classic ford places of the sills, slam panel, and around the filler cap too. It's a shame really as it's been a great little car, never broken down even once, it's still on its original clutch and battery - and i have kind of thrashed it a bit - the engine is still sweet as a nut. the alternator has started squeaking a bit at cold but that's not a biggie. It's fun to drive (especially with an extra 50bhp :D) and comfortable. It's also very easy to drive. But i noticed even going back to about a year after i got it (late 03) that there was nasty looking rust underneath..

I've always been a fan of fords, i've owned one mk1 fiesta, four mk3 fiestas (1.1, 1.6d, XR2, then XR2 i put a RST engine in), a mk2 escort, two mondeos, an XR3i, and this ka. Tinworm has always been a problem for fords, which is a shame as they tend to do the rest of their vehicles very well. Even so i'd rather a ford than a vauxhall - just don't like them at all - IMO the last really good car vauxhall made was the last cavalier (had three of those too) - I tend to keep one daily ragger, one fun car, some van type vehicle(tax exempt landie), - these are kept for some time.. but i've usually got a car i'm doing up, driving around for a bit, then selling on for profit - fords have always been great for doing this. the trick is finding one that is unrusty (garaged and kept properly cleaned) and then clagging as much rustproofing as possible all over it. I had planned to do this with the Ka - every panel not directly visible coated in rustproof, but by the time i got around to it, there was that nasty rust underneath.

Hence i've got a (galvanised, unrusty) 306D to replace it. I hate rust so much it's all i can do not to spout a great deal of northernerised obscenity within this post lol. Rust is the only thing that.. isnt worth trying to fix once it gets hold of the main shell of the car - it'll come back eventually.

Dunno about you guys but if i had a mondeo as new as the OP's that had the rust that it had, i'd be DEMANDING new replacement panels. Ford, if i remember, were funny about the warranty on Ka and Fiesta from the late 90s, early noughtys,.. if it had a water leak into the cab (and a hell of a lot did including mine) it wasn't covered under the warranty. This combined with the rusting problems are making me seriously consider that when this 306 goes, i shall be replacing it with something probably from our friends at VAG.

EDIT: you might say a 1999 car should be rusty at 85k.. but.. no. It's very dissapointing when you consider the 2000 306 i have with 102k on it has no rust. The Ka has been showing signs of major corrosion since 2004 when it was 5 years old. Not what one would expect out of a modern vehicle from a supposedly reputable manufacturer like ford.

EDIT2: that'll teach me to say "its never failed, never broken down, on its original X part" - Literally an hour after i posted this, I went to the Ka just for a quick jump down the shops, and.. hey presto, it wouldn't start, and the starter motor sounded WELL weak. Oh well i guess the battery is 9yr old.. its very, very cold up here in west sheffield this morning, but the sun is bright now. Knowing that a battery is basically a chemical reaction, i pushed it into the sun to warm up a bit.. 2hr later it started first time. I reckon the battery is on its way out.. I know what kills batteries gradually and would expect such a symptom based on this gradual degradation of the rubber sheets between the elements of the battery. It should be ok for a bit as long as its kept reasonably warm.. Now its a case of morals.. Do i sell the car knowing it wants a new battery imminently, or do i hunt out a 2nd hand battery in working order.. or buy a new one for it.. it's being replaced anyway..
 
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Skree said:
Dunno about you guys but if i had a mondeo as new as the OP's that had the rust that it had, i'd be DEMANDING new replacement panels.
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I'll be keeping a close eye on the repaired panels. Still got 2 years left of the corrosion warranty, so if it comes back I'll hassle Ford again!
 
Hmmmm...

This doesnt seem to bode well for me...i can see that happening to my Festa. 06 plate but pre facelift.

Those holes on the door sils always clog up on it too, funny hearing loads of water swill about going round bends though.

Josh
 
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