before its too late.

the weather stripping below the door is holding water at the welded seam & majorly rusting the lower part of your door... pull your lower door seal back to view the results. i'm sure mine is minor compared to most ... being i am always waxing & drying the door jambs. not good.

passenger side:
rust.jpg

passenger side:
IMG_4482.jpg

drivers side:
IMG_4478.jpg

drivers side:
IMG_4481.jpg


~ link to the repair: https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...you-can-3.html


i am going to apply "por15" to the effected area (track/lip)... to penetrate & seal the rust. i will follow-up with completed pics this week.

see product link: http://www.por15.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1404/.f

for the time being... i rubbed out the area (removing surface rust the best i could) and heavily waxed the seam.

 

Gosh Andrew, your car is gross, it's just rusting away....you should learn how to keep it clean! haha just kidding. Thanks for the heads up. I restore classic mustangs for a hobby and almost every one has the bottom of the door rusted out...I guess they still haven't figured out how to properly drain the water from that area.

 

Isn't there a warranty against corrosion and rust for 5 years or so on the crossfire?

 

Geez Andrew! I have recently thought that your Crossfire is gone and that the only car you have left is the BMW 330. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

~ not until october do i return the crossfire ... until then i have both cars.

 

~ typically it must rust from the inside out to be warrantied... plus i'm not one for any paint work.

 

There is an aerosol product called One Step.
I think it is a better product for your problem.
You can also spray 3m rust fighter in the doors to keep it from reoccurring.

 

Andrew, I just came across your thread 1/2 hour ago, it's 1:35 AM now and I just got back in from laying on the garage floor checking out my door seals. Glad to say they didn't look like yours. You have only had your car 6 months longer than I have, but mine never sees snow, sleet, or salt, and hardly any rain either. Unfortunately I had to drive it today to go pick up my van, so it did get rained on. When I pulled the rubber seal back it was moist underneath, but not rusted. So tomorrow I'm going to pull it completely off and make sure it's all dry. Maybe spray it with silicone before I put it back.
And it's not going back out side until spring. Rust sure shows up well on a white car doesn't it?
Thanks for pointing it out, I just wish I had seen it earlier today. It's going to bug me all night long now. It's true what they say, "Rust never sleeps". Unfortunately neither am I.

 

Sorry to sound like an idiot but can anyone explain in more detail where this is exactly at?

I can't seem to figure it out?!

 

Just open either door and lay on the ground and look up.
If you don't have a light colored car, it will be harder to see.
Oh yeah, you have to pull the rubber seal out of its position to see it. Just wiggle it gently and pull, it will come out.

 

i have only driven my car in the snow a couple times... as for the driving in the rain... this does happen about 1/4 of the time during rainy days.

 

Will it be easy to put back on?

 

~ i had to use a credit card/hard plastic squeegee to aid with re-install. its a fairly tight fit.

 

So, if you have this problem, is there a long term fix after the initial damage control?

 

this is what i am going to use... to treat the rust: http://www.por15.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1404/.f



here are some other products:

rust bullet: http://www.rustbullet.com/?source=ad...FSFWPgodeiV5UQ

one-step: http://www.amazon.com/One-Step-Rust-.../dp/B0009LSXJ0

 

Oh, I thought you drove your car year round Andrew. But then you live further south than I do, so you probably don't get the snow like we get.
FP, I only pulled a small section out, but it went right back in. It sort of snaps in place.
I just got back from the NAPA store where I bought a silicone spray. I'm going out right now to work on it.
If they didn't have that ledge for the rubber seal to lay on, it probably wouldn't hold the water like it does.

 

This is a problem that people who live in the Pacific North West (I.E. Golfergal) may want to look into. But for that matter, anybody who lives where it rains and stays humid would probably have it too.
Probably wouldn't be that big of a deal in the Western states.

 

I understand this treats the existing problem. My question is what to do to prevent it from occurring again? Apparently water or moister is getting trapped in the door. Do you know what to do about preventing this? This can’t be unique to the XF, is it?

 

rust bullet guarantees it for 10 years once treated.

http://www.rustbullet.com/?source=ad...FSFWPgodeiV5UQ

 

Well guys, I just finished up working on the seal. I don't believe it's a problem with water "inside" the door, but water being "splashed" up on the seal, or running down the side of the door and just getting trapped between the seal and outside surface of the bottom of the door.
When I pulled the seal off, I did it a section at a time. Approx. 6 to 10 inches long. My car looked as if it had a white "caulking" like material very thinly applied behind the seal. When I got the seal pulled out, it was completely wet on the inside. I wiped the trough off and the seal, and sprayed on the silicone lubricant. (Make sure you don't use a petroleum base lubricant because that will "degrade" the rubber seal) Fortunately there was no rust starting anywhere.
Andrew, I can't thank you enough for pointing out this "problem" area and bringing it to the forums attention. You truly are a life saver.
This is something I never would have ever thought about, and even though my car sits out the winters in my garage, it would have been silently rusting away due to the trapped water under the seal.
I highly recommend every XF owner address this situation as soon as you can, before it starts looking like Andrews photos.
An ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure in this case.