My Edge is rusting!

[rochesteredge]

First my rear doors (both) were rusting on inside upper flange where outside and inside metal is folded together and welded. Now I find rust coming through on hood on the inside front edge of hood, again where inside and outside stampings are attached and welded. Not showing rust through outside so no Ford warranty. 2009 edge with 65K mostly highway miles here in Michigan. I tried twice to get Ford to warranty repair but they hid behind the "perforation" excuse/language. And of course they said, yes its rusting, but not enough to warranty. I even emailed a couple of Ford paint engineers but received no response. Ford's doing good and does not give a S**t about the customer. Just had to replace a rear wheel bearing as well. I guess I could excuse that with the mileage, but, would a Toyota have this problem at this mileage. Shame of it is I really like the Edge, styling, handling, space. Only way I can punish Ford is not to buy another one for awhile. So, Good by Ford, Mullaly and company you are not there yet. I worked for an OEM paint supplier, and this rusting should have been solved with Ecoat, but design, painting process and assembly could still cause it. Good bye Ford, Will try GM or Chrysler one more time. Then its on to the foreign guys, and that is not what I want to do.

[shantz]

There's a thread on here somehwere regarding this issue. It's not actual rust - but rather small filings or shavings that result in the cutting of threads into the door when installing the accessories (speakers etc.) after the door has been painted at the factory.

 

Look into a product called 'Iron-X'. I sprayed the inner seam and gave it a scrub with an old toothbrush.

It looks brand new now.

[fishx65]

It's just part of living in South East Michigan. Every vehicle I've ever owned here will start to show some hidden rust by 50,000 miles. My buddies 2010 Edge is starting in the same areas you described. This is not even close to being just a Ford problem. After 50,000 miles, I checked out a friends Lexus ES350 and the door seams were starting to rust. Benz is even worse. Living in this nasty salt belt, the 1st thing I do when I purchase a new vehicle is undercoat the undercarriage and rustproof all the rolled seems. This has worked extremely well for me over the years!!!! That said, I do think all auto manufacturers could do a much better job with rust prevention before we hand them our hard earned dollars.

 

Do you keep your Edge in a garage during winter months?

Edited November 21, 2012 by fishx65

[rochesteredge]

It is not thread filings! Not when the paint is bubbling. It is also on the upper edge and gravity would take away the filings. This is rust coming from under the paint or on non-ecoated bare metal inside the door. The front hood edge looks the same and there are no thread filings there. I wish it was this. It will eventually perforate the surface but probably after warranty expires.

[rochesteredge]

Rust is age and exposure and not mileage. My previous F-150 pickup never showed this rust after 5 years! This is on upper edges where gravity takes water away. Not a sign of rust on the bottoms of the rear doors, nor the top or bottom edges of the front doors or the rear hatch. Modern Ecoat (electrodeposition primer) has excellent corrosion protection and unless perforated or never applied properly, withstands much harsher salt spray testing than 4 Michigan winters. It may not be a Ford problem exclusively, but when only certain panels show the problem its design or painting or assembly. I have been in the assembly plants and seen the Ecoat dip tanks the body goes through. Even rustproofing wont help if it cant get up into the seams from the inside because there is no room for it to be sprayed in.

[fishx65]

I agree, it's not all about mileage. There was a few threads on here about the front edge of the hood and tailgate seams rusting.

[Limited59]

Do you keep your Edge in a garage during winter months?

 

What's your theory on this? I moved into a new home this summer and I'm finding that the car is considerably warmer in the morning than outside ambient. It's not heated but it's insulated all around, drywalled and my rollup is also insulated. Wonder if corosion will be accelerated in these conditions.

 

Not really a big deal.... 2013 is a new vehicle year for me. It's a tossup right now between Lincoln MKX, Mercedes GLK 350 and the Infiniti EX/FX 37. And with how much my Edge has 'loosened up' in 16 months and 11,000 km the MKX is, sadly, dropping lower on my list.

 

Is it too much to ask to have a vehicle stay tight for more than 7,000 miles? It seems to be a recurring theme with me which is why, for the first time in my life I'm looking at foreign brands! But, I digress....

[fishx65]

During cold winter months it's better to let a salt sprayed vehicle stay frozen rather then pull it in a warmer garage every night. More corrosion takes place when the salt/water combination is allowed to thaw. I read this on the internet a few times so it has to be true!! :yup:

[blankster]

As an annual fall task for all my cars I wax under the leading edge of the hood, trunk lid and lower doors in preparation for winter (I live near Chicago). I also wax the wheels and apply silicone to all the seals/weatherstrips including the vista roof. Even when I did this I had a very very small corrosion spot on the lower edge of the passenger rear door. I scraped it a bit and applied some touch-up paint. At least on the lower door it looked like the type of corrosion where two dis-similar metals come together like the outer skin and the inner pannel are different metals and that caused some kind of bonding issue. Also throughout the winter I manage to flush the salt off of the vehicles by spraying the hose along all the door seams and inder the vehicle. Regarding the hood, I noticed that the rubber gasket that runs along the leading edge of the hood tends to hold water so I applied wax to the underside of the hood and applied silicone to the gasket. Next time you wash your Edge upen the hood and check out all the water that runs out.