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Author Topic: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.  (Read 6180 times)

Offline pudding

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The dread of all MK5 GTI owners....rust.

So I decided to take the sill covers off to attack a couple of tiny little scabs of rust on the sills adjacent to the front door, the usual spot.  The spot not covered under warranty due to VW's 'edge and fold' get out of jail card (w@nkers).

You know when you were a kid and picked at a 'falling off your skate board' scab, and regretted it?  Yeah....no different to picking rust scabs on MK5s.  Instant regret.

What I was greeted with after removing the arch covers was a bit shocking to say the least.  I know MK5s have a reputation for being rot bags, but I wasn't expecting this 1980s Ford Escort level of rust. 

Everyone knows about the front end of the sill rusting, but that isn't the main area of the concern.  It's the rear of the sill you need to worry about.

I'll let the pictures do the talking but suffice to say guys, if your love your MK5 and it's a keeper.....please take your sill covers off ASAP and check for this level of rot before it's too late.  Sill cover removal and refitting is a very involved job but definitely DIY'able.  I will go over that if folk want me to, but just take your time removing the sill covers and don't gorilla them off.  They are held on with double sided tape and a massive blob of urethane glue at the rear (very hard to remove).

A small 5mm scab in the usual place turned into lots of scabs the entire length of the sill.....



And then when we get to the back, and oh dear.  Pretty much the same on both sides but the driver's side was by far the worst, which is weird as most of the dirt is on the passenger side of the road....











I used POR-15 rust treatment and some glassfibre to fill the holes in the sill, and then repainted the whole lot and refitted the sill covers.  A complete and utter ball ache but well worth doing.  It's an easy £1000+ job at a body shop.

VW simply don't deserve the following they have with their parts pricing and shoddily made cars.  Seeing this p1ssed me right off.  If it wasn't for the fact MK5s are so nice to drive, I'd be switching brands.  Hopefully I've bought another 3-5 years lifespan repairing this, but my next car definitely will NOT be a VW.

The sill covers as nice as they are to look at, are primarily the cause of this rot problem.  How many 1.4 and diesel MK5s with no sill covers do you see with rotted out sills?  None.

« Last Edit: July 03, 2020, 07:44:37 pm by Pudding »


2007 ED30 | 2009 TDI 140 | 2016 BMW 330D

Offline shail

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #1 on: July 03, 2020, 08:28:16 pm »
While you are there, check the bit of the sill that is under the front wing.  I had bubbles both sides at that location.  Sorted it out last month.  Wasn't too bad, but glad I did it.

IMG-20200509-131735" border="0
<a target='_blank' href='https://imgbb.com/'>upload photo to website[/url]

Offline pudding

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #2 on: July 03, 2020, 08:36:13 pm »
Cheers mate.  I didn't feel like taking the wings off at the time but I think I will attack that area next.  I did have as good a look as I could at that area and it seemed OK, but I'll pull the wings off when we get some decent weather!

Bloody cars.  12 year anti-corrosion warranty, ha!  I saw evidence of VW plastering seam sealer onto already surface rusted metal on mine, bloody cowboys.


2007 ED30 | 2009 TDI 140 | 2016 BMW 330D

Offline pudding

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #3 on: July 03, 2020, 08:42:38 pm »
Do you know what? I actually preferred the look of the car without the sill covers tbh, but if the car has them fitted at the factory, you can't leave them off due to the 9 self tapping screws VW rammed into the sills to locate them.....unless you like the look of said holes and crushed in dimples  :doh:





2007 ED30 | 2009 TDI 140 | 2016 BMW 330D

Offline titchy

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2020, 09:15:13 pm »
Plastic cladding the bane of cars at least you got it before it got structural. The makers know but dont care as mostly past warranty

Offline JR.303

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #5 on: July 04, 2020, 09:04:26 am »
Great. I have just spent loads on mine.
Head in the sand for a bit then.

Offline rich83

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2020, 12:51:24 pm »
If I don't look, its not there...............

Offline pudding

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #7 on: July 04, 2020, 04:34:58 pm »
Aye, ignorance is bliss  :smiley:

I only attacked it because I want the car to last as long as possible within a reasonable budget.  I'm over it now.  There are far worse German cars out there for this sort of thing (cough, E46 M3, cough) and I forget it's 13 years old......


2007 ED30 | 2009 TDI 140 | 2016 BMW 330D

Offline carsten

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #8 on: July 04, 2020, 07:31:07 pm »
I am about to go dive in to this issue my self... The Danish climate is no good for these cars. Any advice on removing the sill covers?

/Carsten

Offline GVK

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #9 on: July 04, 2020, 08:05:55 pm »

Head in the sand for a bit then.

These were my thoughts when I saw this.  :scared:

Offline OldGTI

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #10 on: July 05, 2020, 09:37:48 am »
Great post Pudding. I have done mine and not as bad as your (07 car) but want to add that it is well worth also getting the outer wheel arches off and getting under there with a stiff brush and some Dinitrol RC900 followed by some cavity way. I found mud and dirt at the bottom of the arches and removed the sponge in the front arches that causes the rust. Luckily no rust on mine but could see the area could be a problem.

Offline shail

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #11 on: July 05, 2020, 10:17:00 am »
I am about to go dive in to this issue my self... The Danish climate is no good for these cars. Any advice on removing the sill covers?

/Carsten

I didn't remove the whole sill cover, just the bit by the front wing.   

Basically there are 3 or 4 torx bolts underneath the sill and at the ends.  To get sill off I gently pulled upwards and out, but mainly upwards force.  Appeared to be a channel that the sill is hooked into plus some adhesive tape.

Offline maxamplitude10

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #12 on: July 05, 2020, 12:10:44 pm »
Hey pudding I've noticed some rust colour sores sneaking out from under the rear of the sill covers recently :mad: :mad:
How do you remove the sill covers?
I removed the front wheel liners and the front sill to wheel arch crevice was rammed with crap.... I cleaned all that and wax oiled it all. I want to prolong the life of the Ed30 so if I have sill rot I would prefer to deal with it now!!!!!

Thanks
Max

Offline bobby_fodge

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #13 on: July 06, 2020, 01:05:03 pm »
Hi Pudding, please can you let us know the steps for taking the covers off?

I KNOW mine need tidying and my wings will also come off as I see some bubble on the top edge of the fronts of the sills.

Offline LC5F

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Re: Rust! Warning: contains images some viewers may find distressing.
« Reply #14 on: July 06, 2020, 08:55:13 pm »
I'm dreading what lies beneath my covers.

Stumbled across a site that tells you how well galvanised zinc copes - pretty much how corrosive your town or postcode is
https://www.galvanizing.org.uk/corrosion-map/?utm_source=home&utm_medium=internal&utm_campaign=Homepage
This is the full UK map, that dark blue spot on the NE coast of Scotland is Aberdeen... where I got my Golf: