Hi all, 

 

My fabia has developed rust on/in the door sill behind the front wheel well. I thought it was because of stones having hit it, but on closer inspection it appears to originate from a plastic "cap" in the sill. See attachment. 

 

Does anybody have experience with this? It's both on left and right side, though this is the bad side... Any recommendations? What are these caps anyway? 

 

Thanks, willem

They will be to allow any washing and body treatment fluids to drain out during the production phase.

Thanks rum4mo, now I understand their function.. Guess somehow water/salt/moisture managed to get inside through it, around the edges, because it's rather loose and obviously the rot started around it... :(

If its structural (Most likely) You will at very least need to cut out the rot and weld in a new piece of fabricated metal, treating the new and surrounding metal to proper rust prevention paint.

You might need replacement sills, though. Don't be tempted to just weld over the old stuff, without cutting out the rot as it will keep rotting and end up rotting out the welded bit.

Hi mrgf, I talked to body repair shop that came recommended. Indeed most probably they'll have to cut the rot out and weld. As you appear to know something about it, in your experience, If done properly, is that a repair which will last, or can I expect in 2 years the rust to return? The area shown in the picture feels rotten/soft, but the rest is firm steel, also with the "inner" cap/hole nothing is wrong.

I'm anyway a bit confused about this, I'm not seeing any other fabias with rust on that spot. And is seems related to those holes. How can it be that my car has this particular problem on both sides? Something not done properly during manufacturing?

 

 

Edited 13 April, 20197 yr by wgerven
some details

In Scotland we call it location location location environmental circumstances, and they corrosion / rust should have been seen before now and addressed, like a few years back.

 

It is one of those things sadly.  Some 12 year old cars might not rust, and others do, and sadly Central European ones from the VW Group can rust badly, 

and some just like yours has.

I live in area of Scotland that normally ends up with many tons/tonnes of rock salt being spread on the roads in late Autumn, Winter and Spring (and that means they are still spreading it daily), and my wife’s previous car, a 2002 Polo bought new, at 10+years onwards ended up with a large bulge forming on one or both sills, but as that car was being disposed of within 3 years, I did nothing about it. I expect that this starts with multiple stone chipping and by the time it has been spotted, the rusting has got out of hand, so a simple bit of paint touching up is not the answer as well as that surface having a flexible stone chipping resisting layer under the body colour paint.

The issue with your car possibly started just beyond the end of the flexible protection.

A rotten sill like that takes me be back to a mk 1 ford fiesta I had in the 1980s its the sort of thing that is a lot less common on modern cars

Sadly not uncommon on some VW Group cars from 2007, or even Face Lift Mk2 Fabia from 2010.

 

But then Service Books had a Body Inspection page to be filled in after Services when Fixed Services / Inspection Serviced and even when called Major or Variable / Flexible services, 

so annual or bi-annual, and now they should still be done and on the systems, 

Skoda UK are knocking back Corrosion Warranty Claims because no 'Reports on Record',  even though the Warranty T & C does not say Annual or Bi-Annual Inspections required anymore.

They used to though.

Body and Glass and Report, and that should include underneath, so while on a ramp, special attention to sills obviously seeing as structural....

If done properly, the welded new metal should last ages. It needs to be thick enough and well coated in anti rust treatment. Most modern stuff is zinc dipped/galvanised so lasts longer then the old undercoated metal that gets chipped, etc. Older cars used to need underselling regularly to keep the protection up but as that kind of died out, any newer stuff that had a contamination, would still rust and most likely not go noticed until it was too late. (Your instance springs to mind). 

As someone mentioned back in the eighties and even seventies,  many unscrupulous traders and people selling their car, used to botch this kind go job with well applied filler (And often, newspaper) And then apply underseal. The car LOOKED like it was cared for but the corrosion would soon draw back past the "Repair" And the filler would fall out again.

 

Well filled holes were very hard to spot at MOT time and would pass, even though the car could be dangerous. Structural welding was the only safe option and again, well done, should last the test of time and be safe. 

 

Don't be frightened off, if done properly, it will be fine but prior to paying out a chunk of cash, check all around the underside for more similar corrosion. 

This will serve two purposes. Firstly, if more is found, you can get the lot done at the same time and will cost less then returning for more work later but also, if extensive and expensive, you might just want to cut your losses and not pay for the work, selling the car on. 

There is a very good chance a bodywork fabricator will be willing to offer a fair price for the car, knowing they can easily do the job themselves and sell the car for a profit. Better then scrapping it or passing it off as legit!

The OP is in Serbia, i think they will not be more than familiar with with body repairs to rotten Skoda's.

Hi all, thanks so much for the feedback! I'm just a bit confused about it, as I pay attention to many cars' sills, and I rarely see this type of rust unless it's like some car from the 90s or even 80s. Especially I look at mk2 Fabias, and see very little rust issues to be honest. So I don't understand what's exactly going on here especially with mine. But guess it's a lottery.

