In the beginning of the month I gave the underbody a thorough examination after another winter of salty roads. I do not particularly like crawling under the car (what goes up must come down...), and this time I had lifted both the rear and the front end -- a first for me. It didn't feel wobbly at all though. Here is how I did it:
Sven-Göran was destined for a full anti-rust protection this spring, but first I wanted to fix any possible rust problems. I found two spots the size of a coin which I cleaned with a drill wire brush and treated with Tectyl Universal followed by Tectyl Chip Guard. There were also some surface rust on the inside bottom of the trailing arms (along the welding seam), see picture. This has obviously been a spot the professionals have overlooked, as there were only original rustprotection. I suppose this is how the whole underbody would have looked had it not been treated regularly over the years.
There is a small leak at the pinion seal. Not enough to cause a stain on the garage floor, but enough to keep me on my toes. Until somebody convinces me otherwise, I do not feel it necessary to get a shop to replace the seal. I shall leave it as it is until either I have built up courage to do it myself, or the leak has increased -- whatever comes first. At this point I just keep it topped up. To keep my spirits up I try to seek comfort in the fact that the rest of the underbody is very healthy looking.
After this it was time for the professional anti rust treatment as it was now 4 years since last time. It does cost a bit (450 USD in my country), but in the long run well worth the money around here where the coastal climate and the salted winter roads kill a lot of cars prematurely. If you are not familiar with this part of preventive car maintenance, here are the basics:
After all this Sven-Göran should be well prepared for a few more winters in the salty slush!
