Bubbles in Paint at Door Hinges

[dpsanborn]

I gave my case to 1800MYLEMON. There is a federal Breach of Warranty law Magnuson Moss that covers this. This law covers defects under warrenty and if you are out of the first 24k miles that the leman law covers. They go after Jeep to pay you the value your car or truck has lost due to the defect. So no more dealer and auto body shop BS and not having your car for 3 months. They also get their fees covered by the manufacture so nothing comes out of your pocket. They specialize in this so hopefully they know what they are doing and can get some damages recouped for me. I will never buy another JEEP, Chrysler, or RAM again.

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[OldBlue]

FWIW, my wife's Mojito! is on the schedule for this issue now. All 4 doors, 8 hinges, and the hood, which is actually the worst area. In talking to the manager of the body shop, they have 2 techs dedicated to these repairs, and they get through 2 a week, so yeah, a well known issue. On the wife's Jeep, some areas have barely begun and others are getting along pretty well. The hood had no bubbles on it just a couple of months ago.

I asked the manager how they mitigate the reoccurrence of the problem, and he told me that they replace the doors and hinges, and paint everything fully before attaching the hinges to the door. He told me that they've had very good results repairing the corrosion this way (still doesn't address the corrosion on the hood though). He told me that it would be a few months until I can get her Jeep in for the repair, because they have a number of customers already on the waiting list.

 

[21SGWILLYS]

Just took mine into the dealer. The service advisor said they get about 10 a week!! And that their body shop has literally become devoted to repainting them. He was pretty shocked on how bad some of the corrosion is Around the hinges that was spreading even further into the paint. Every panel besides the two rear fenders had some sort of corrosion. Luckily they were super awesome about taking care of it. I did contact them back in December and again in March and again in June when i was finally ready to take it In. They provided a loaner said it would take about 7-10 business days. Some images attached.

 

[Bayrat]

Just took mine into the dealer. The service advisor said they get about 10 a week!! And that their body shop has literally become devoted to repainting them. He was pretty shocked on how bad some of the corrosion is Around the hinges that was spreading even further into the paint. Every panel besides the two rear fenders had some sort of corrosion. Luckily they were super awesome about taking care of it. I did contact them back in December and again in March and again in June when i was finally ready to take it In. They provided a loaner said it would take about 7-10 business days. Some images attached.

That's close to what mine look like now.

 

[BRuby]

Just took mine into the dealer. The service advisor said they get about 10 a week!! And that their body shop has literally become devoted to repainting them….

Very sorry that you also have this. But amazing how your corrosion lines up almost perfectly to where the torx head steel bolts are connected.

After a bit of research:

1 Ford has a big aluminum corrosion problem
2 Audi has a smaller aluminum corrosion problem
3 Jeep JKs used steel doors with aluminum hinges - so similar problem but different
4 Ford class action is very similar to the FCA one

Ford looks to admit that aluminum corrosion starts from steel fragments landing on the aluminum:

[In the TSB, the suit says, Ford again warned technicians of the aluminum corrosion on certain cars’ hoods, stating that testing had revealed that “aluminum corrosion was caused by iron particles working their way into the aluminum body part, prior to it being painted.”]

This aligns with the JL corrosion problem at the hood and door edges far away from hinges. Iron particles floating and landing before painting.

At the JL hinges - the steel retaining nut welded to the aluminum door panel looks to be the most likely culprit causing the inherent galvanic corrosion. Plus the torx head steel connecting bolt contact areas do not help. Unfortunately once the battery cell is created with any moisture completing the circuit - galvanic corrosion will start and not stop.

Super dry climates with very low humidity should do much better than wet and salt/brine covered areas. Separating the hinge with a barrier should slow the corrosion from migrating as fast. Unfortunately this looks inevitable due to how JLs are manufactured on the assembly line.

https://cheaperjeepertv.com/jeep-wrangler-jl-corrosion-issue/

https://www.wranglerforum.com/threads/rusty-door-hinge.1377626/

https://www.r8talk.com/threads/corrosion-on-doors-anyone-else-experienced-it.83753/

https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/fords-aluminum-body-secret.31611/

https://www.classaction.org/news/cl...possibly-defective-ford-paint-aluminum-panels

 

[21SGWILLYS]

I did ask the service advisor “ Am I going going to be coming back every 3-4 years to get my JL repainted? He did say they repaint the correct way, but if it somehow does rear it ugly head again I am now not only covered by Jeep but also the body shop. So I guess a couple hours of driving for a brand new paint job every few years, by a top notch body shop, and getting a brand new Durango with 70 miles on it as a loaner isn’t too bad of a deal lol. Im just very happy I wasn’t given a hard time as others have been experiencing. I will update the results once the job is completed. Wishing everyone the best of luck with their issues.

 

[Dyolfknip74]

Very sorry that you also have this. But amazing how your corrosion lines up almost perfectly to where the torx head steel bolts are connected.

