Places To Look For Rust On A Mk2

[Ginettamad]

My Gal is starting to look a bit scruffy around the sill and arches so I've booked it in for some repair work. Whilst under it the other day I found small perforation holes at the front of each inner sill on the inside faces clearly where water can't drain out.some of the drain hole were also bunged up with seam sealer from the two previous sill repairs (bad jacking). I also found on the same inner sills right at the back where the rear subframe mounts further rust which is difficult to get at. On the drivers side the fuel tank is close and on the other side is the aux heater. Hopely I'll get away with treating and painting the rear inner sills as I dont fancy removing the rear sub frame?

 

Has any removed the rear subframe and tank for sill welding???

 

I wondered where else the Gals tend to rust as I want to try and preserve mine by treating any rust it has?

I plan to take off the front arch plastic covers to clean out the mud again too before it goes for paint. I've also found a few bits of rust in the front arch bottoms near where the brake lines fit.

I'll check the front lower arches under the plastic and found a few patches on the floor around bungs.

 

[BrianH]

The front outriggers and the sills are the places I've had go (the bits round the rear lower corner of the rear doors too - these easily visible from outside though).

 

Cleaning it would be the best bet to keep ontop of it, the outriggers have a hose sized hole in the bottom of them (or should have) it might be an idea to stick the end of the garden hose into there to flush it out particually after bad weather (salt on roads etc) as it is a mud trap.

 

Scuttle drains are worth checking if your in that area too, as if they block will allow water to sit on top of the bulkhead. Probabbly best check them at the same time as the front wheel arch liners to get any accumulated rubbish out from both.

[Ginettamad]

Thanks booked in for some welding and painting next week. Most worried about the rear inner sills.

[Ginettamad]

Thanks booked in for some welding and painting next week. Most worried about the rear inner sills. Will check bulkhead too.

[BrianH]

Out of the Ford's I've owned the Galaxy has had the least rust issues. Others of the same era had got to being terminally rusty (bits falling out of the sills, rust spreading along edges of panels) years before that. VAG stuff tends to fair a bit better, though any help you can give it will help.

[sparky Paul]

I agree Brian, although mines in a bit of a sorry state now, you have to bear in mind that it is a 19 year old car and most of the problems have been cosmetic - only the outrigger and a very small bit of the outer sill looked dodgy for an MOT before they were done.

 

The cosmetic stuff was fabricating & replacing new front wing bottoms, which still look great, rust around the tailgate lock, and a bit around the rear wheelarches. Sadly, the n/s sill is too far gone now, it really needs a new one and a small patch on the inner if it were to ever see the roads again.

 

I'll be sad to see it go, but I'm currently driving a Vaux Insignia diesel estate in very plush Elite trim - 160bhp, 60mpg and £30 road tax. As much as I have enjoyed owning the Galaxy (since 2003), I'm afraid the 30mpg and £255 tax of the Galaxy was one of the deciding factors to abandon repairs and retire it.

[BrianH]

I agree Brian, although mines in a bit of a sorry state now, you have to bear in mind that it is a 19 year old car and most of the problems have been cosmetic - only the outrigger and a very small bit of the outer sill looked dodgy for an MOT before they were done.

 

The cosmetic stuff was fabricating & replacing new front wing bottoms, which still look great, rust around the tailgate lock, and a bit around the rear wheelarches. Sadly, the n/s sill is too far gone now, it really needs a new one and a small patch on the inner if it were to ever see the roads again.

 

I'll be sad to see it go, but I'm currently driving a Vaux Insignia diesel estate in very plush Elite trim - 160bhp, 60mpg and £30 road tax. As much as I have enjoyed owning the Galaxy (since 2003), I'm afraid the 30mpg and £255 tax of the Galaxy was one of the deciding factors to abandon repairs and retire it.

At least yours was £255 - last time i taxed my 2.3 (which is due next month) it was £305.

 

Its also decided to eject the spark plug from cylinder 3 earlier this week, thread all chewed up as well so not going to be a simple fix it appears. I now suspect that was what gave me problems earlier in the year when it flooded itself. Still might give the opportunity since the head has to come off to get on with converting it to gas as the same time to address the 30mpg (you were doing better than me!) issue at the same time.

 

The Fords I was referring to were ones other than the Galaxy - I had a Mondeo that literally started disintegrating over the winter, to the point where there was a hole in the rear sill one side big enough to fit your fist inside. Given the extent of where the Rot had got to and it had already had a skin sill previously on one side, it wasn't worth the amount of welding required to fix it (both sills, the panel round the fuel filler and both rear arches, plus doors that had rust issues due to it being originally a first responders vehicle with checkerboarding down the sides, removed by someone who didn't know what they were doing and took a number of patches of paint off with it).

 

As you say for a 19 year old car (which in a lot of cases won't have been particularly well looked after in their early years) they do quite well. I've seen a Golf GTI convertable on a G plate this week, which apart from the faded red paint still looked in very good shape overall. Thats not the only one I've seen whereas you rarely see Fords of that age still about as often.

[BrianH]

I also had an Insignia estate as a courtsey car when a lorry hit the rear end of mine. I found despite it being a much bigger car than the Focus estate it was replacing that it was a struggle to get much into it in the boot (lack of height mostly). Thats one area where the Galaxy is far better!

[sparky Paul]

As you say for a 19 year old car (which in a lot of cases won't have been particularly well looked after in their early years) they do quite well. 

 

Well, I had mine from 4 years old, and 22,000 miles - for which it had a FSH. After I got it, I did all the servicing and repairs, so I know it was mechanically very well looked after - only wearing parts apart from relay 30. It never saw the inside of a garage, apart from MOTs. The mechanicals are all still sound, especially for a 160k+ mile, 19 year old car, but sadly the body and underside have seen better days,

 

I agree about the Insignia boot. For an estate, it is poor for the size of the car, and decidedly paltry at the side of the Galaxy without the rear seats. However, it's just about big enough for a holiday now the kids are older, and it does go like the clappers. I bought it at auction, it wasn't my first choice, but to be fair, it's turned out to be a honest car. All I have had to do is give it an oil and filter change, and it's just done a 600 mile journey without missing a beat - I'm currently in Orkney with it. My first choice was actually another VW in the guise of a Skoda Superb estate, but it went for too much.