ford4v429

on the subject of corrosion: I'd urge ALL Mustang owners to look at the little flap that sticks out just ahead of the rear tires- about half the cars Ive seen were open on one side or both, about half were sealed by close fit and a layer of undercoating...both sides of mine had the 'gap' in the panel fitting and both were open on top- the hole leads into a razor thin gap at the bottom pinch weld that is CERTAIN to collect dirt and road grime slinging off the tires. When my car was new(300 miles on it) I took it apart to undercoat the hard way, found quite a few little areas to seal up, but In my opinion these little flaps should be number one...the flap is the junction of the inner/outer rocker panels and any rust in there would be big bucks to fix, and never be right...I had to hold my camera clear back against the wheelwell as my big noggin wouldnt fit, but as you can see(only with a mirror or camera) the factory undercoat/sealant completely missed this area and you could already see bits of dirt wedged between the panels. I used 3m 'fast and firm' body panel sealer to fill the gaps and brushed roll on bedliner over that- careful if you use bedliner as too thick it can soften the paint underneath, give thin coat, second coat a day later...

daniel92

I'm starting to believe that the bubbling condition under the hood is really due to iron contamination reacting with the aluminum prior to painting just as the TSB suggests. It seems to be most prevalent where the hood would be handled by possibly dirty hands.Just a theory.

red pony

After seeing the TSB, that has to be the answer. And as for your theory, you're probably right. Totally makes sense .

flight96

Well here's that latest on my Ford adventure. Being one not to give up easily I have hounded Ford once a week since Feb. 22nd....Every Friday I call. Today they told me to take it to Suburban Motors, they want to see it. This is the most response I have gotten yet. So I'm off to the dealership...again.This should be good.....

AKnott

I guess I got lucky. I have this problem on my '05, so I took it to my local dealership. I am just barely in the warranty with 34,500 miles. They said they would have to take pictures and let Ford decide if it would be convered and they would call back in a bit. They called a few hours later and said that it would be covered, so it's going in Tuesday.

StangRalle

So the TSB is free to the interpretation of each dealership?

But am glad you could get it resolved in a positive way, but you are clearly an exception in comparison to the rest here.

Rash

Just checked mine - of course I have it, under the hood, creeping to the edge. It's going in soon for the water leak, so I'll deal with it then. What sucks is I have a clear bra, so that may be history if they have to repaint the whole hood. Can they just repaint the underside if that's all that's affected?

StangRalle

I think they will have to do the whole hood.

Rash

So, I have the same thing on the inside of my trunk lid, partly on the outside lip. But I thought the trunklid wasn't aluminum?

StangRalle

It isn't which makes it worse! So this will be rust holes very soon. It affects the alu-hood in a way that you get these freaky bubbles, but the rest of the car really get holes!

I hate this. Need to go to my paint shop soon and see what they say about it and how much I will have to pay out of my own pockets.

daniel92

This apparent corrosion condition on our new cars is beginning to make me ill! You might compare it to a flesh-eating disease since it is occuring without any harmful environmental contact-an autoimmune disorder, if you will. (No pun intended.) I mean, you expect your brake pads and tires to show wear over time, but you don't expect to see your hood consuming itself! This is 2008, for God's sake, not 1978. Ford needs to acknowledge this problem and address the issue in a consistent and comprehensive manner.

dkegel

I haven't checked my '06 yet (kind of afraid to), but I can tell you I had the same issue with my '03 Explorer hood. I had it fixed under warranty but unfortunately, it came back. I ended up trading it in on the Mustang.

This is not good.

Dave Kegel

Fastrack

HI all,

I finally took my car out of storage last week, my car has never seen a spec of salt. And I hardly drive the car in the rain. It's a 2005 with 12,000km's (about 8500 miles or so).

I have 3 bumps on the underside of the lip on the hood, I vaguely remember feeling these while washing the car last year or even before. Does this appear to be the problem described?

I only have these 3! I'm wondering if I would be best to carefully remove the bumps and sand inside the affected area with a fibreglass scratch pen & apply touch up paint? My warranty expires May 12, 2008. I've read that aftermarket paint jobs will never hold up as well as the factory - and my paint on the rest of the hood is 100% perfect.

