Hi all,

I have a 2010 I-4 (bought in 09) 43K miles. Today I decided to assess my engine bay for cleaning. I check my fluid levels every 1-2 weeks. However, I just don't have the expertise for cleaning the engine bay. So today I wanted to take a closer look to see what was needed.

Also, additional info: I park my car outside when I'm at home. At work, 90% of the time the car is in a garage. It's my daily driver so its been though all the elements.

I found corrosion on the aluminum and bolts (pretty sure this is normal as I have seen this on other cars that are not cleaned regularly). Its a thin white power type of residue.

Now, to the weird part. I look down to where the lower engine mount is (below the radiator). I find what looks to be RUST on a couple welds and some of the bolts down there. Is this normal??? have any of you seen this before?

I took pics, hopefully I posted them correctly and u all can see them. (first pic is of the aluminum corrosion) Any help would be much appreciated

 

<p>I would say a lot of that is moisture and dirt build up, specially in pictures #1, #3, &amp; #4. Try just wiping that off with some cleaner and towel.</p><p>As for rust on the weld and bolts, I have that too. The previous owner ran the car without the undercarriage tray for who knows how long, so I associate the rust to that. Living in the Midwest also adds to rust build up. I've been meaning to take a wire brush and sand paper to clean mine up, then touch it up with some spray paint.</p>

 

I don't see anything terribly out of sorts for a 5ish year old car. If you live in a moist environment, that's just a part of life.

 

Perfectly normal...

 

<p>Junk it</p>

 

Shoulda gotten a BMW, I heard those things don't rust..

 

I saw on the news today that metal will rust in the presence of oxygen and chlorine that is catalyzed by water.

 

rofl thanks for the replies! I'll definitely look into using a wire brush/sandpaper for the rust on the welds at the bottom. As this was my main concern.

 

If it's only superficial surface corrosion, you might be best just leaving it alone. Whatever you do clean off you should protect afterwards with a prime and paint. Otherwise it'll just keep oxidizing and if you keep cleaning it, given enough time it'll all return to the earth elementally.

 

<p>yep.. no point unless you coat the affected areas with high temp paint or something after sanding it all down. Else it'll all come back.</p>

 

POR-15 is a product you may look into.