[Bogus919]

I searched the forum and can't seem to find too many of you who have this issue, so I figured I'd bring it up.

I noticed over the Summer that I had a nickle-sized paint bubble under my gas door, about an inch from the recessed lip. I decided not to mess with it and form a solution later to maybe fixing it. Well, after several car washes and well into Fall the bubble busted and left a nice rust colored circle that stuck out on my black paint. So like with any rust, if you see a little, there is more. I decided to do a temp fix to it and then fill it in and paint it the right way once Spring set in and there were warmer temps. So I grinded out the rust, it ended up being the size of a dollar in all. I primed and painted the area (without filler) just to keep the elements out of it... it looks bad right now.

Wasn't long after that, since now I'm looking directly at that rusted area that I "fixed" that I notice that my upper fender well is rusting out on the drivers side... bubbles and all. Looks like a dam 15 year old Chevy. FML.

Hood is rusting too, and not just from rock chps, I have bubble coming up on the lip by the grill in two places. I'll post pics when I can.

I'm gonna end up having to repaint both areas, and it's not like I can just pull off that rear quarter and replace it.

As far as I know, nobody makes or sells sheet metal patches for the truck.

For reference, my truck was born and raised in the Chicago area, so it's seen it's fare share of snow and salt.

 

[AG87BlkLX]

I'm interested to see if others will chime in with similar issues. I haven't heard of rusting issues with the Ridgeline but Northern winters can take its toll on any vehicle.

Sorry about your rust issues.

 

[eurban]

Yeah I am pretty surprised to hear about this type of rust. I figured that most panels were galvanized prior to painting. My 2006 has a chip in the corner of the rear of where a large flake of the black paint was knocked off by a falling tool. It has looked the same (like galvanized steel) for over 5 years without any sign of rusting. . .I am in the DC area where they most certainly salt but no where near to the level of a place like Chicago. The only rust that I have noticed on my truck is surface stuff on misc parts on the underside.

 

[Dnick]

There are previous posts about recurring rust problem for some in the area of the door or door pillar.... don't really remember, but it had to do with a weld seam near where it runs out. You can find it with a search.

 

[Bogus919]

There are previous posts about recurring rust problem for some in the area of the door or door pillar.... don't really remember, but it had to do with a weld seam near where it runs out. You can find it with a search.

I saw those threads and I have that issue, but it's small fries compared to what I'm talking about. My fender well will likely need to be cut out and rewelded if my previous "fix" was any indication to what lies ahead for me.

If the Sun is out today, I'll go out on my lunch break and take some pictures for you guys so you can see what I'm talking about. I reached under the lip of the well with my hand the other day and came back with paint chips in my hand.

My truck is slowling turning into a case study in many areas.

 

[leftfield6]

Are you the original owner? Any chance your truck has been "repaired" in that area? I know in the past (on other vehicles) I've had rust issues pop up behind panels that were not properly prepped or fitted after an accident.

 

[Shoman90]

Hood lip, door seams on bottom, rocker panels, undercarriage: Sooner or later rust wins in snowbelt / salt country. It can't really be stopped once it starts. You can band aid it with cosmetic body work, but once it starts it can't really fixed without new parts. Even then, rust will just pop up somewhere else.

 

[Bogus919]

Are you the original owner? Any chance your truck has been "repaired" in that area? I know in the past (on other vehicles) I've had rust issues pop up behind panels that were not properly prepped or fitted after an accident.

I'm the third owner according to Cafax, the first owner had it the first 180k miles, the dealership was the second owner and they had it for a few months. The Carfax was clean but we all know just how much truth that tells. There is no noticable indication that this truck was in a wreck though. My radiator is not rusted anywhere near what some of you guys have, I actually think it looks pretty decent.... so it's possibly it's been replaced and there was a front ent collision at some point.

I'm heading out to my truck soon, I'll edit in some photos soon. Stand by

The hood, not too bad.

The temp "repair" I did to hold me over. Looks hoosier and is already failing.

The rear quarter, drivers side.

I've actually never looked at it from this angle....it's worse than I thought; View from tire looking up.

 

[Dnick]

That's nasty stuff.... looks like classic submerged water damage to me. Were you able to tell what area it was originally sold in or where it has been registered. I'm wondering about hurricane alley???

 

[interpon]

hmmm, hood I get, but man it really looks like it sat salt spray cabinet..flooded maybe? water immersion for some time? that is bad.. what undercarriage look like? any tell tale signs of flooding etc?

I know it was car faxed BUT it may not have been reported.. other than that maybe possible that many chips were not fixed or prior re-paint/ fix. that rust to me is indicative of removal of phosphate as well from factory where its heavy caked like that

http://www.dmv.org/buy-sell/used-cars/avoiding-flood-damaged-car.php

 

[Bogus919]

I bought it just outside of Chicago and from the paperwork in the truck it appears that the individual lived right on the ILL WIS boarder.

My first impression when I purchased the truck was that the guy was a fisherman and towed a boat. The hitch receiver was well used and there was a little sand in the trunk.... possibly from gear.

