corrosion experience

[meerschm]

just wondering what everyone has experienced related to corrosion, especially where it impacts vehicle operation.

my fuel pump went, and I note some folks have had trans cooler lines leak.

Also had brake disks get pretty nasty.

any other rust-belt items to be aware of?

Thanks

 

[Matt]

Hood, the salt gets into the seam in the front and eats it from the inside out...that's why I have a bug guard on, so I don't see how bad it's getting.

Inside bottom of the doors, especially the seams.

Brake shields will eventually be eaten away, but that's not a biggie.

 

[BRomanJr]

just wondering what everyone has experienced related to corrosion, especially where it impacts vehicle operation.

my fuel pump went, and I note some folks have had trans cooler lines leak.

Also had brake disks get pretty nasty.

any other rust-belt items to be aware of?

Thanks

My Truck is from Florida with high miles and I developed a leak in the Power Steering cooler (in front of the radiator down low). It was rusty, but could have been road debris damage. Heard of a few others with same leak, worth checking.

I bought the GM part (close to $200) for the peace of mind. Also just read someone replaced it with a universal Trans cooler and it worked well.

 

[The_Roadie]

...Power Steering cooler ... someone replaced it with a universal Trans cooler and it worked well.

I think he asked about using a universal trans cooler, and I reminded him that wasn't a tested-out substitute, but that there were aftermarket universal PS coolers meant for the application. If it's the same thread we're thinking about.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Bottoms of the doors is all i have.

 

[06Envoy]

Oh guys, welcome to my world! At our last mini-meet, we all had 06's. I looked at each of our trucks, mine was the most rusty....period.


Let me list the problem areas...I hope the thread is big enough to hold the complete list... I can include pics of most instances if anyone is curious enough.
- Bottom of rear hatch along seam, both inside and outside.
- As mentioned the bottom of every single door and hood. +1 on the bug gaurd hiding it!!!!
- Rear hatch outside around the license plate holder.
- Area over the rear wheel archs where the steel body meets the plastic bumper. Both sides
- All four wheel arches.
- My SS OEM exhaust is almost done. That was pointed out to me last night when my air bags failed.
- As mentioned the rear wheel disk brake backers are almost gone. Both sides.
- The trailer hitch receiver and supports.

If I got up and looked outside, I'll bet that I can find more.. These are just what I can think of on my truck(s) off the top of my head....

 

[Sparky]

Mine has it on all four doors and has it really bad on the liftgate lower edge and the rear wheel wells. I also have a few other weird spots (above the passenger tail light for example). Surprisingly my hood has very little along its seam.

I think the previous owner towed a boat with mine, which would explain why the back half of the truck is twice as rusty as the front half.

One thing I did notice is my fuel lines up front seem to be a little crusty looking. I'm not sure if it is just surface on the connectors or something worse. I'm going to look at them more closely later today. Don't want a fuel line to spring a leak and spray all over the engine

 

[Jkust]

Ok, I have the 07 9-7x and the 07 Rainier and previously had the 04 Rainier. Here's how it has broken down.

The 04 was rust free everywhere, no signs under doors, hood, rear hatch seam, nothing. Then my wife wrecked it and we had to quickly replace it.
The 07 Rainier which actually wasn't sold until 2008 is a bit odd. Lived it's whole life in MN with bad salt usage. It looks like a much newer truck than it is. No rust on even the brake parts but guess what, I had to have the bottoms of all 4 doors done while still under warranty. The were not aweful but unacceptable for the age and miles.

Then comes my current daily driver the 9-7. It lived its life in Michigan until I brought it to MN last november when I bought it. All 4 doors need to be done and the hood seam is starting as well . The brake parts were really bad except the rotors that I have replaced.
The truck wasn't sold unti 2008 as well and the amount of rust that is starting doesn't match its condition or age. It's all hidden and only one of us would even know to look for it but I need to address it since I'm sure I'll have it another 5 years.

When I shopped last year for the 9-7, every single 360 with no exceptions has rusty doors all the way down to the ones I saw with 20,000 miles. I never understood why our 2004 was such the exception.

 

[meerschm]

so no one has seen corroded brake lines?

how about leaking metal gas lines?

and while I am at it, how many folks have seen or directly heard of leaking gas pumps, or trans cooler lines leaking from rust?

Thanks for the shared experience.

 

[Sparky]

Brake lines, not so much on these trucks. Mine are surprisingly clean looking given the rest.
Trans cooler lines, yeah. I caught mine before it really leaked bad but they were seeping. Others have had a few blowouts.
Fuel lines or pumps leaking, no, not really. As I did mention my fuel lines up front do have some rust on them however.

 

[meerschm]

Brake lines, not so much on these trucks. Mine are surprisingly clean looking given the rest.
Trans cooler lines, yeah. I caught mine before it really leaked bad but they were seeping. Others have had a few blowouts.
Fuel lines or pumps leaking, no, not really. As I did mention my fuel lines up front do have some rust on them however.

Thanks, guess I will have to pay some attention to the fuel lines under the hood. My trans cooler lines look like they were in an oyster bed for a while, and were pushed around this summer when the local garage in Chatham MA did my water pump, (no longer fit in rad shroud where they should, so I suspect were bent a bit in the process. not sure I want to try to bend them back. they were clanking a but but I slipped the handle cut from a windshield washer jug over where they were bouncing on each other.

I probably should just change them but the stories on getting to the clips on the trans end make me hesitate. do i want to change them in the next month, or wait till the snow is a foot deep in Feb?