Before I bought this car second hand last winter, I brought it to a garage to have it checked out, we looked extensively at the underside, engine, error codes, etc. But obviously this was missed by everybody. I guess most attention went to suspension, etc. The engine did 110.000km, not even that much, and the service booklet came with it, so the mileage is traceable since first bought. Anyway, I will try to get it repaired properly.

Do any of you have an opinion on using mud flaps, such as these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mud-Flaps-Splash-Guard-4pcs-For-2007-2009-2010-2011-2012-SKODA-Fabia-Mudguard/223467357450?epid=1655631572&hash=item3407b1450a:g:TL4AAOSwIJlaDqJR

Does that help in preventing stone chips/road salt build up, or is it useless? Perhaps they don't extend low enough?

I have used these and they are cheap to buy, cheap to replace but they can split easily, if you drive say, up and down a kerb, etc. You will then have to buy four, to replace one but still, at the price that can be got for, might be worth it and keep the other three as back up. 

The genuine ones are more expensive and cost at least twice as much, just for front OR rear, not all four! They are a little longer and winder, though and seem to be a little stronger and more durable. that said, bust a genuine one and you will wish you had the cheap, Chinese ones!

P.S. Cheaper on Aliexpress!

Edited 17 April, 20197 yr by mrgf

On 14/04/2019 at 14:51, wgerven said:

Hi all, thanks so much for the feedback! I'm just a bit confused about it, as I pay attention to many cars' sills, and I rarely see this type of rust unless it's like some car from the 90s or even 80s. Especially I look at mk2 Fabias, and see very little rust issues to be honest. So I don't understand what's exactly going on here especially with mine. But guess it's a lottery.

 

 

Cars up to the mid 80 used to rust very quickly but most car makers then brought in galvanising and better rust proofing. 

 However whilst this makes a difference rust can still be an issue:-

• Galvanising is a zinc coating that can be eventually defeated - eg trapped water or mud (suspect your Fabia has had trapped water)
• Some makers weld galvanised sheets together instead of dipping the whole car (Mrs BJ had a Punto that rusted where parts were spot welded on - eg suspension attachment points!)
• The thick outer protection can sometimes trap mosture/corrosion which then spreads - hard to spot as it looks fine on the outside until the structure fails (think this has happened with your car)
• Sometimes it is you have ended up with poor steel which will rust whatever you do (Think my 2003 Superb mkI had this as it was rusting but my 2001 Octavia still remains rust free)
• Some parts are not galvanised - eg radiator surround, subframes. The front subframe can rust badly and be an expensive repair re labour  

You need to investigate how bad it is. First check the rest of the car - if the rest is not far behind then I'd give up.

 

If the rest of the car is reasonable then I'd cut out the area in question and then use an inspection camera (I have a cheap Aldi one) to check up and down the sills inside to see how far it goes - if you are lucky the rot may be localised and just slightly further up might be perfect where the galvanising is still intact, if this is the case then this is an easyish job. As part of the repair leave a drain hole at the lowest point to stop future water buildup and allow extensive internal rustproofing. Welding attracts future rust but thorough rustproofing will hold this off (https://www.amazon.co.uk/DINITROL-PENETRATOR-PROOFING-CAVITY-AEROSOL/dp/B079YYJGTQ/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=dinitrol&qid=1555752061&s=automotive&sr=1-7 .

 

The repair will probably involve the removal of carpets and seats as welding near to the floor tends to set fire to things (er been there done that!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many Fabia's have an under tray which helps prevent additional damage from say, stones, etc but if the damage occurs through it or was underlying anyway, the shield will most likely hide the damage until it becomes VERY bad! I have seen one MOT report that said "Unable to inspect underside due to under tray fitted", In a similar way to often having mention of child seats preventing proper inspection of seat belts. This takes seconds to remove to look and should be down to the owner to re-fit but inspectors prefer to avoid disturbing the child seats so as to prevent possible accident claims. Really, the answer should be to "Fail" the MOT test, unless the child seat is removed, to inspect the mandatory seat belt. Bizarre, you can loop-hole such a simple, primary device. Then again, if they "Failed" Every car fitted with the under tray, mine (And thousands of others) would have failed from the first test!

Hi all, thanks for the response. Not sure if my Fabia has this under tray fitted. Wasn't that something related to the mk1 and mk2 facelift (https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/238278-under-bonnet-soundproofing-does-it-exist/)?

 

3 months ago, when I bought this car 2nd hand, it went on the lift and the underside was inspected thoroughly. I myself took a look too, and everything looked in very good shape, nothing that attracted attention, and I don't remember de view being obscured by a tray. What we did miss though was the door sill issue mentioned in this post.

 

It must have been something localized caused by some stone chips, and then moisture spreading under the protective film. In any case, I've taken the car to a body repair shop, and they cut out a big area and welded in new sheet metal. All the rest of the car is in perfect order. I asked the guy to keep an eye out for anything else suspicious but he reported nothing else. I hope this will be the end of it :) Otherwise a new sill, but that's a bit more expensive.