Since road vehicles hit the press this morning:

I just bought a 10 year old Honda Element for a go to town and get around the parking lots, see the doctor in the always crowded lots and all. Super car, super purchase from the owning individual, craigs list posted....I love it already.

It started it's life in New York and spent 2 years there. After that it went south to nicer weather. Like a boat that has been used in salt water, there are obvious indications of salty road use. No big problems and most of it is surface discoloration...fingernail will dislodge the superficial but I want to ensure that it has stopped doing it's damage.

What do you folks that endure salt roads as winter common place do with your road vehicles to protect them from rust?

I thought about spraying most everything under the hood with WD-40 or something of the sort.

Comments appreciated.

Mark

Use fluid film !

Fluid film every fall helps but I don't think anything will totally stop whats already started. My wife has an 88 Firebird that has never seen snow we put it up in Oct. and take it out in May and it has no rust or so little you have to really look for it, that is the only thing that works around here IMHO.

What do you folks that endure salt roads as winter common place do with your road vehicles to protect them from rust?

Click to expand...

First it's not just salt roads. Anyone living anywhere near the ocean has a similar issue, so a "Florida car" is nothing to brag about, for example.

As far as what I, and anyone I know, does: Absolutely nothing. There is no point. Wasting countless hours and dollars year after year to extend a vehicle's life by a few days. Not worth it.

Sticky sprays not only stick to the frame and body of the vehicle, they also stick to any passing dirt, dust, grit, etc., leaving the underside of your vehicle looking like a PayDay candy bar. They just make a mess, especially in the engine compartment. Plus they don't get into all the nooks and crannies where the rust actually starts, and they trap salt IN.

Vehicles these days are much improved over years past. It's very common to see vehicles 10+ years old around here in Upstate NY, still looking good, and the owners did nothing special to achieve that.

With much of the population in the Northern states moving to the South that is the way they have solved the problem.

Wow. That was quick. Thanks.

I did figure that I would have a new mess, or maybe attack parts not designed for petroleum contact, since oil would attract dust but a penetrating oil would help to penetrate and "get to the bottom of it". Kinda 50-50 on the good and bad.

I grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast 50 miles inland. We had the rusted out bodies and all that there. When I was a teen looking for a car, the general mood was to go to Oklahoma to get your car......no salt air.

Since it's been about 8 years since and nothing seems to be really bad, I'll leave it be.

Again, thanks for the prompt, helpful replies.

Do regular underbody car washes.

I thought about that too. Back around the 60's era I passed the bay of a filling/service station and there was a big Lincoln on the rack and a guy was under it with a hose. Being the curious lot that I am, I had to investigate. As it turned out the old gent had passed and the surviving widow told the attendant that her hubby always had that done and she was continuing the process. The event occurred in Texas so I guess the guy was a Northern transplant and that was his common practice up there. Makes sense.

Texasmark,
Up here these days, most car washes automatically spray the undercarriage as you drive into the wash bay.

I will disagree with Barnyard. Living in the land of rust in Northern NY, ANYTHING you can do to get the salt out or off or to seal it from ever getting on the car and especially inside the frame is worth it. Pressure washing every bit of the exterior of the vehicle, including the underside and interior of frame, helps a lot. Follow that up with blowing the remaining sand/salt out of the frame/nooks and crannies and then wash it again. When it's dry anything you can get inside the frame/nooks helps, I don't care if it's used motor oil or Fluid Film or whatever, it all helps. As far as sealing in the salt, the salt needs air to cause rust. If you seal the air out, it ain't gonna rust anymore. I've done this stuff in the past and I've seen things last many years longer than they would have without doing it. I only wish I'd done it more often to more of my vehicles.

The only way to protect a vehicle from salt damage is to not get salt on it in the first place. Once it’s in the cracks and crevices it’s darned near impossible to remove. It’s like calcium embedded in a tractor rim. It depends on the vehicle too. My 08 Toyota with 190,000 miles shows no outside rust though I don’t know what’s going on inside the body. My 09 Colorado with 75,000 miles has a bubble starting above a rear wheel. These vehicles are in the salt all winter and sometimes it’s too cold to get them washed for several weeks.

Not that I know about road salting, but I've seen the damage and seen coastal cars come to an early demise...

But there have been a lot of improvements over the years. Use of plastic components has helped save the body, but there are still areas water can be trapped. Some of the areas to pay close attention to, inside the bottom of the doors, under the doors, the rocker panels, at the bottom of the fenders, and inside the trunk. Those are areas that can trap water, especially if it had been undercoated. There are factory drain holes that let water get out. Also any mud caked in those areas will trap moisture and promote rust.

Under the hood, WD40 won't do much. It will dry up and go away quickly. Keep in mind, it is flammable when in liquid form. It may help keep exposed aluminum a little brighter, but that's about it. Best under hood treatment is the occasional pressure wash. Just be careful not to blast water into electrical connections or accessory bearings.

Fluid Film.

I agree, fluid film. Bud

first off WASH IT!

that's your best defense (dispite other comments) to slow the salt reaction down. even though its been south for a couple years it could very likely still have salt in places

washing REMOVES much of the salt and what it cannot remove completely (nooks and crannys) it can at least dilute. as others mentioned wash the underside well. try to get water into open spots in the frame structure to flush/dilute the salt out and use plenty of clean water. We have automatic car washes here and the mid-upper wash options include undercar pressure washing. in the spring i take the cars into the self wash bays and just wash the underside (best i can) with the wand and then go thru the auto wash to get the salt off for the summer. i would also wash under the hood too but be careful not to really wash the engine. just try to get any of the viable body parts. you don't want to get water in connectors, sensors, computers ect ect. but salt spray does get under there as well and just sits and rusts. open the doors and carefully wash the door sills and gently get a little water into the drain holes in the bottoms of the doors. NOW if you keep it out of salt you shouldn't have to go thru all that again.

when we were testing automotive parts it was very obvious the effects of salt. the concentration and the TIME that the parts were in contact with the salt were major contributing factors in how much our parts rusted. Typically we used a salt fog. no splashing or direct immersions. we even did tests that the parts were rinsed 1/2 way thru the test and it was amazing what a difference it made.

the make and model also makes a difference. not sure about hondas. my Dodge Intrepid and Chrysler 300M (both 19 year old cars) had very little rust even the Intrepid after handing down to daughters who NEVER washed it still didn't have major rust (stone chips were the only bad spots as to be expected)

our 2003 Chrysler Town & country van rusted out like crazy and it did get washed BUT not enough by my liking.

Drive it in rain after the salt rinses off the road in spring, and hit every puddle you can. If the tires splashed snow and salt in, they can splash fresh water in, too.