I have posted this in the 280 section too, so apologies for the duplication...

So on Tuesday, I decided to remove the alloy wheels, just to give them a really good clean in advance of the arrival of a couple of EZ wheel brushes. I bought the car indirectly from a well known member, Pryke and fortunately, due to the way he’d looked after the car from new, the back of the wheel spokes and inner rims were in very good shape, with some corrosion starting on a couple of the back of the spokes on two of them. 

When I removed the OSF wheel (and yes, they were all bloody difficult to get off, as all the hubs had rusted the wheels on solid!) I found the stub on the adjustable damper, into which the electrical connection for the DCC is plugged, is rusting badly enough to begin to split the metal at the open end quite nicely. The NSF is the same.

This is a four year old car, and I’d say in a couple more years, maybe less, the metal at the plug end will be splitting even more, possibly allowing water ingress into the electrics. So peeps, is this a warranty claim? I attach a couple of pics for your opinions and look forward to your views. 

Edited 14 May, 20206 yr by numskull

Olly Molly that is bad!!!!

 

Personally I would say .... Yes ...

Agree with Nick I wouldn't be happy with that after just 4 years.

If you had bought it from the dealer new and if you have a FSSH with that dealer you might have a chance.

 

You want them to change a suspension component, even though it is still working fine, because it is rusty!!!!!! 

 

Smear of grease every six months will stop further corrosion.

 

 

i think a dealer would laugh you out their showroom.

As already suggested, we need to take our own preventative action to prevent ageing in car parts. greasing, regular washing etc etc. You wouldn't claim for your rusty hub would you.

Sorry bud.

On my previous motor ( an mg zt260), new Bilstein struts were fitted, and after 10 years i used to worry that the struts would collapse as they had become so rusty.

All the suspension components get sand blasted by little stones/gravel etc. As long as it works, don't worry about it

Seems like the consensus would be to suck it up 🙂 Be interesting to see what the dealer says... Please keep us posted.

Thanks everyone. The car has the remainder of the Skoda new car 5 year warranty til March ‘21 and has FSSH. I agree that surface rusting on these components are naturally to be expected however, metal delaminating caused by rust which will fail because of this is a different matter. Monroe Spain didn’t do a particularly good job of corrosion proofing the end of the welded tube, where water collects between the open end of the tube and the plastic socket which is inserted therein. 

If it’s a “No” I’ll remove the rust and stabilise it as best I can and I guess a smidge of underseal might help too. 

I’ll update you once I’ve been to the dealer.

The surface rust is currently cosmetic and not affecting the function of the components, in that regard no worse than rust on a coil spring.

 

Electrically you have no worries, the sensor is sealed and encapsulated and would say fits in the bore with an O ring.

 

Not really sure what the sensor is, if it is removeable or crimped in place, if it is in contact with the damping oil inside, if the latter then it could eventually leak oil at which point you should make a warranty claim as the damping will be affected and the oil might penetrate inside the connector seals.

I believe it’s the connection for the DCC system. Unfortunately, this is not just surface rust; it is bad enough to begin to spilt the metal and delaminate.  One can speculate how the socket is fitted, but I agree with you on the final potential failure, which is exactly what I’m going to try to avoid. 

 

 

What is DCC?

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

What is DCC?

Dynamic Chassis Control

1 hour ago, Nick_H said:

Dynamic Chassis Control

@J.R. This means that you can select the damper (and some other components: gearbox / steering wheels / headlights... ) behavior between several modes: Normal / ECO / Comfort / Sport / Individual

Am I right in thinking Monroe were sanctioned to provide suspension for dcc cars, and sachs for non-dcc cars?

No idea, but as you can see, these are Monroe units...

 

Do you launch a boat into the sea with this vehicle?