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Rusty bolts in engine bay? - Warning

I saw a car for sale. It is a 2017 Honda. I was a bit surprised to see rusty bolts. Even the metal piece, north of the radatior cap shows low level bubbling. Why is this happening?

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If this Honda is like this after 5 years. What else is going to be rusty?

My car is now 17 years and I don't recall have such issues.

Edited by Warning on 13/10/2022 at 02:00

Rusty bolts in engine bay? - Cris_on_the_gas

Been kept near the coast for 5 years and never been washed maybe

Rusty bolts in engine bay? - catsdad

I don’t think this is unusual. I am sure we’ve had previous threads on more major components than bolts showing early superficial rust.
Our black 2012 Mazda 3 had similar rust on bolts like this when we got it couple of years ago. A quick thin coat of Hammerite and they have stayed free of visible rust. Our 2012 Civic had the odd slight trace too from about five years old but being blue I didn’t want the fiddle of doing a neat job with the black paint and just left them bare. I’ve just had a look under the bonnet on my 2018 Golf and there are only two of this type of bolt easily visible and one is showing very slight corrosion.

Each car lives on an open drive 70 miles from the sea.

In every case the bolts look galvanised but I am pretty sure they are not. Even so the rust just seems to remain on the surface and be cosmetic. The worst of my three examples is the old Mazda but they looked a long way from seizing or rusting badly through when I painted them.

I wonder if anyone on here has a Toyota as with their fastidious reputation I wonder if they might protect theirs in some way.

Rusty bolts in engine bay? - gordonbennet

Engine bay looks good to me, ABS unit showing no signs of corrosion. Those bolts at the front of the bay probably see a fair amount of road salt mix from traffic spray, what can be seen wouldn't worry me.

A look underneath might be more alarming particularly around the rear subframe area, how many here think to rinse the salt residue off the undersides during and especially after winter (most effective after several days of heavy rain driving), let alone any meaningful rust prevention action.

Rusty bolts in engine bay? - Adampr

The engine bay has been steam cleaned, so everything that's usually dirt-colour is showing the rust.

Rusty bolts in engine bay? - Maxime.

Didn't we have a post a bit back about a brand new mg zs rusting badly at a very young age?

Rusty bolts in engine bay? - bathtub tom

I wonder if anyone on here has a Toyota as with their fastidious reputation I wonder if they might protect theirs in some way.

My Yaris showed rust on the tailgate hinge boltheads at an early age. I suspect the tailgate was 'adjusted' and the socket removed paint.

Rusty bolts in engine bay? - madf

Looks normal to me.

I treat rusty metal with a light wax/oil mix which prevents further rusting. Our 19 year old Yaris engine bay looks similar- but dirtier: I never clean engine bays. They just get dirty again and who sees them apart from me and an MOT inspector.(I DIY)?

Rusty bolts in engine bay? - Xileno

A dab of Waxoyl or Dinitrol is what I use. Whatever is in the garage, at the moment I have a can of Waxoyl but Owatrol is also recommended by some on the forum. I like the way all the key service items are easy to get to on this Honda.

Rusty bolts in engine bay? - focussed

in June 2015 I bought our pre-reg Accord tourer in the UK. A few weeks after getting it back to France I sprayed the engine and the engine compartment thoroughly with ACF50. I used the bulk non aerosol product sprayed by a cheap airbrush spray gun powered by my compressor. It only took a couple of eggcupfulls of the product to do this.

7 years later no corrosion is evident,but it needs doing again which I will do before this next winter along with our 2022 Dacia Duster.

I have been using ACF50 for years to protect motorcycles and workshop machinery and tools.

It's good stuff - a thousand percent better than WD40 which just evaporates away and doesn't protect after a few weeks.

www.theflyingshop.online/acf-50-1-us-qt/

Rusty bolts in engine bay? - John F

I have an ancient bottle of Kurust for just such superficial early corrosion. Apply with tiny paint brush. I wouldn't waste it on big bolts, though. They just get a dab of old engine oil.