Thread: Rust under brand new 90

Had the same thing on my 110 when I picked it up - looked closely at the underside as had been alerted to the issue by this forum.

Back to dealer - LRA contacted & came out to inspect it. All repaired as a warranty issue.

Just beware - I was told by the dealer that the anti corrosion warranty only covers the body panels, not the drivetrain etc.

Also found metal sworf everywhere - under mats, door sills, in roof lining near alpine windows etc.

Having said that - enjoy the truck!

Originally Posted by akelly

Slightly OT but I just bought a 130 ('99 model) that is fitted with one of those electronic rust prevention jobbies (PM me if you want the brand name). I've always wondered how effective these are - now I know... There is little bits an pieces of rust specks here and there on the steel parts - nothing serious and certainly to be expected on cars on the coast that are 10 years old - but bottom line is that the rust prevention magic box is doing stuff all on this car...YMMV.

Cheers,

Adam

I have no personal experience with these but was told that all panels doors etc should have an earth strap back to the chassis for maximum effectiveness.Electrolysis would be the biggest issue with LandRovers however with Alloy panels directly in contact with ungalvanised steel parts, so maybe Zinc anodes bolted here and there would be better.
Wagoo.

I actually never even saw my new Defender before the rust protection goo was sprayed underneath. I was advised to have the vehicle trucked directly to the rust-proofing mob who did a full steam clean before applying the muck.

As others have pointed out, there are reasons why new vehicles (not just Defenders) get rust on them during shipping. My question would be why the hell don't our Land Rover dealers get them properly cleaned after they arrive as part of the pre-delivery crap we are forced to pay for?!

Originally Posted by wagoo

<snip>maybe Zinc anodes bolted here and there would be better.
Wagoo.

My chemistry is a bit hazy, but I'm pretty sure that sacrificial anodes need to be immersed in an electrolyte to work.

I thought i would do the right thing on my 90 after having it for about 6 months and give it a squirt of wax as my previous county had a bit of cancer. it is a 2003 model and it was in 2006 i was set to wax it. pulled off the door trims to do inside the doors and the rust in the bottom of the doors had already eaten straight through the metal frames on the bottom of the doors. bit of a shock to say the least. previous owner was definately not an off roader so can only be put down to being factory installed rust. CHECK YOUR DOORS AS WELL

Thanks for all the input guys. I'd hoped that my first posts would have been about other fun things to do with my Landy, after reading so much on this forum.

Not to bitch, but to personally be honest, I'm amazed that they handed the car over to me like this. I know most people would be shocked to see the amount of rust under this thing. It's on most parts, popping out through the paint. If I had been given the opportunity to look over the car before I paid for it, I wouldn't have bought it.

More so than a warranty issue, surely this is a consumer protection issue? I had a brief read, I think this comes under Consumer Guarantees: Acceptable Quality "free from defects" and "acceptable in appearance and finish"

I have faith the dealer will help. They have been great so far, so i'm keeping positive. I'll post up the outcome when it's resolved.

Originally Posted by RVR110

My chemistry is a bit hazy, but I'm pretty sure that sacrificial anodes need to be immersed in an electrolyte to work.

I'm not sure either, but don't they bolt blocks of zinc as sacrificial anodes to ships to slow down corrosion?
Wagoo.

Originally Posted by wagoo

I'm not sure either, but don't they bolt blocks of zinc as sacrificial anodes to ships to slow down corrosion?
Wagoo.

They do. However as mentioned, sacrificial anodes immersed in salt water can protect an entire hull. Sacrificial anodes bolted to steel in air will only protect an area about 5 -10 mm larger in diameter than the bare steel they are in direct contact with. This goes for galvanised areas as well - A bare steel circle of 5 mm or less in diameter on a gal panel will not corrode. Up to ~ 10 mm you will only get minor surface rusting (if I remember the images in my undergrad chem text books).

I think the propensity for land rovers to rust is appaling. Subaru manage to zinc plate most panels on subaru 4x4s (IRC they claim 90% of the body by weight is zinc plated).