Salt corrosion

[el Segundo]

Is it true that Jap cars are particularly prone to corrosion from salt? A mate told me that, because they don't use salt to de-ice the roads in Japan. And using a power hose to clean, is it necessary to get right under the car as well as around the wheel arches and sills? fwn

 

[Antony]

mostly on japanese imports. 90% of jap cars in the uk were built in the uk and subsequently have all the under body treatment in place.

however it cant hurt to give it a wash....... i had the underside of my car caked in oil for most of its life (little oil leak) but its stopped it from rusting..

 

[kyle]

mostly on japanese imports. 90% of jap cars in the uk were built in the uk and subsequently have all the under body treatment in place.

however it cant hurt to give it a wash....... i had the underside of my car caked in oil for most of its life (little oil leak) but its stopped it from rusting..

Surprising because oil traps dirt and then water, which can't be good

 

[squarepants]

they say wax oil traps water (well its oil basiclly lol) but i dont know if thats under a long period of time...so should last long engough than without oil on the underside...mines got rust spots on the underside, buts bound to happen with these uk roads.

 

[Ceirwan]

Make sure you give it a good jetwash underneath in spring, i'm lucky that my GT was waxoiled as soon as was imported, its quite eery my last two cars have both been J reg 1992, but immaculate underneath, this new one especially!

 

[Arnold]

even if your car is undersealed,it wouldn't hurt to give it another layer of protection

 

[ollyc98]

Crack out the roofing tar and cover the inside of your sills, that should help with the stupid sunroof drains. Then get it up on ramps and get the whole underside shotblasted and re-sealed if your really serious about rust prevention

 

[Low Rider]

Depending on what needs coating I use a combination of Boeshield T-9 on components and black waxoil/underseal on panels/arches & underside. T-9 is one of the best products to use on mechanical components & fixings......goes on like WD40 so it penetrates extremely well and goes off near dry.....so doesn't pickup dirt like clear waxoil. Not the cheapest product but if you want to treat your car i highly recommend getting a can.

As for the drains, if you've got a 3-door then it's quite a simple job to get a couple of threaded plastic drain fittings and re-route the pipes out into the rear panel so it drains out behing the rear bumper. If you've got a 5-door then Nissan already did this for you due to there being no sill space to drain to because of the rear doors.......great planning eh Chances are it's perhaps too late, since they corrode from the inside out, but always good practice encase you sills are not too bad......good stuffing of cavity wax in there is also good if you're routing around in there

 

[MicraFish]

Hmmm ConvertiBubble may need some salt protection if we have another winter like this! :laugh:

 

[el Segundo]

My thanks to all - you guys at MSC blow me away with your knowledge and expertise; I'm an old fart who, by comparison, knows little about cars, except I love driving my Micra! and I want to learn.......

QUOTE=Low Rider;314026]

As for the drains, if you've got a 3-door then it's quite a simple job to get a couple of threaded plastic drain fittings and re-route the pipes out into the rear panel so it drains out behind the rear bumper. Chances are it's perhaps too late, since they corrode from the inside out, but always good practice incase your sills are not too bad......good stuffing of cavity wax in there is also good if you're routing around in there [/QUOTE]

This sounds like you have to take panels off?

 

[Low Rider]

My thanks to all - you guys at MSC blow me away with your knowledge and expertise; I'm an old fart who, by comparison, knows little about cars, except I love driving my Micra! and I want to learn.......

QUOTE=Low Rider;314026]

As for the drains, if you've got a 3-door then it's quite a simple job to get a couple of threaded plastic drain fittings and re-route the pipes out into the rear panel so it drains out behind the rear bumper. Chances are it's perhaps too late, since they corrode from the inside out, but always good practice incase your sills are not too bad......good stuffing of cavity wax in there is also good if you're routing around in there

This sounds like you have to take panels off?[/QUOTE]

Only the rear bumper needs to be removed, I will take some illustrative pictures when I next go back to explain what was done. It's quite simple, just a shame Nissan never incorporated it in the 3-doors, it was only done on the 5-doors through necessity......still, I will endevour to take some pics within the next week if you would like to know more

 

[el Segundo]

Thanks Low Rider, brilliant.

 

[joesouthgate]

I didn't need to take the bumper off to do mine, I just reached down pulled them out of the sills and routed them through the vent to the rear bumper.

 

[capnmchl]

You're lucky you don't work on gritters.

My supervisors hubby works on them and I asked him how bad it is. He says they're absolutly rotten underneath. They service them in the summer, but within about 2 hours of gritting, it's all undone.