Lake Michigan is a freshwater lake though, right? If this guy was retired and went fishing every weekend (towing and launching a boat), then maybe it's from that.

None of the other fenders have even a hint of rust which takes me down this path of thought. Maybe the rusted seam issue for the gas tank area just soaked up all this water and it made it's way down to the fender over the years..... the rust does go up to the door area.

The rest of the undercarriage looks normal, I've been all over this truck. I'll post more pictures.

Part I grinded out and temporarily repaired. This is at the bottom of the gas door.

Directly below the gas door.

The lip on the underside of the exact same spot

Distant view

Crumbling

I'm going to pull back the wheel well skirt this weekend and see what we have hiding.

 

[Nateperez3]

That's nasty stuff.... looks like classic submerged water damage to me. Were you able to tell what area it was originally sold in or where it has been registered. I'm wondering about hurricane alley???

I mean....anything is possible, but I would doubt it is anything with submerged water. I would think the rust around the hood is related to chips that overtime turned into that. All the other spots around the wheel wells I really think are just due to salt and rust. Harsh winters have definitely done that to multiple of my cars in OH and there is really no getting around it. 10 year old vehicle with that many mileage in the states with bad winters I'd say is something that you just have to expect. Who knows how many times it was washed during winters or if salt and other winter road grime could have just sat in the smallest crevices leading to rusting. It is also hard to tell because you are not the original owner. Also, who knows if it was ever even kept in a garage. All those years sitting outside including winters can take a huge toll. Just my opinion.

 

[Bogus919]

Yea, I agree with you, I just wanted to point this out... wash your trucks!..., though it is odd that it's just this one wheel. Looks like I'll be doing a writeup on rust repair and DIY car painting from your garage this Summer lol.

I've wanted to just fix this rust and then get the truck painted matte black and then powdercoat the wheels the same.

 

[davedad]

I would say the rust spots on the hood are from stone chips, mine is doing the same although not nearly as bad, the front fender may be a replacement fender that wasn't preped correctly before installation. I do have some areas on my RL that are starting to rust, chips in the hood, inside the door seams and on the rocker panels were the plastic step plate meets the metal area.

 

[interpon]

If just one side real ..i think it was repaired repainted..add boat launches...ole jed,s a millionaire...my 2007 is rust free and in midwest driving

 

[rdzcpp]

I have 180,000 miles on my 2007 Ridgeline, driving mainly from Buffalo NY to Cleveland Ohio and back every week. It has seen more than it's share of salt on route 90 between the two cities.
I have the truck recoated with Carwell corrosion control every year since I bought it new and try to wash it regularly. Of course that is tough in Buffalo during the cold winters.....there are many times the red truck looks more white than red!
I guess I've been pretty lucky in that I have very little rust on the underside and nothing on the paint. I'm always looking closely for it, I expect it anytime, but it has not shown yet.
The most rust I've had was on the radiator connections, and I caught that just in time.
I guess the extra effort to keep the truck as clean as I can has been worth it.
The biggest problem I have is the seats and carpet. Honda used the worse material for keeping clean.
Hope you can at least slow the rusting down.......

 

[Bogus919]

I'm going to spray the underside of the wheel wells with some rust inhibitor or rust converter to help slow it down and then here in a few months I'll grind it all down and hope that I don't have any holes to deal with. The bad thing with the rust is you really don't know how bad it is until you take the paint off and griding the paint off your truck is a tad painful to do.

I've painted small panels on cars before but this piece is huge. I'm debating on just scuffing up all the paint and doing the whole truck.

 

[Dnick]

I'm going to spray the underside of the wheel wells with some rust inhibitor or rust converter to help slow it down and then here in a few months I'll grind it all down and hope that I don't have any holes to deal with. The bad thing with the rust is you really don't know how bad it is until you take the paint off and griding the paint off your truck is a tad painful to do.

I've painted small panels on cars before but this piece is huge. I'm debating on just scuffing up all the paint and doing the whole truck.

If you've got it between panels/seams, as it looks like you do, then that won't do any good (you can't get to those crevices. Good Luck anyway.

 

[dansridgeline]

I had to replace my hood under warranty at 50k miles but the quarter panel scares me. Im tearing mine down next month to repaint it since its got a few bumps and bruses in its 9 years of life. I will say fords,Gms, and Chrysler products are terrible with rust issues. I replaced a quarter panel on a 2012 ford escape with 46,000 miles about a month ago at my shop and see rust almost everyday on bedsides etc. I will have to look at my truck closely when it comes to tearing it apart to refinish it this spring. I did see on another forum that a fender opposite side as bedside could possibly be used for a patch panel. You could always purchase an aftermarket fender to save on some costs as well if you decide to go that route.

 

[No2rdame]

Knock on wood, the only two areas of rust I've seen on mine are two very tiny chips in the hood due to debris and the door sill areas that were mentioned previously in the post. The salt here hasn't done anything and to be honest, I'm not the best about getting it washed off. I have noble intentions but every time I drive past the car wash and see 20 cars lined up I just keep going.