Has anyone undersealed their A110?
Discussion
My car is a 2019 and, before I bought it 18 months ago, looks as though it had been run through winter.
I plan to keep it for the foreseeable future so when I serviced it last year I stripped all the under trays and wheel arch liners off to give it a close inspection.
The main areas of concern were,
The radiators were showing alloy oxidisation so I sprayed those with WD40 from both sides to give them some protection. This will have to be repeated but I don’t plan to run the car through winter. I love the smell!
A lot of the fixings clips that received bolts holding the under trays were rusting. Poor quality Renault parts I’m afraid. I Waxoiled those and used Copperslip on the bolts.
The headlight transformer packs had surface corrosion. Sprayed with WD.
The wheel arch areas front and rear were generally ok but most of the alloy brackets on the suspension and engine mounts again had surface corrosion. I Waxoiled everything!
I hate white powder covered engines and gearboxes so they both get WD sprayed. And no the engine hasn’t burst into flames yet🙄
All very time consuming but I hope worth while.
It’s a problem buying cars from the North (as well as running them up here) as the councils are obsessed with chucking salt on the roads at the remotest sign of a frost. It truly knackers any alloy components.
I plan to keep it for the foreseeable future so when I serviced it last year I stripped all the under trays and wheel arch liners off to give it a close inspection.
The main areas of concern were,
The radiators were showing alloy oxidisation so I sprayed those with WD40 from both sides to give them some protection. This will have to be repeated but I don’t plan to run the car through winter. I love the smell!
A lot of the fixings clips that received bolts holding the under trays were rusting. Poor quality Renault parts I’m afraid. I Waxoiled those and used Copperslip on the bolts.
The headlight transformer packs had surface corrosion. Sprayed with WD.
The wheel arch areas front and rear were generally ok but most of the alloy brackets on the suspension and engine mounts again had surface corrosion. I Waxoiled everything!
I hate white powder covered engines and gearboxes so they both get WD sprayed. And no the engine hasn’t burst into flames yet🙄
All very time consuming but I hope worth while.
It’s a problem buying cars from the North (as well as running them up here) as the councils are obsessed with chucking salt on the roads at the remotest sign of a frost. It truly knackers any alloy components.
One area to pay particular attention to would be the jacking points. These are made of steel, and get pelted quite badly by anything the car throws up, especially the forward facing edges of the front jacking points.
agreed the mild fixing clips are bad too - yet another Lotus copycat effort...
agreed the mild fixing clips are bad too - yet another Lotus copycat effort...
I'm not bothered by a protective white film of aluminium oxide corrosion but after 12k miles and light use through 2 winters I have noticed the engine undertray fixings are eating away at the undertray (galvanic corrosion). The benefit of doing intermediate oil changes/inspections.
I've applied copper grease to the bolt washers (where they meet the aluminium) as a temporary measure but will investigate a set of nylon washers. Something I'd happily pay Life110 for
I've applied copper grease to the bolt washers (where they meet the aluminium) as a temporary measure but will investigate a set of nylon washers. Something I'd happily pay Life110 for
I thought the BIG PROBLEM with underseal is that once moisture gets in behind it there's a real danger corrosion will be accelerated, not reduced. I certainly wouldn't underseal any car of mine.
Park outside or in a well ventilated garage. Poorly ventilated garages just make things worse, holding humidity.
Park outside or in a well ventilated garage. Poorly ventilated garages just make things worse, holding humidity.
The main silver bolts that hold the shear plates on are M8 with captive 22mm diameter washers. The shank is 5mm and the thread length including the shank is 28mm.
The 4x longer black bolts that hold the rear diffuser at the back are M6 with captive 22mm washers. The shank is just 2mm and the thread length including the shank is 30mm.
The shorter black bolts that hold the rear undertray are M6. They have no washers but their head is 17mm diameter. They are threaded all the way down and that thread length is 20mm.
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