I am trying to get an idea of what other rust issues (if any) people have had with their 4th gen maximas. I have rust on my trunk that has started around the spoiler mounting places. I am planning on resolving the situation in the springtime when I replace the entire trunk lid with a new one without the spoiler. I know it totally will take away from the sportiness of the SE but I am not going to wait another 6 years for more rust.

But, before proceeding with spending approx. $500, I wanted to know if any others have had rust issues elsewhere on the car. Underbody at all? I am going to perform as thorough a check as I can but any ideas on specific areas to check out would be great. By the way, has anyone when replacing their rear suspension noticed any rust/corrosion on the nut where it screws on to the shock itself? Not the two nuts where the shock/spring assembly mounts to the trunk. I am speaking of the nut at the top of the shock itself. I had some when I replaced my shocks last spring and there is new corrosion in the same place now. Any comments, please. Thanks.

Aaron

 

I live in the South, so I dont have any type of corrosion on my underbody at all. This is after 7 years and 160,000 miles. The only places I have a little rust are where the paint has been chipped down to bare metal on the hood. But, this is only minor surface rust.

A body shop should be able to repair your existing trunklid and protect it against any future rusting for less than the $500 you were going to spend on a new lid.

 

I also have way too many rust issues; it's only a '98. I don't think the care was flooded as the carpet and hinges on the doors look good.

There is rust on most places on the under body, and in weird places like around the metal for the power seat (you can see it if you remove the plastic flap)

The meatl for the Emergency brake is also rusted, I also see patches of rust on the bar that connects the steering wheel to the axel from the inside of the car.

The metal flap under the steering wheel column was rusted real bad, so when I opened things up to intall the switch for the fog lights, I cleaned it out and sprayed some rustoleum on it.

Whenever I open the car up and go looking into nooks and crannies I always find rust

Is there anything I could/should do about all the rust??

 

That sucks man. I think I might have discovered some of the cause. I am the second owner and mine originally came from New York which has winters as bad if not worse than here in Indy. I have taken great care of mine during winter though, getting the car washed (including underbody) at least once a week or two.

Does anyone else have rust experience?

 

I had a little bit on my 99. I needed to get a rocker pannel replaced, and when the did, the didn't seal the bottom of the underbody (you know that coating?) Well, I preceeded to sand down that rust, and put some of my own on there. Haven't had any since.

 

Their is a procedure here in Canada for rust proofing, wondering if you U.S. guys have ever heard of it. The procedure invloves (and this may sound scary ) drilling holes along the inside edges of your car. Then pumping the inside full of rust inhibiting oil. The holes are then plugged with special rubber plugs so the procedure can be repeated next year.

I don't know how people who buy brand new cars have the guts to get 1/4 inch holes drilled in them but I bought my Max used and the previous owner already had holes drilled. I had the car oil sprayed by my mechanic and I quote what he said "I'd be shocked if this car rusted from the inside". The theory is that the most damaging rust starts from the inside out. Exterior rust can be prevnted by some TLC .

Check out http://www.krown.com

 

Sounds Flamable

 

I unfortunately have rust on one of my spoiler feet. It's pretty localized on the underside of the trunk lid. Hopefully a body shop can do me right.

My OEM muffler just about has a big hole in it by now. Leaving it for this winter. Other parts of the underbody I either haven't inspected closely, or just kinda considered normal rust, like little surface rust spots on say, the rear beam. We have lots of salt and sand on the roads in the winter here.

 

I live in Daytona beach FL 3 miles from ocean and i have 140K on my car with no exterior or interior rust besides bolts (cause i've had a ***** of a time with afew of them being rusted).

 

Which rocker panel was it? So no one else has had trouble with wheel wells or underbody issues? I don't want to spend the approx. $500 on this replacement of the trunk lid if there is another common problem that is going to crop up in the next year or two.

And I know that a body shop could "repair" this for cheaper but the places I have been to will not guarantee that the problem will not come back. That doesn't go over real comfortably with me. And I have traced the problem back to it being where the spoiler mounts to the trunk. So by eliminating the spoiler and installing a new trunk lid without holes, there is much less, if any, chance of rust coming back to the lid.

 

it was my driver's side. A guy on a motorcycle was coming my way on a 2 lane, lost control and slid into my lane. I swerved right, but he plowed into my rocker, and my rear driver's side door. Had to get that rocker replaced, (cut out and put back in) and the rear door replaced.

AZZHOLE! Learn to ride! (sorry touchy subj.)

 

I have noticed rust forming on my lower rad support right in the center.

You can see it if you look in the bumper opening. Right where the rad sits on and the brace for the grill/headlight assy bolts to the lower support.......

96 GLE by the way......

 

I have a rust hole in my muffler and the metal around the gas cap is rusted. I am going to wait until after winter to get a new muffler, maybe a Borla. The gas cap, I really haven't had time to mess with yet.



-Joe

 

So is the rust around the radiator a little more common? I have heard a couple cases of this so far. I have never really looked, but is the support robust so that it might just be rust such as on the rear axle which will in essence do no real damage til much later? Or is the support not nearly as strong?

 

I know what maxamer is talking about ... I had that done at Ziebart last last year. Supposed to take it back again for the annual 'touch-up' coating but I've been away on business.

69CHARGER_RT, my 4th gen (1995) had rust on the unibody frame on the bottom of the radiator support at the center, I wonder if it's the same area you're talking about. Could this be a pattern?
I had that piece cut out and a new piece welded in early this year.

That's the only rust I've had (other than the few small paint ships but that's surface rust only). Other than that, the car is spotless (rust on suspension beam doesn't count I'm sure)

 

One place i found bad rust,was under sound deadening once removed it there were many holes left over from production process in our cars,which allows water to collect under SD over time.The SD also seperates from the floor which makes it worse.What i did was removed SD and sealed holes with sealall drys really hard in a day.Then i sanded the whole floor,and then cleaned it with acetone then painted the floor,the cost around $25,i found a easy way to move the carpet. PS all the SD on a 96max that is on the floor and back seat area is about 25lbs.

 

I havea 98 SE and when it was a little over 2 years old I noticed a rust bubble right on the front of the hood right above the grill. I then lifted the hood and noticed on the front of the underside of the hood where there is a support going across was covered in rust all the way across the hood. I went back to my dealer because it was still under warranty and had them look at the bubble on the hood and they insisted it was a chip that was exposed to water and they wouldn't fix it. I then showed them underside of the hood and they said that it was a defect of some sort. Turns out that the chip was actually rusted through for the underside. They replaced the hood under warranty. I actually rejected the paint 3 times because after each time I noticed paint flaws. They ended up painting it 4 times. Now because of so much paint I very rarely get any chips from road debris.
By the way if anyone wants to protect the front of their car from road debris I highly recommend Xpel kit from 3M. I had it installed on my 350Z and it is mint.

 

I havea 98 SE and when it was a little over 2 years old I noticed a rust bubble right on the front of the hood right above the grill. I then lifted the hood and noticed on the front of the underside of the hood where there is a support going across was covered in rust all the way across the hood. I went back to my dealer because it was still under warranty and had them look at the bubble on the hood and they insisted it was a chip that was exposed to water and they wouldn't fix it. I then showed them underside of the hood and they said that it was a defect of some sort. Turns out that the chip was actually rusted through for the underside. They replaced the hood under warranty. I actually rejected the paint 3 times because after each time I noticed paint flaws. They ended up painting it 4 times. Now because of so much paint I very rarely get any chips from road debris.
By the way if anyone wants to protect the front of their car from road debris I highly recommend Xpel kit from 3M. I had it installed on my 350Z and it is mint.