Anyway, i keep hearing that modern cars are the dogs bits and don't rust.

The bodyshell may not (unles i t's a Merc 1996-2004) but the brackets will as ttehy are just black paint on bare steel - no primer - or - even worse- powder coated.

W124s rust like crazy everywhere after 20 years o so I believe, New front wings and brackets anyone? :-)

I use waxoil and Dinitrol (exposed bits).. works a treat.. We had a 1978 Mini estate with original sills in 1992 when we sold it.

Edited by madf on 16/07/2012 at 18:53

My car is 3 years old - that makes it a 2009 model :-) So yes they must be using steel sump pans more recently, unless a dodgy garage has replaced it, unlikely as its had all ten services through the lease company (main dealers although one was Nissan not Ford).

About wire brushing - the rust is deep, I started with a wire brush but now I am scraping it away with a flat blade screwdriver, I have stopped as I am worried it will break right through. Don't think I can post a photo here but its bad believe me.

My plan is to take it to my local Ford main dealer and ask their opinion.

When I first ran a car, the sump was aways oily and dirty - cork sump gaskets always leaked as did many other parts of the engine.

This problem, which affects other cars such as FIATs, is really a tribute to polymer sealers which have now largely displaced discrete gaskets.

The makers should be aware of this and galvanise steel sumps. I look after a Peugeot 106 diesel with 173k miles and have just changed the oil. The sump is dry and dusty with a few small dents - no oil leaks anywhere. There's also no significant rust.

In those days, Peugeot got it right, I wish they were as good now.

659.

Edited by 659FBE on 19/07/2012 at 12:32

As already said do brush a layer of waxoyl on it, or better still a mix of waxoyl and engine oil it will make it allot better. I had a rusted fuel tank on an old Granada once that was falling apart with rust and a generous coat of waxoyl and engine oil did save the day.

My son's 1997 Fiat Punto had a perforated sump, but apparently its a known problem with the model. Off to check the sump of my 5 year old Focus now, because until I read this I would never have believed that a three year old car could suffer serious external rust except through accident damage.

I do not wish to sound critical, but the sump having quite serious rust on a fairly recent vehicle is nothing but 'third world build quality'. I purchased a new car earlier this year and the first thing I did after purchase was to place it on the ramps and spend two solid days rust proofing it, saying that I intend to keep it for over 10 years.