hi stating to get rust on all 4 wheel arches bl ebbing when you push them water coming out it must be coming from the inside out .is there 6yr warranty aug 04 2 mouths out if so do you think i should ask dealer about it i am 2 owner . PS and rust under boot lid

 

Rust under boot lid and door bottoms has been reported, rear wheel arches under lip will be next - car has rust warranted for 6 years i believe but this is in hand book. Get down to the dealer and dig your heels in - and let us know how u get on - and visit UK Crossfires - For owners of the Chrysler Crossfire in the UK and get on our mail list and our meets!

 

There are some areas of the fender liners that can collect dirt. When this stays wet it will hold the moisture against the steel of the fender lip.
I see you are from Cumbria, that is not exactly an arid area and that does not help.

 

As with vehicle here, we must get the hose pipe and run it around the inside of the wheel arch lips to remove the dirt trapped on the inside. We have a large amount of salt on our roads in winter (that lasts 6 months in UK) and if the salty dirt is left there, wet,damp, it just eats the car slowly from the inside out. Thats where bubbles of rust come from

 

My cars are rust free. I use a British product called Waxoyl. It is made for English weather. My Rootes Sunbeam Alpine 260 has no rust. I buy a machine, I Waxoyl it. no warranty issues. Gary

 

Waxoil is cracking stuff and needs using before the rust starts as a preventative treatment. If the rust has started there is also Curerust which is very effective, but filling and repainting follow after this!

 

thanks for advice will check with dealer but think i will be doing it my self whats good to put on in side of sill under seal or another product thanks

 

Inside of wheelarch lip - Thoroughly clean - then CureRust - Then red oxide primer - then paint - then wax oil - then relax!


Hang on - then go get a respray!

 

This is a copy of a post of mine in the 'Wow Stop the rust ..... ' thread. 11.15.2008

"The splash shield (around the front wheel) is plastic, the fender is steel. The fender lip directly above the wheel is a 'U' shape, going forward and aft it slowly transitions to a 'L' shape lip. The lip has become an 'L' shape just before it reaches the front bumper cover and just before it gets to the most rearward of the three splash shield mounting screws.

There is a definite trap forward of the first screw and aft of the second screw. There is a gap between the rocker panel (plastic) and the splash shield and this will allow silt particles to enter. I think that after a while a considerable amount of silt will have built up on the rocker panel and block up any exit for water and possibly lead to rust on the car body.

The rear fender lip has an 'L' shape at the rocker molding, transitioning to a 'U' shape after a few inches until it ends at the rear bumper cover.

I think that silt can build up in the 'U' shapes, hold moisture and start the steel rusting. The wheelhouse at the rear is steel, and welded to the fender lip, water between these items will lead to rusting through slowly. This is a week spot on most cars. I think that sealing some of these areas to prevent the build up of silt, that you may or may not be able to see, is worth it.

But we must not seal up a gap that is meant to allow air through to dry out inner areas of the body that get wet. When rust starts it is terribly hard to stop, I suspect that many of us has fought a running battle in the past with rust and lost. The secret is to stop rust as long as we can, sadly, it will win in the end even if we are not around to see it. Dust to dust .....

If you are going to keep the car just for a short time and do not care about rust, don't worry ... be happy."

 

Going through this with Chrysler UK at the moment - rust on rear wheel arches on a 2004 Roadster. I'll let you know how I get on. Living in the UK we all know about salt, dirt and water on the roads in the winter - hardly a new thing - my problem with this particular car is that the car it replaced - a 2002 Octavia - and my wifes 2001 Citreon do not show any rust at all, and although I looked after the Skoda, my wife treats hers as a skip, never washing or cleaning it at all. This is a 12 grand car , the Skoda was a 14 grand car. I'm not sure what the Roadster cost but it was a lot more, so I'm not impressed. My fault for not checking for rust, but I thought we had gone away from that particular problem on a 6 year old car

 

Thanks for this - the outcome will be very important for other owners going forward.

 

Mine's a 4 year old car (06) and has rust on the inside of the boot lid aroud the latch handle. I'm hoping the warranty will cover it as other owners have said they have had a similar problem and it has been fxed by Chrysler (or rather Fiat as they are now owned by them I believe...) I will check for the wheel arches and get some of that wax stuff as a precaution I think. Thanks!

 

Steve, thanks for the heads-up on this. I jetwash my inner wheel arches every week, so this week I decided to get my hand in there to see all the good I was doing! Front arches were lovely, but came to the rears and I was shocked! I must have pulled about half a kilo of crud from each of the rear lips! Luckily no damage and they will never get like that again!! Cheers!

 

Just heard today that Chrysler are going to fix the rear arches and the boot lid. will post more info when I know what exactly they are doing

 

It must be the Crossfire owners' lucky day because I heard they have agreed to replace my boot today!

 

Guys.... I fully suggest that you actually WASH your wheel wells with an old sponge & soap once a year, especially on the inside lip where the fenders outline the wheels. The cleaner the better & always rinse your wheel wells during every car wash.

 

Too late Plus I've only had the car since April so don't think I can be blamed!

 

But Chrysler are fixing it (yay!) You can do it right once you get it home...I've only had mine a short time too but we can make sure we look after them properly from now on.

 

Got it back yesterday. Seems ok but it came back in the dark last night and was dripping wet this morning so when the sun comes out I'll give it a proper going over. Just goes to show its worth a moan though.

 

Glad you got it sorted! How does it look in the daylight?