Crusty Coils and Bolts

[Tony B2]

My Spyder had its MOT yesterday, and I was surprised - and annoyed - to have advisories on rusty front coil springs.

Given the age/mileage (5 years/ 15k) it is somewhat disappointing to see these, and although a bit unsightly I cannot believe they are anywhere near requiring an advisory.

I drive it far less frequently in winter and definitely try to avoid salty roads.

The corrosion is at the bottom end of the coils where they sit on the...erm...seat... which itself has frequently been trapping gravel/chips and no doubt this interaction has made things worse.

Rather than do a straight swap for new Porsche items (at £1k....) I would be interested in potential options with better quality coatings - KW, Manthey?

I would be looking for functionally identical, but better lasting.

Whilst viewing the video report, the tech also highlighted the exceedingly rusty exhaust/manifold bolts and nuts.

The quoted cost of replacing these (another £1k) would be half way to getting a high quality aftermarket silencer, so I am also thinking about this.

I cannot believe the quoted costs of these 2 fixes - the dealership must be looking to compensate for poor new car sales.

[Clad-Hach]

Similar advisories being talked about in this video...shock horror the dealers are at it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxBMS00Bql8

[scrounger73]

Do you regularly jet wash inside the wheel arches as part of your washing process? I'm just thinking it may be worth doing that if you don't as it prevents a buildup of road grime on suspension components and that annoying lip at the top of the inner wheel arch that collects all manner of crud.

Re changing out from OEM suspension components be mindful if your car is still under warranty as you should fit only Porsche parts to maintain the warranty.

[PaulD86]

Porsche fixings are only about 1 grade higher than water soluble. By about 6 years old the exhaust bolts on my car were just orange blobs. I started a thread on this ages ago, but it seems that whilst the engineer some great cars, some fixings are just the cheapest they can find. I give my car a good power hose underneath as best I can, and it has lived its life in a garage, but there is still a disappointing amount of rust on various bits. There are a couple of braces under the front tray when are usually pure orange when the trays are removed. I treated mine, primed and painted them and refitted. I haven't bothered to look how they are now. But probably not great.

Curiously, I believe in Sept last year the extended warranty conditions were altered so they no longer cover failures caused by rust.... I cannot imagine why!

[ChrisW.]

When my 2015 981GT4 was tuned by Jens Ehressmann in Dusseldorf some years ago he was very surprised at how much corrosion there was underneath the car ... by comparison to German cars of a similar type and age.

Porsche used to be very proud of their product longevity with dipped galvanised body shells etc ... they built a reputation on it ... maybe they see this as weight saving ?

My 2018 car went in for its 8 year service yesterday and the OPC were very surprised at how good the condition was. I have a '73 2.4S and I would be surprised if that wasn't in good condition ... how expectations have changed ??

[Orangecurry]

Tony B2 said:

My Spyder had its MOT yesterday, and I was surprised - and annoyed - to have advisories on rusty front coil springs.

Given the age/mileage (5 years/ 15k) it is somewhat disappointing to see these, and although a bit unsightly I cannot believe they are anywhere near requiring an advisory.

Rather than do a straight swap for new Porsche items (at £1k....) I would be interested in potential options with better quality coatings - KW, Manthey?

I would be looking for functionally identical, but better lasting.

Options - find a good mechanic (sounds as if you don't do 'spannering'?)

1 - he replaces exhaust/etc nuts/bolts with stainless steel.

2 - he removes your springs - send them to a shot-blast and powdercoat specialist (yes they do still exist)

3 - reassembly is reverse of removal

4 - find someone who can do proper four-wheel alignment

Before, obviously


after (forgot to photo before assembly)

[Billy_Whizzzz]

Tony B2 said:

My Spyder had its MOT yesterday, and I was surprised - and annoyed - to have advisories on rusty front coil springs.

Given the age/mileage (5 years/ 15k) it is somewhat disappointing to see these, and although a bit unsightly I cannot believe they are anywhere near requiring an advisory.

I drive it far less frequently in winter and definitely try to avoid salty roads.

The corrosion is at the bottom end of the coils where they sit on the...erm...seat... which itself has frequently been trapping gravel/chips and no doubt this interaction has made things worse.

Rather than do a straight swap for new Porsche items (at £1k....) I would be interested in potential options with better quality coatings - KW, Manthey?

I would be looking for functionally identical, but better lasting.

Whilst viewing the video report, the tech also highlighted the exceedingly rusty exhaust/manifold bolts and nuts.

The quoted cost of replacing these (another £1k) would be half way to getting a high quality aftermarket silencer, so I am also thinking about this.

I cannot believe the quoted costs of these 2 fixes - the dealership must be looking to compensate for poor new car sales.

Can you share pics of the corrosion?

[Tony B2]

scrounger73 said:

Do you regularly jet wash inside the wheel arches as part of your washing process? I'm just thinking it may be worth doing that if you don't as it prevents a buildup of road grime on suspension components and that annoying lip at the top of the inner wheel arch that collects all manner of crud.

Re changing out from OEM suspension components be mindful if your car is still under warranty as you should fit only Porsche parts to maintain the warranty.

I haven't jet washed the underside/wheel arches this year. A combination of laziness on my part, and 3+ months of a hosepipe ban...

Yes - pathetic especially as the ban was lifted around November....

I have definitely been meaning to get the wheels off and do this sort of thing but....but....I am running out of excuses.

Understood on the general point about non-OEM, but I thought that Manthey were officially approved by Porsche, so the warranty should be OK?

[Tony B2]

PaulD86 said:

Porsche fixings are only about 1 grade higher than water soluble. By about 6 years old the exhaust bolts on my car were just orange blobs. I started a thread on this ages ago, but it seems that whilst the engineer some great cars, some fixings are just the cheapest they can find. I give my car a good power hose underneath as best I can, and it has lived its life in a garage, but there is still a disappointing amount of rust on various bits. There are a couple of braces under the front tray when are usually pure orange when the trays are removed. I treated mine, primed and painted them and refitted. I haven't bothered to look how they are now. But probably not great.

Curiously, I believe in Sept last year the extended warranty conditions were altered so they no longer cover failures caused by rust.... I cannot imagine why!

On the extended warranty, I am currently under the old T&Cs until January 27, so will re-read the exclusion list, which was quite short from memory.

[scrounger73]

Tony B2 said:

Understood on the general point about non-OEM, but I thought that Manthey were officially approved by Porsche, so the warranty should be OK?

If you go Manthey you'll be ok with your warranty but check if they need to be fitted by an approved installer.