Change winter parking habits to avoid rusting?

[rslifkin]

^ I've seen quite a few rusty newer Mazdas up here. Mostly wheel wells and trunk lids.

My Jeep had some rust on the bottom of the back hatch when I bought it, although I've replaced the hatch since then. In the spring, I have to clean up a little bit of minor rust starting on the hood lip and bottom of the driver's door. All of those seams have been filled with WD-40 by me to prevent any new rust. Other than that, and a little surface rust on some welds on the underbody, it's got no rust that I can find.

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted By: Anies
Actually isn't it "better" to leave the first cake layer of salt on a car as it prevents the additional salting through the winter from harming the car? The salt eventually loses its ability to harm the car(first layer) and if you keep washing it your just continually exposing the car to the fresh salt over and over no?
This sound like some kind of myth. It makes no sense. Salt never loses its ability to corrode metal. There's no difference between fresh salt and salt that is thousands of years old.

 

[Craig in Canada]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
I can't tell anyone which of these RX's is going to rust first/worst. I think that it is a testimate to the paint and metal process that was used in the factory.

I think alot has to do with the factory corrossion protection and metal treatment. What quality of metal, how was it protected in the factory and how many step paint process.
More expensive cars should be better than lesser expensive cars.

You can thank the indoor life of the first RX for cloud-free headlights. Lack of UV exposure will prolong a lot of components. Of course in mid-winter it's not much of an issue.

You're not necessarily going to see a big rust blister on a quarter panel to know which one is going to go first. It would be interesting to put both up on a lift and see what they look like underneath. There may be quite a difference there which would point your best bet in one direction or the other.

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: Anies
Actually isn't it "better" to leave the first cake layer of salt on a car as it prevents the additional salting through the winter from harming the car? The salt eventually loses its ability to harm the car(first layer) and if you keep washing it your just continually exposing the car to the fresh salt over and over no?


My dad followed that logic - he never washed his cars in the winter, and parked them outdoors a lot of the time.

 

[scotth324]

I know one guy up here with a 91 Dodge diesel and we get lots of winter and lots of salt. What he does is an oil change just before winter and mixes the used oil with chain saw bar oil and takes all the plugs out of the body and frame and coats everything inside and out with a layer of the oil mixture including the whole underside the truck and up the sides of the box and doors some. Once he has it covered in the sticky oil he takes it for a good hard drive up a dry and dusty road to coat the oil in dust and dirt and he washes it all off in the spring. It has kept his truck next to immaculate. No rust anywhere on it.

 

[rslifkin]

I've been doing more or less the same, but using WD-40. Every time it gets washed, insides of the doors, frame rails, and the rest of the underbody get a liberal spraying, which dries to a light, water-resistant film. Salt needs water to cause rust, so if the metal stays dry, it stays non-rusty.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada
Originally Posted By: Char Baby


I can't tell anyone which of these RX's is going to rust first/worst. I think that it is a testimate to the paint and metal process that was used in the factory.

I think alot has to do with the factory corrossion protection and metal treatment. What quality of metal, how was it protected in the factory and how many step paint process.
More expensive cars should be better than lesser expensive cars.


You can thank the indoor life of the first RX for cloud-free headlights. Lack of UV exposure will prolong a lot of components. Of course in mid-winter it's not much of an issue.

You're not necessarily going to see a big rust blister on a quarter panel to know which one is going to go first. It would be interesting to put both up on a lift and see what they look like underneath. There may be quite a difference there which would point your best bet in one direction or the other.


Ours looks great thus far! There is so much undercoating beneath the chassis/wheel wells/ rocker panels, I can honestly say that Lexus did a fine job.

 

[rjundi]

In a nutshell no way.....

I like the 50F garage and a nice warm car.

 

[Vizzy]

Originally Posted By: rslifkin
I've been doing more or less the same, but using WD-40. Every time it gets washed, insides of the doors, frame rails, and the rest of the underbody get a liberal spraying, which dries to a light, water-resistant film. Salt needs water to cause rust, so if the metal stays dry, it stays non-rusty.



I don't spray the WD 40 everytime but every so often I spray and it does seem to help to slow down the effects of rusting.

IN any case you should wash off the inside of the engine compartment as well because there is plenty of bare metal and other components that will be damaged or have a shorter life span if left coated with salt!

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted By: rslifkin
Salt needs water to cause rust, so if the metal stays dry, it stays non-rusty.

Water can also come from humidity in the air.

 

[rslifkin]

True. However, being far less water, it's far less of an issue, especially in a dry, sub-freezing climate.

Vizzy - Thoroughly washing down the engine bay is definitely in my plans for spring break (end of February). Until then, the underbody spray at the car wash should suffice, as it definitely gets a good bit of water up into the engine bay (as evidenced by copious amounts of steam).

 

[SLCraig]

I always make sure my car is parked outside because of this.
I also wash regularly with my car wash season's pass. I want my new engine cradle on my wagon to last

 

[morris]

just my idea. a car in the heated garage will have moisture on it for less time. nuf said

 

[KrisZ]

This is how my car looks like most of the winter.
Good thing we have good rust proofing solutions available, so I'm not really concerned where I park.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
This is how my car looks like most of the winter.


Yuck! I haven't washed my car since summer and it's far cleaner than that!

 

[AuthorEditor]

I think it makes us in the north feel good to take the car to the car wash to wash off all the salt, which gets redeposited on the car almost immediately due to the thick salt layer on the road, at least around here. Not sure the car wash actually does much good because of that. At least here in upstate NY it is pretty rare in winter to go more than three or four days without a new layer of snow or ice requiring fresh salt on the roads.

 

[Eddie]

Many car washes recycle the salt they wash off of your car and the car before you. )

 

[opus1]

The vehicle I use most (right now that's the Sonata) is parked outside, so I guess I don't change my parking pattern for the winter.

In the summer I tend to use the Dakota more, so that sits outside and the Sonata takes its place in the garage.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: morris
just my idea. a car in the heated garage will have moisture on it for less time. nuf said


It will also have a more concentrated salt soup on it.

nuf said

 

[Bamaro]

IMO, wet is much worse than warm.