Tailgate corrosion-is it common ???

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Irishrover

Irishrover

Well-Known Member
Posts
5,317
Location
La Trimouille, Vienne, France
:behindsofa:

Hi again Guys.......Decided to give the F/L (2002,TD4, ES, 5 door) a bit of tender loving care whilst waiting for the bits & pieces to come from Island 4x4 and found a small rust hole on the rear tailgate just below the door handle. I have managed to locate another "Bare" tailgate which I may have to get resprayed.
I know that rust & corrosion is a common problem on R.R. Classic & P38 tailgates and I am wondering if the F/L suffers from the same disease ??
Does anyone else have this problem ?
:smokin::tea:
 
The short answer is yes, but usually confined to behind the rear door handle.

Water is trapped behind the handle and the resulting rust on the studs set into the plastic handle which pass through the door, is often enough to split the plastic, with the result that the handle eventually comes away in your hand.

Remove the handle very carefully as it's almost certain that you will find rust on the studs and around the holes.

A new handle cost around £100 :eek:
 
Thanks for the reply Singvogel-so it appears that I am not alone in suffering from this problem. The latch and window work fine-except that sometimes the glass decides to go to the fully open position when closing the door instead of closing.
When I come to fit all my bits & pieces to the replacement tailgate I will give them all a good check over. Anything in particular I should look more closely at or do before reassembling ??
:)
 
When my handle came off I was amazed at the amount of mud and rust behind it.

Be sure to treat all the rust on or around the studs on the handle, and around the holes in the door.

I applied plenty grease on them, and re-painted the door - but I was lucki I suppose in that all the corrosion was hidden behind the handle.

When you come to re-fit the handle on the door you will probably see that there is a slight gap between either the handle and the rubber seal or between the rubber seal and the door itself.

I applied a thin layer of clear silicone around the rubber gasket bit to prevent water getting in and becoming trapped.

The nuts holding the handle to the door can only be accessed with the glass in the down position - they are pretty fiddly to reach - beware of dropping them (or the small socket you need to use) inside the door as they are a bu**er to get back out.
 
Thanks for those pointers Singvogel..appreciated. I was thinking of putting a small bead of silicone on the seal anyway. Also the tip about lowering the glass to remove the nuts because if the glass is up when I remove the tailgate it will make things more difficult!!
Can you remember if the studs are screwed into the handle body or cast in ? I have the drills and taps plus various sizes of studding, steel & stainless (M5 to M12) to replace them if possible-and necessary.
Any other tips etc. for the swapping over of the components from my old tailgate to the replacement would be welcome and helpful.
:smokin::tea:
 
good idea with the silicone , on my old car it had a tiny bit of rust at the bottom of the front door drives side I put this down to a stone chip. But one day I accidently backed up onto a high post and broke the back door handle, I too could not believe what was behind it.
 
Irishrover said:
Thanks for those pointers Singvogel..appreciated. I was thinking of putting a small bead of silicone on the seal anyway. Also the tip about lowering the glass to remove the nuts because if the glass is up when I remove the tailgate it will make things more difficult!!
Can you remember if the studs are screwed into the handle body or cast in ? I have the drills and taps plus various sizes of studding, steel & stainless (M5 to M12) to replace them if possible-and necessary.
Any other tips etc. for the swapping over of the components from my old tailgate to the replacement would be welcome and helpful.
:smokin::tea:
Click to expand...

The problem is the studs are NOT screwed into the handle body! :mad:

You can't get them out - you can just see the end of the knurling.

I assume the plastic is cast/moulded around them. A squirt of WD40 onto the knurled bit after treating the rust is the best advice I could give.

As for removing the door card - that's very easy - a few big screws at the bottom and then carefully prise off the plastic clips around the edges.

The card then comes away at the bottom and lifts up to detach.

Try to take the plastic membrane off in one piece as it's important to avoid condensation and leaks.
 
Ah...I thought the handle would be die cast alloy with a plastic outer cover and if the stud was cast into it and rusty I could drill it out and re-tap the hole. Now, all is clear and I will forget that plan completely.
Perhaps I am being pessimistic and "Jumping the gun" :eek:
Sod it-I'll wait until I come to strip it out and hopefully things will be o.k.

Oh how I wish they would use Stainless Steel fasteners on parts that are exposed or have a good chance of being so !!!!
 
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