After a bit of research:

1 Ford has a big aluminum corrosion problem
2 Audi has a smaller aluminum corrosion problem
3 Jeep JKs used steel doors with aluminum hinges - so similar problem but different
4 Ford class action is very similar to the FCA one

Ford looks to admit that aluminum corrosion starts from steel fragments landing on the aluminum:

[In the TSB, the suit says, Ford again warned technicians of the aluminum corrosion on certain cars’ hoods, stating that testing had revealed that “aluminum corrosion was caused by iron particles working their way into the aluminum body part, prior to it being painted.”]

This aligns with the JL corrosion problem at the hood and door edges far away from hinges. Iron particles floating and landing before painting.

At the JL hinges - the steel retaining nut welded to the aluminum door panel looks to be the most likely culprit causing the inherent galvanic corrosion. Plus the torx head steel connecting bolt contact areas do not help. Unfortunately once the battery cell is created with any moisture completing the circuit - galvanic corrosion will start and not stop.

Super dry climates with very low humidity should do much better than wet and salt/brine covered areas. Separating the hinge with a barrier should slow the corrosion from migrating as fast. Unfortunately this looks inevitable due to how JLs are manufactured on the assembly line.

https://cheaperjeepertv.com/jeep-wrangler-jl-corrosion-issue/

https://www.wranglerforum.com/threads/rusty-door-hinge.1377626/

https://www.r8talk.com/threads/corrosion-on-doors-anyone-else-experienced-it.83753/

https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/fords-aluminum-body-secret.31611/

https://www.classaction.org/news/cl...possibly-defective-ford-paint-aluminum-panels

While I fully believe this is a corrosion issue, personally, I think it has more to do with the hinges and doors being painted together. I think that microscopic cracks at the joint are letting in some water and corroding the aluminum. Same with the random ones at the bottoms of doors and hoods.
I've had the hinges off my year old JL and they're definitely doing something different than the JK. I had them off my year old JK back in 08 and Chrysler back then used some sort of compound or something in-between the hinge and the door. It was a creme coloured stuff. The JL has no such thing. Just bare aluminium.
Either way, I'm hoping getting my hinges coated stays the issue, if not, LineX will be getting more business. Lol

 

[JEEP THING *!!]

All you have to do is read this forum to see it is a huge issue. FCA doesn't want to admit a mistake because they have a class action lawsuit against them for this very thing and that admission is gold to a lawyer. If a dealer admits it in any form that can be saved and attributed to them it is the same as FCA admitting it and is, again, gold to a lawyer. If your dealer is a high volume dealership I'd bet body parts that they definitely have heard of this issue and probably have several that they have submitted warranty claims for repainting. I had a dealership admit there was a problem, but it was verbal meaning "hearsay" in court. Reading up a bit on it, it looks like Jeep has loosened up on approving the warranty claims after the lawsuit was started. My 2018 JLUS with 38,000 miles just got approved yesterday for paintwork and should be in the body shop within a week.

Your 2018 is past the 36,000 miles main warranty? Is it also past 36 months? Was that an issue? Has anyone else been approved for the paint bubble repairs beyond the 36 month 36,000 mile warranty?

 

[Bill_P]

Your 2018 is past the 36,000 miles main warranty? Is it also past 36 months? Was that an issue? Has anyone else been approved for the paint bubble repairs beyond the 36 month 36,000 mile warranty?

My Jeep was completely out of the initial 3/36 warranty. The first dealer I talked to told me that it wasn't covered and since I bought it used it wouldn't be covered anyway, so I went to another dealer who took it right in and sent in the claim. It sucks that you have to dealer hop to get decent service, but for a paint problem I didn't mind driving 30 miles out of my way. I feel bad for folks who have to go a couple of hours each way.

 

[Snayte]

I noticed the bubbling when I hand washed the car for the first time this spring.
I do not recommend this as a solution to the problem.
I am already missing that Jeep. Bubbled paint and all.

 

[1Evil55]

I noticed the bubbling when I hand washed the car for the first time this spring.
I do not recommend this as a solution to the problem.
I am already missing that Jeep. Bubbled paint and all.

A quick spray of paint and you'll be back on the road in no time.

 

[INCRHULK]

Third time going in for bubbling paint. The first time got a couple of door panels and hinges. The second time was the tailgate, tailgate hinges, driver's and passenger's doors (I can't recall if front or back) and hinges. This time has the hood, windscreen frame, and hinges for both passenger and driver's side door panels and hinges. In total 3 of the 8 door hinges need repairs again.

 

[Bayrat]

My experience with body shops has not been positive. Overspray and sanding dust on the interior, mismatched paint and shoddy reassembly. Both shops were supposedly high end. Must be the luck of the draw.

 

[Snayte]

A quick spray of paint and you'll be back on the road in no time.

I need paint?!? I was just going to buff it out.

 

[Snayte]

I wonder if this will be a problem on the 23's

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