 

[Sparky]

I did mine with the help of a lift at my buddy's work. Even then it was a pain but at least I was able to move around. It made fishing the old ones out and fishing the new ones into place much easier also.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

so no one has seen corroded brake lines?

how about leaking metal gas lines?

and while I am at it, how many folks have seen or directly heard of leaking gas pumps, or trans cooler lines leaking from rust?

Thanks for the shared experience.

Not really. Which is why we wondered about your advice in the other thread about lines.

 

[Mooseman]

I don't think there could be more rust than here, the corrosion capital of Canada! We use so much salt here, it's incredible. They salt BEFORE the snow starts to fall. Anyway, I have only owned this truck since July last year and this is what I've seen so far:

- all door bottoms
- the rear hatch is rusted through in the handle indentation under the license plate holder as well as the bottom
- hatch handle broke due to rusted out bracket and pin. Door lock/solenoid was rusted almost solid
- my hood was protected by a bug deflector so good there
- paint chips on roof just above the windshield developed into surface rust
- power steering lines are rusty at the clips holding them , expecting them to blow
- complete exhaust cat back has been replaced in the past with a Walker muffler and pipes. Rusty as hell, expecting it to go this winter
- brake and fuel lines seem to be made of stainless as they are in good shape
- spare tire winch, secondary latch has a tendency of seizing and not release the spare (usually when you need it). Cable is made of high grade stainless
- one of the rear brake caliper pins was seized when I bought the truck, no rips in boots or anything
- the bolt that holds the power steering pipes to the rack and pinion broke, spewing all the fluid. Either rust got to it or it was a cheap "hecho en Mexico" bolt
- I had removed the roof rack, nearly all the mounting points were rusty

I can't think of anything else at the moment. Rust and salt takes a terrible toll on all vehicles. I just replaced the front subframe on my son's '98 Honda Accord which was completely eaten away at a mounting point. OK, it is 14 years old but this is thick steel, not sheet metal.

 

[meerschm]

Thanks again for all the responses.

Sparky, did you remove anything to get to the fittings? manual says to lower transmission and disconnect the exhaust line. seems like the nine year old nuts could give me trouble. if anyone has done this and dropped the exhaust line, were you able to reuse the exhaust hardware?


google: rusted trailblazer transmission lines for some other indications of folks with trouble. (don't go the the OS, when I did, my Symantec warned me of an attempted exploit load, probably some out of control adware.)

the other thread started with a transmission line leak. seems like the leaks are focused on earliest years, so that if you drive someplace with salt or rust, and have a 2002 or 2003, it would pay to be aware of the transmission lines and gas pump. the lines you can look at, the gas pump, you could just change, but at a minimum, should understand that a smell of gas needs to be investigated asap.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Still dont understand how you group the fuel pump and transmission lines into one means the other needs addressed. They are seperate systems and not even that close together...

 

[bparsel]

I never understood why our 2004 was such the exception.

FWIW, my '04 is rust free as well. My rear brake backing plates are the only things that have rusted. My Dad and friends '02's have rust on the inside hood and doors and my other friends '05 is the rustiest of all of them.

 

[Jkust]

The reason the quickly forming rust on our trucks expecially the door bottoms pisses me off is because I still have a 2000 oldsmobile silhouette in the driveway. There is rust directly above the rocker panel in the front of each rear tire but that took a decade to form and I didn't address it. It started to rust there the year my wife decided to go a whole winter without a carwash. Other than that it is completely rust free having spent all 12 years here in salty MN. Even the underside is like it is galvanized with no rust. Why can my nearly 13 year old GM have less rust than my 5 year old much more expensive 9-7. I need to get the 9-7 door rust fixed before it really gets bad and I can only imagine how much that's going to cost. I wonder if the Lambda series, like the Traverse and Acadia have these issues. They started them in 2007.

 

[bparsel]

Rust is frustrating, especially for those of us that live in Northern salt states. Its not quite as bad as the guys with the '02-'05 Ram trucks though. If I had bought one of those I would be SERIOUSLY pissed off. Everyone you see has rust over the rear wheel wells and starting under the doors, ridiculous. Funny thing is if you look at the '00-03 Ford F-150's they put the plastic liners around the wheel wells etc and you hardly ever see any of them with any rust.

 

[Sparky]

Sparky, did you remove anything to get to the fittings? manual says to lower transmission and disconnect the exhaust line. seems like the nine year old nuts could give me trouble. if anyone has done this and dropped the exhaust line, were you able to reuse the exhaust hardware?


google: rusted trailblazer transmission lines for some other indications of folks with trouble. (don't go the the OS, when I did, my Symantec warned me of an attempted exploit load, probably some out of control adware.)

the other thread started with a transmission line leak. seems like the leaks are focused on earliest years, so that if you drive someplace with salt or rust, and have a 2002 or 2003, it would pay to be aware of the transmission lines and gas pump. the lines you can look at, the gas pump, you could just change, but at a minimum, should understand that a smell of gas needs to be investigated asap.

I didn't touch the exhaust any. Just lowered the transmission crossmember a bit to get a little more room.

I still don't recall anyone having any issues with the fuel pump or fuel lines leaking anywhere. I do agree that gas fume smell should be checked out quickly however.

 

[meerschm]

I didn't touch the exhaust any. Just lowered the transmission crossmember a bit to get a little more room.

I still don't recall anyone having any issues with the fuel pump or fuel lines leaking anywhere. I do agree that gas fume smell should be checked out quickly however.

thanks for sharing your experience.

see below:

http://gmtnation.com/f24/fuel-leak-top-tank-4063/

Note the included TSB letter.

 

[Sparky]

Heh, and I even have a 2002. I guess I don't know everything