Strut Tower nuts

[bvan]

I bought my P5 used, and all of the nute in teh the engine, particularly on the strut tower are rusted or corroded (it must have some from the coast). Also, the nuts that attach the rear bumper (and are accessible when you open the hatch) are pretty corroded as well. Does anyone know what the specs are (ie. grade and size) of these pieces, and, am I best off going to the dealer to get the parts?

 

[AlturredMP5]

i wonder if it came from the gulf coast. i had a brand new p5 that got flooded 3 weeks after i drove off the lot with it. they normally clean them up and auction them off up north. their idea being that northerners dont know much about flood damage. it was a 03 silver p5 with cloth interior, manumatic tranny, and autodim rearview mirror. no mods were done in the 3 weeks i had it, imagine that. i barely filled it up with gas.

 

[pasadena_commut]

i wonder if it came from the gulf coast.

My thoughts exactly. I lived for many years in San Francisco on the ocean side of town and the Toyota I was driving at the time only picked up a little bit of rust, none of it in the engine compartment. To corrode the tower nuts you'd pretty much have to spray salt water into the engine compartment. Maybe a couple of years on heavily salted roads could do this. For sure being submerged in the ocean would. Look inside the car for rust, for instance under the dashboard or the bolts that hold down the seat rails. If any of that is rusty or corroded the car was almost certainly in a flood.

 

[AlturredMP5]

or somebody spilt their mcdonalds french fries

 

[pasadena_commut]

or somebody spilt their mcdonalds french fries

Ok, maybe the rails aren't the ultimate indicator if the floor nearby looks like the inside of a garbage can. Not that you want a car with a floor like that since discolored carpets can be from mold as well as trash.

But really, if the exterior bolts, seat rails, and the underside of the dash are all rusted on a P5 it spells TROUBLE.

 

[AlturredMP5]

since its all outside that hes talking about, my guess would be that the salty snow from up north melted on the bolts and rusted them up pretty good.

to answer his question, id say the dealer is the best way to get the right hardware that hes looking for.

 

[Demoniam]

be sure to spray those bad boys down with "PB Blaster" before trying to remove. If not, you might break something

 

[pasadena_commut]

since its all outside that hes talking about, my guess would be that the salty snow from up north melted on the bolts and rusted them up pretty good.

The strut tower nuts are on top of the strut tower which is pretty much the highest point in the engine compartment. How does salty snow get up there?

 

[AlturredMP5]

driving down the road. cars in front of his spraying up the salt from the road with the snow from the ground. whenever the snow melts on top of the hood, it probably runs down into the engine bay.

this is all just speculation coming from someone who never sees snow where he lives, of course.

 

[bvan]

Yeah, I do live in the rockies (basically), so it could be from the snow, but I know that the car is from out of province. Being from the coast, originally, I suspect it's a salt water thing though. At any rate, nothing else is rusted (seat rails, quarter panels etc), just nuts and engine brackets.

I'll call the dealer.

 

[acfyu]

I live in Vancouver and I got my P5 new in 03 (laserp5). As of today I do not see any rust on the car at all. And to be honest I don't think the salty snow can get that far in and high up to the strut (uhm). I do admit that I clean the car pretty often, particularly after snowing, so that might help.

 

[Fraze]

Re:

I live in Northern Ontario Canada, and I had this very same problem. Its true, Salt CAN and will get into this area. Especially if you are a highway driver/commuter. My '03 MP5 had this very same issue. When I bought the car a few months ago I spent about 4 hours wire brushing and cleaining everything (strut bolts, swat bar bolts, etc). I get all my cars oil sprayed every year now and had my P5 done last Thursday. I highly recommend it if you live in an area like I do. Like ACFYU said...cleaning after a heavy snow will help as well.

Fraze