Is there any publication on washing or not washing to reduce corrosion?

Hi Skoorbmax,

Depends on what temperature the car is stored at. Many taxis are stored in a heated garage overnight. In such as situation, its imperitive to get the car undercarriage rinsed off each night after driving on salted streets. If the car is stored outside in 10 F weather, its not nearly as important...

 

Agreed...when the ambient temps are below freezing the salt is inert, its only when it gets above freezing that it can cause corrosion.

When washing in the winter its important that you flush the undercarriage as well as the door jambs etc well with water to clear them out...

 

If you garage keep it...I would wash it periodically in the winter, being sure to flush everything out well.

What I do is use a coin-op spray wash and get up there real well...

 

When I lived in Minneapolis years ago, my car was garaged, but being red, and the fact that I didn't like all the salt and chemicals on it, every few weeks I'd take it to a self serve car wash (with heated indoor bays, and garage doors that closed while you were inside!). I made it a point to rinse out the wheel wells and underside well, and spray the door locks (pre-remote key days) with de-icer.

 

This scenario promotes corrosion, not only by melting and putting salt in water solution but also by water condensation every time you drive in with colder car than garage. Means always damp car parts.

Studies in Europe clearly showed heated garage gives you more corrosion that unheated one.

Means you have to wash undercarriage often to wash out salt.

 

Hi Skoorbmax,

How about insulating the garage walls to the house. This keeps the garage colder, the house warmer, and the snow/frost off the Prius.....

 

Even an unheated garage is much warming than the outside, at least part of the time. The ice and snow on the floor of my garage is frequently melted to water just from the residual heat from the cars. Parked outside you would still have this residual heat, but it would be confined mostly to the engine compartment and would be quickly carried away by the outside air. Inside the garage it is trapped, where it warms the entire car.

Tom

 

around here we are not lucky enough to freeze most of the time. the early morning lows are pretty much locked into the mid 30's to low 40's due to our onshore marine flow.

as far as wheel wells; does not the plastic lining kinda help prevent that sort of stuff?

granted i have managed to not keep a Prius for any length of time. Just passed 4 years on the SPM which makes it our longest lived Pri and it does have paint chips to the metal, but they have not seemed to progress beyond the chip stage. many are not much larger than an a lower case "i".

i think Aluminum in itself helps to reduce corrosion a lot along with the fact that salt is used maybe once a year around here. now anyone with a 04'; have you seen any corrosion issues

 

Skoorbmax,

In the winter, I make a point of washing our vehicles top and underside, every 2 weeks. The rest of the year, vehicles get washed 1x/ month. Every summer all vehicles get inspected top, bottom, inside, and out for rust / corosion. I try to correct / treat any issues that come up. I can't prevent rust, but I can slow it down.

My thinking is : keep it dry, keep it clean. This works for me.

Hopes this helps,

Dbcassidy

 

"keep it dry?" LOL!! try living in the Pacific Northwest with that mantra!! i do end up washing my car in the winter about once a month. problem is; in less than 2 days, it looks just like a car that has never been washed EVER!~!

 

Plastic linings are a mixed benefit: they can keep the wheel wells cleaner, and prevent direct hits from rocks. OTOH it's worth pulling them out at least once, to check if they're trapping dirt, and where. If they are you want to repeat the process periodically.

I believe in frequent winter washing, especially if it's warming after a road salting spell. It's preventative maintenance as much as apperance enhancing. A good time to be diligent in getting the rocker panels, wheel wells and so on. Drying with a cloth after helps catch the dings you wouldn't notice if you left it wet.

 

Perhaps,

Consider washing 1x/week in winter up in the Pacific Northwest. frequent washing, especially the underside tends to dilute the accumulated salt build up on the undercarriage.

In the summer (IE: drier, warmer weather) - give the car a good top, bottom, inside, out detailed inspection. This annual checkup helps you to keep an eye on rust and corrosion, make notes on areas that need repairs, and doing them.

This also allows you to get familiarized with your vehicle. Yes, it can be time consuming and some labor / effort is required on your behalf. But, keeping on top of the rust and corrosion can help you hold onto your car for years to come.

Dbcassidy

 

Am not convinced that heated parking promotes faster rusting. Have used over the past 20 years the following:

outdoor parking, detached garage unheated, and attached heated garage or heated indoor parking

Had the fastest rusting from parking outside all the time. Think about it: -30 F you're driving around with a toasty warm interior, but there isn't any insulation to speak of in cars. There is ALWAYS condensation

Around here anyway, a temp change of 20-40 degrees overnight isn't at all unusual. Wake up in the morning, everything is soaked with condensation including your vehicle

If you live in an area where roads are salted in winter, you WILL have rust at some point unless you take preventative steps, eg careful application of something like Fluid Film

 

The physics of corrosion would disagree