I was detailing Marilyn the other day, and due to this forum (thanks) I am ALWAYS checking to see if she develops or developed anything like this. I'm always fearful, yet always vigilant in searching for it. Being the uber meticulous detailer and person I am, I scour every centimeter of that hood, over and under.

Luckily, still NOTHING. Zip. Nada.

So it made me think - "why"? Why do I not have those bubbles? Is it because I just happened to get a lucky batch during manufacturing/assembly? I would have thought more than likely, if it happens to a lot, the chances are pretty high we would all have it, just a matter of time (some shorter than others).

Proceeding with my thoughts, I pondered that maybe I'm doing "something" that helps lengthen/delay the inevitable?

Other than Marilyn never being driven in rain (only precipitation she sees is from my hose or bucket), and always being polished and sealed and waxed, there IS something else I do.

It probably has NOTHING to do with it... but.... every time I get done driving her and I park her in the garage, I open my hood up!!! Even when she was stock-ish, I always did that. Same thing when I added my mods (blower, etc.) that introduced additional heat, I still did it. Popped open my hood, leave it up. I leave it that way all winter too btw.

So there you have it. All you geniuses, engineers, and smart folk out there who know a thing or to about materials and paint - the question is, does HEAT (PROLONGED/EXCESSIVE) contribute to weakening the adhesion properties of paint to aluminum, or just corrosion in general?

That's the only thing I've done different than those folks with the hood corrosion issues. If it does help, perhaps popping open the hood is something that could help other owners (or maybe not...) add a little more time to their hoods before the evil rust appears. LOL. Just thought I'd chime in my 2 cents.

 

I don't think it's the heat. I think by not driving it in the rain you are minimizing moisture exposure. By raising the hood you might be helping to drain away any residual moisture from area(s) where there might be inadequate seam sealer application. I've just had my hood repaired for this and they definitely added seam sealer to the front corners where there was none before. I suspect that might have been an entry path for water (mine is a daily driver).

 

Interesting theory! As to how many cars have it, I have to think the percentage is low enough that it's never necessitated a TSB, let alone a recall. So is that <10% of cars? Likely there's a ton of people that don't notice it or care too.

 

I thought it was concluded that it was metal contamination with the aluminum that caused it to corrode under the paint, but who knows

 

I pop my hood every time as well. I had the hood corrosion at 9k and it was repainted/repaired. After that, I started popping the hood in hopes it would help it to not reoccur. Almost 1 1/2 years later...so far so good!

 

Perhaps, because of popping the hood, you are reducing the possibility of creating condensation as it cools. Thus reducing the chance of the oxidation.

 

This and any contaminates on the aluminum when it gets painted.

 

Your car never sees conditions that promote corrosion. Simple as that.

 

Got my hood replaced under warranty. The bodyshop said they seen it all the time with the mustangs hood getting bubbles. They painted and sealed the hood all around including the front corners to corners which were not sealed on the previous hood.

 

Yeah I'm not sure if it helps or not, but I got into the habit of popping open the hood upon parking back when I had my twin turbo 93 Rx7. That thing got pretty hot, so one of the big failure points were the vacuum hoses getting brittle from heat. So since then, I always just opened the hoods out of habit. Was just wondering if there was a correlation.

 

Mine seldom sees rain and has never seen salt, and is always garaged. I do have some bubbling along the trunk and hood seams. If mine has it, I doubt it is hastened by the environment. And if heat was a contributing factor, then it should not appear in the trunk.
My dealer claimed the bubbling was just excess sealant and they said they have never heard about a corrosion problem on Mustangs. I had them take pictures so I would have proof it was there before the warranty expired if the problem got worse.

 

I always love it when they say they've never seen nor heard of anything like that before.

My dad had the flapping noise in his 2011 F150 inside the dash that is the ac blend door problem. I had it in my 2011 Navigator and I've known others who have had it plus of course seeing all about it on the net.

When he took the truck in last week they said they'd never ever heard or seen anything like that before.

Maybe it was their first day on the job I guess.

 

I doubt it's heat. I've cooked the underside of my hood and I have no bubbling paint anywhere on the car, including the hood. I also live in Texas, where inlet temps can reach 180 just sitting in traffic. Sure, I have a vented hood, but that doesn't release all of it. I'd be surprised if it was anything other than poorly applied primer, contaminated aluminum not cleaned up prior to the paint process.

 

I think you're both right. After reading a few of your comments, sounds like the cause has nothing to do with heat under the hood but more so contamination and improper application during the finishing process. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones where the Ford workers were on point that day, and I didn't get a worker ready to retire or a newbie. Lol

That being said, I'll continue to check for bubbles whenever I park her and I'll continue to open the hood

 

IIRC - there was a guy on these forums that bought a Mustang and literally parked it in his garage and he never drove it, and he got the hood corrosion. Remember - it is impurities already in the seams from when it was stamped on a steel die that causes it, so no matter what, if you have the problem, it will happen regardless of how you store the car. I think some hoods had the issue, and others did not. Possibly, as the die aged the metal flaked. Who knows - but I will bet Ford did and will never admit to it. It was probably too costly to fix the issue.
I had mine repaired under warranty - and the spots repaired look good. But it is coming out in other places. So if I still have this car a few more years I will just get a Cervinis and be done with this stupid hood.

 

The panels are likely not handled all that specially. They're likely in a storage location that isn't environmentally sealed, and they may sit there for a while. It takes a while to inspect an entire sheet the size of a hood both top and bottom for defects, and I doubt they take the time to acid-bathe or brush-grind them all before they're placed with a specific vehicle and assembled and painted.

 

I don't know about the whole hood propping thing...I mean when you're driving around in the summer and the engine is running and creating all that heat, hasn't the damage already been done? Yeah, you're letting it cool off, but its already been extremely hot the whole drive. But who knows.... Who here is a thermodynamics, materials science, metallurgy engineer?

 

My 06' had it already when I bought it used (22000 miles came from Alabama via CarMax)
My 13' developed it on the hood top and bottom AND on the underside of the trunk lid (Bought new in INDY. Had 36K when I traded it in)
My 12' has it under the hood (bought the car in 2015 with 1200 miles on it)

So if it's a small %, I'm gonna stop and buy a lotto ticket on the way home from work!!!!!

Body shop guy at my local dealership said it originates between the top and bottom "shell" of the hood and it's only a matter of time until it spreads out to where you can see it. Service guy said it shouldn't ever be a problem on the 15-16's since ford re-tooled the way the aluminum is treated/cleaned before the debut of the aluminum f-150's and that process was/is now followed for all aluminum body parts.

 

So, Ford changed a process so this problem won't happen in the future, but they won't admit there was a problem to begin with.

 

Willingly bought 3 Mustangs after experiencing all these problems. Talk about a glutton for punishment!!