Worst Mach-E news I received: Corrosion!

[dalola]

It’s been to ford and the two top rebuild shops in the Seattle area. Thorough 1/2 hour inspections.
My hope was for a paint issue. Unfortunately that is how it looks when the issue is with the underlying aluminum (according to everyone).

Does anyone else find this extremely disturbing? I would never set foot in any of those businesses again... ?

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[Mach-e4x]

When getting my car washed, we discovered small vein-like protrusions from the paint under with a windows. Sadly, the Ford dealer (and the body shop) have confirmed the aluminum doors are corroding. It will only get worse and the solution is to replace all 4 doors.

Anyone else heard of this?

Yes, Nov.2020 build

 

[DeusEx]

I spoke with my detailer about this too as I thought it could have been my ceramic coating failing, but he also said it was a paint defect.

When getting my car washed, we discovered small vein-like protrusions from the paint under with a windows. Sadly, the Ford dealer (and the body shop) have confirmed the aluminum doors are corroding. It will only get worse and the solution is to replace all 4 doors.

Anyone else heard of this?

I have these issues on my 23 (July 23 build) in the same exact spot too. I'm kind of in disbelief that the doors would have to be replaced. I guess I will need to reach out to my dealer to have this checked out.

This might be a dumb question, but since I had my car professionally ceramic coated, I would be responsible for coating my car again and not Ford, right?

 

[4wheeldog]

Agreed. I spent 8 years in OEM body shops and can see paint and alignment inconsistencies of adjacent cars driving 80 mph on a highway. It's actually a curse, not a blessing

My curse is noticing scary tires walking through parking lots. Low tires/bald tires/horribly weathered tires. I see scary shit regularly just walking through the supermarket lot.

 

[MrLoganRoss]

Are all of the cars with this problem carbonized Gray?

 

[Silver MTB]

Doors are steel. Looks like a paint issue to me.

 

[sparkout]

When getting my car washed, we discovered small vein-like protrusions from the paint under with a windows. Sadly, the Ford dealer (and the body shop) have confirmed the aluminum doors are corroding. It will only get worse and the solution is to replace all 4 doors.

Anyone else heard of this?

Aluminum doesn't corrode.

 

[andyney]

When getting my car washed, we discovered small vein-like protrusions from the paint under with a windows. Sadly, the Ford dealer (and the body shop) have confirmed the aluminum doors are corroding. It will only get worse and the solution is to replace all 4 doors.

Anyone else heard of this?

Mine is doing the same
Thing on rear passenger door only same place ?

 

[MrLoganRoss]

Aluminum doesn't corrode.

The doors are steel

 

[MrLoganRoss]

@Ford Motor Company - what say you about this issue?

 

[corradoborg]

Aluminum doesn't corrode.

Aluminum absolutely corrodes. It doesn't rust because what we call rust is specifically the corrosion product of iron/steel. But aluminum does oxidize. And like steel, there are various alloys of aluminum used in manufacturing, and different alloys have different corrosion characteristics. Anodization is a type of controlled corrosion (intentional corrosion to create an aesthetically pleasing "crust" of aluminum oxide and prevent the corrosion from reaching deeper into the part, causing it to fail). There is also a nasty type of corrosion with aluminum called intergranular corrosion. It starts inside the metal at the crystal scale and it's terrible for structural parts because it practically turns them into powder.

All that being said, the doors are steel. So, aluminum corrosion is not what's happening here and it's disturbing that some shops have firmly insisted that's what it is.

 

[Briguy]

Aluminum doesn't corrode.

Oh but it does. One only needs to search for"Ford Explorer Hood Corrosion" to find a plethora of information on the problem. Ford replaced the hood of my Explorer for this exact issue.

 

[sparkout]

Ok, I stand corrected on the corrosion issue.

 

[kamorela]

Ok, I stand corrected on the corrosion issue.

To clarify a little bit, aluminum does oxidize (commonly called 'corrosion') when exposed to oxygen (ambient air). But aluminum also is blessed with a self-healing property that, once a thin layer of oxidation is formed, it becomes resistant (not absolutely impervious mind you, but resistant) to further oxidation.

Anodizing, a process coating that preserves and protects aluminum against oxidation, is nothing more than a thick layer of electro-chemically created oxidation that 'protects' the underlying aluminum from...wait for it...oxidation. Wait, what??

That said, anyone who has ever seen that gray/white powder on aluminum knows that it oxidizes, but that's the result of poor or no protection. Further, there are aluminum alloys that resist oxidation better than others. All this is common knowledge in aerospace and automotive industries, and processes are in place to prevent it. Nonetheless, in my experience, aluminum corrosion in production products, whether it's cars or aircraft, is almost always process-related, i.e. not following procedures (human error) or process parameters out of spec (usually also human-related). And it happens ALL THE TIME! OK, shutting up now. Sorry. ?

 

[Scooby24]

Aluminum doesn't corrode.

confidently incorrect.

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