How does one locate all the little drain holes and, aside from keeping the car clean, is there anything to be done to keep the drain holes open? Does waxing a car risk plugging the drain holes? If so, how does one keep a car waxed to protect the paint job without plugging drain holes and encouraging hidden rust inside panels?
Generally, you don’t wax areas where the drain holes are. Frequent washing and rinsing with clean water does the best job of keep these areas clean and flowing. But, manufacturers still " supply" a lot of low points that allow water to collect. Spraying biodegradable oil back up through the drain holes helps prevent rust from starting in areas where salt and moisture accumulate . The oil will flow the same as the water and collect in these areas, cutting off oxygen and slowing rust process down. It must be repeated every year or too to be effective as the oil can be washed away too eventually. That is the only type of treatment that works IMO. On exposed areas like suspension and frame members, just painting red grease with a foam brush does wonders. There are other concoctions you can google about that work as well. But all require yearly inspection and reapplication. It’s not that hard and really not that time consuming…
Btw, I recently sold a 10 year old 4Runner for my full private sale for very good condition retail asking price to the first buyer who looked at it on the side of the road and called me. The dealer will never give much in trade him but… When a ten year old car has no evidence of rust, even underneath around nuts and bolts and frame members as well as body parts, it’s an easy sell around here in private sale. If there had been much evidence of rust or bubbling, there would then be haggling. I always say to perspective buyer…“if you can find another one in better shape for that price around here, buy it.”
@CathyW, thanks for the pics. Are you going to fix it? A $2000 repair on an otherwise solid car is not unreasonable, similar to a new tranny or head gaskets.
Congrats and happy motoring. I live a stones throw from Newport, KY (if you can throw a stone across the Ohio River). Anyway, here’s a discussion about windshield repair:
The consensus is that it’s not a good idea, but I’d say (given your experience) it might be a better alternative for future windshield cracks.
i can and do consider it a stone’s throw away … i’m originally from cinci but have relatives in bellevue and newport so have a little place there in newport for when i’m not here in florida. it is funny to be there. when i was growing up, newport was the scariest place and driving through late at night or on a weekend was a thrill ride, of sorts.
my car looks and runs as great as ever. nothing shows that it has just had major surgery! but the body shop was nice enough to take a couple of shots while it was all torn down.
i appreciate the link and will check it out. for the crack that revealed this issue, a replacement was the only option. at that point my windshield was essentially suspended across the cowl area as opposed to supported by it.
the crack started early one afternoon, about seven inches or so coming up from the base of the windshield on the passenger side and hooking toward the driver’s side, about another inch. overnight, a second crack started from the base of the windshield, adjacent to the first and maybe an inch and a half apart. it ran parallel for about five inches, then hooked toward the passenger window, crossing through the original crack. during that second day, both “ends” grew … one heading toward the passenger side and one heading toward the driver’s side. the day after that i brought the car back to florida. neither continued to expand on the trip down or the day or two before i dropped it off at the shop.
I would love to have a car last 14 years before being destroyed by rust. I had one car break in half when the junkyards tow truck tried to pick it up from in front of my house.