This bubble is on the drivers side directly below the factory line on the hood:


These bubbles are also on the drivers side between the centre & the other bubbles. Yes I tried to press on the bubble at some point as I thought it was dirt.




As you clearly see 2 of the bubbles are almost visible (when the hood is closed) and using touch up would be a challenge on the fold of the hood

Thanks,

n8rfastback

im gonna have to go check mine out after seeing all these with the same issue

mine was built 11/04 so if mine is bad im screwed....

Fastrack

-Update-

So I took my baby in and spoke to the Service Manager - who "deals / looks at all paint issues". He said he figured it was dirt - I think he's full of BS. He then proceeded to scratch the paint bubbles with his finger nail... great... So I'll have to touch them up at the very least.
They added a note to the system saying I was there and printed out a copy at my request.

He said "I could fix it, but this paint will be very hard to match... and I would strongly recommend not doing anything. Your hood/fenders are perfect and there's no point in using a $10k paint shop when Ford uses a 2 million dollar one. Don't let anyone lead you differently - you'll never have as good a paint job."

I mean based on how clean my car is; it's as almost if he knew what I was thinking.... I don't know what to do. When he said he could fix it - he made no mention about it being covered under warranty though.

I do cringe at the thought of my fenders & hood being blended as they are perfect right now. It seems like a big ordeal for 3 very small bubbles - which might be fixed my sanding them with the fiberglass sanding pen and touch up.

ford4v429

worst thing is, I dont think the 'fix' is going to last a whole lot longer than the factory baked stuff did...any painters out there- like maybe RV/Semi trailer repair shops that might have experience sealing aluminum? I would think that maybe carefully scraping just the very edge etching and seam sealing would prevent this from ever starting in the first place...what kind of acid etch do you use on aluminum? I know phosphoric acid stops rust dead in its tracks on steel, but Id be leery of even trying on aluminum- might creep under and make a huge mess...got to be someone out there that does aluminum repair that would know the best way to halt oxidation...

I used to have some stuff called 'alodyne' (I think thats how it was spelled) but dropped the acid bottle and so much for that...think it was weak Nitric acid, but dont recall for certain...know it ate up the cement pretty bad in the garage the 'developer' (think they called it that) went on after rinsing the acid to seal the aluminum, and it worked great...I used it on the frames I made for a R/C helicopter I cobbled up back in '87,(made the frames/4 point 45 degree swashplate suspension/beltdrive/bellcrank-less T/R pitch change, boom/mounts/fins- but cheated and used a hirobo fan/clutch/head so it wasnt fully scratch built) the thing still has zero oxidation, bright shiny edges that look like they were machined yesterday, not 20 years ago...and the stuff even prevented the fuel staining that often showed up on other heli's I had...I'm sure there is something out there that could etch/seal that edge to prevent this stuff from starting...

karrnutt

Unfotunately my warranty ended February 16, 08. I was at the dealer the other day and just passing time with the service manager and an advisor ,when the service manager popped the hood on my car and checked the inside crimp seam .It had corrosion all along the seam ,front back and sides . He said he had several complaints from 05 owners and was trying to get to the bottom of the problem with Ford. Good luck! If they treat him the way they do the rest of us!

flight96

OK...Here's my update. I called Ford again on Friday and they said that the dealer here (Suburban) will be contacting me and that they (Ford) will fix it !!!! So the dealer called me and I took my car in today....BUT...They said that Ford would only pay a portion of it and I had to pay the rest !!! WTF !!! That's not what Ford told me on the phone. I left the car there and told them I was not paying anything.....It should be interesting when I go to pick up the car !!!

dkegel

Yes, after the bubbles reappeared on my Explorer hood I took it back to the dealer and since it was now out of warranty (barely) Ford would only pay for 1/2 of it.

Dave

Rash

Hey Fastrack - just wondering what you decided to do. My hood looks very similar to yours, and I'm also trying to decide whether to have them fix it or not.