Vehicle rusts more in Florida than Michigan?

[1978elcamino]

I have lived in florida all my life and have never had a car rust, ever.

 

[GSCJR]

I noticed a accelerated amounts of surface rust under the hood of our family Honda in SoFLo after several months. After 10 years in the rust belt, with no rust on the body panels and undercarriage, it's living it's second life, down south. The rear rotors were a little noisy from the surface rust as well. The true test is now, it's been parked since March 2020 with just a wash, inside and out, a battery disconnect and a splash of TWC3 with ethanol free fuel.

 

[Klutch9]

Did you drive on the beach? Doubt you would have that much rust after 3 weeks.

Yes, we drove on the beach a couple times and parked within 10 feet of the water. Obviously I’m not saying that something will rust more in FL than MI. I’m just curious if some strange combination of events led to some rust that was not there before. The rust jacking on the rotors happened in a VERY short period of time.

 

[demarpaint]

Yes, we drove on the beach a couple times and parked within 10 feet of the water. Obviously I’m not saying that something will rust more in FL than MI. I’m just curious if some strange combination of events led to some rust that was not there before. The rust jacking on the rotors happened in a VERY short period of time.

I think you have your answer. Driving on the beach and parking within 10' of the water imo might accelerate existing rust.

 

[PimTac]

I had the vehicle in the shop for some unrelated work, and the tech advised me that the front rotors needed replacing NOW because the inner veins had swollen with rust and bulged the rotor.

What?

 

[4wd]

Florida along the coast, maybe, inland I seriously doubt it. I'd love to hear from a few members who actually live in Florida, coastal and inland if they have rust problems.

I owned a waterfront place on the Texas coast (saltwater) for 8 years … you did not even think of using steel doors etc … most things were cedar. But this was bombarded 24x365 - not a few days.

In fact, I just got back from the beach … coin wash on the way home … sprinkler under it in the am …
Will never have a coastal rust problem if you clean it well every trip …

 

[tshephard]

What?

Yeah, what?

They would have to be mighty tiny 'veins' to fill and develop rust pressure.
I would have to challenge this, first with a tool pushed through those veins before I believed it.

I'm real suspicious of decent rotors ever really warping, rather than depositing.

 

[demarpaint]

I owned a waterfront place on the Texas coast (saltwater) for 8 years … you did not even think of using steel doors etc … most things were cedar. But this was bombarded 24x365 - not a few days.

In fact, I just got back from the beach … coin wash on the way home … sprinkler under it in the am …
Will never have a coastal rust problem if you clean it well every trip …

I'm about 8 miles from the ocean as the crow flies. There are days in the summer I can smell the salt from the ocean in the air. That combined with the road salt during the winter has caused people closer to the ocean some major rust problems. If we didn't get snow, rust by my house wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Jcp123]

If you were near the coast...don’t underestimate how much the coastal breezes can put as much salty stuff on your metal as it can. Even out in California, my circle of Mustang folks had someone living in Santa Cruz, a beach town, and they had some horrible rot which they readily put down to the salt air down there.

Exactly how close to the coast do you need to be for this to happen?

Not sure. Depends how the wind flies I suppose. Probably needs to be within 5-10 miles?

 

[Contractor K]

Florida along the coast, maybe, inland I seriously doubt it. I'd love to hear from a few members who actually live in Florida, coastal and inland if they have rust problems.

I live in orlando , dont see rust unless the thing is 3o years old. My friends who live on the coast and drop boats in regularly just hose the truck down with clean water. The sea air will eventually cause rust issues but it takes a while . I used to install and repair playground equipment and the sea side of the playground would oxidise and the other side of the individual posts would not.That was years of exposure just to sea air about 1/4 mile from the sea. My bet is the rust just started falling off because of our poor roads!

 

[Fattylocks]

Exactly how close to the coast do you need to be for this to happen?

I'd think the wet side. Like a 200' offshore.

 

[ctrcbob]

I'd think the wet side. Like a 200' offshore.

My wife lived a quarter mile from ocean in Lake Worth. People who parked their cars outside would hose their cats off every morning.

Here in Central Florida ( Orlando area), No Rust.

 

[K-Man]

Another thing to consider: any industrial operations nearby? Paper mills, fertilizer plants, and the like can corrode metal nearby.

I live about 0.5–1 mile from chemical plants in Hopewell and rust is a problem in the area. Not only is my late dad's 1992 Chevrolet pickup rusting, but over time I had to replace all the kitchen appliances because of rust. Hopewell is roughly 100 miles from the coast, so that's not the issue. Further away from the chemical plants you see minimal corrosion.

 

[wag123]

The rotors should not have done that, in Florida or Michigan. IMO they were defective (either by design or manufacture). Have you contacted Raybestos about it?

 

[doitmyself]

My wife lived a quarter mile from ocean in Lake Worth. People who parked their cars outside would hose their cats off every morning.

Must be a Florida thing.

 

[billt460]

Having lived in the Midwest for 38 years, I can say road salt is one of the absolute worst things for a vehicle. In the 60's I would see cars with A LOT of body cancer in as little as 3 Winters. It becomes a 2 fold problem, because not only do the cars get covered in road salt, to the point they're white. But most don't get washed, because people don't want frozen door locks after they do. Or for it to get slopped up the very next day. So the salt gets plenty of time to do it's damage.

Today, with more use of composite body panels, and other non corrosive materials like Stainless Steel exhaust systems, this has greatly improved the prevention a lot of the corrosion that used to exist. But it's still a major problem. While seaside living does introduce salt into the air, I can't see it being anywhere near the problem it is during Midwestern Winters, where hundreds of tons of salt are dumped on roads and highways every year.

The military uses salt spray to test corrosion resistance of weapons and other equipment for a reason. It accomplishes in mere hours, what otherwise would take months or years.

 

[Zee09]

Coastal Florida driving requires a bunch of washer fluid. The salt spray is like driving the salted roads of the Maryland winters.

 

[billt460]

Coastal Florida driving requires a bunch of washer fluid. The salt spray is like driving the salted roads of the Maryland winters.

I remember back in the 80's I went to Florida to see a Space Shuttle launch. (STS-4). Afterward I drove up to Daytona Beach. My rental car was full of bugs, by the time I got there, so I had it washed at a car wash that was right across from the hotel I stayed at. The next morning there was a film on the windshield. I ran my finger over it and touched it to my tongue, and it was SALT. The entire top of the vehicle had the same salty film all over it.

 

[alarmguy]

It sure isnt Florida that did that to his car and everything to do with Michigan. No way Florida, nada chance, zip, forget about it.

 

[Zee09]

I remember back in the 80's I went to Florida to see a Space Shuttle launch. (STS-4). Afterward I drove up to Daytona Beach. My rental car was full of bugs, by the time I got there, so I had it washed at a car wash that was right across from the hotel I stayed at. The next morning there was a film on the windshield. I ran my finger over it and touched it to my tongue, and it was SALT. The entire top of the vehicle had the same salty film all over it.

Yep same here.
Makes it hard to keep the windshield clean.