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I was under my truck cleaning and painting the rear axle, diff, and drive shaft today and noticed a LOT of corrosion on the bare aluminum transmission pan as well as the transfer case.
Lots of powdered aluminum and aluminum chunks could be scraped off easily.
On the transfer case, Borg Warner actually used steel bolts, washers, and nuts near the rear output, that appear to hold something to the inside of the case, and these nuts and washers have extreme corrosion around them due to the dissimilar metals. Very large chunks of aluminum powder flaked right off around the nuts.
Anyone have any advice to treat, slow, stop all this bare aluminum corrosion?
It's as if Ford paid no attention to rust or corrosion prevention on these new trucks. My steel skid plates are also bare steel and rusting quickly. Bare steel... Unbelievable...
My truck is an early build from mid December 2014 that I just got off the dealer lot with 107 miles on the ODO.
You know, aluminum components on engines aren't even close to being a new thing for any auto manufacturers. Are you suggesting that the new aluminum body is going to make Ford's aluminum engine components any more susceptible than normal?
You know, aluminum components on engines aren't even close to being a new thing for any auto manufacturers. Are you suggesting that the new aluminum body is going to make Ford's aluminum engine components any more susceptible than normal?
I have no idea where you got that, and to answer, no. But steel bolts are causing significant corrosion on my aluminum transfer case and the general driving environment has cause significant corrosion on my aluminum transmission pan because it was not painted or coated from the factory like every other aluminum transmission pan has been on all my other vehicles.
I don't have pictures of the aluminum transmission pan but it looks similar to this picture of the surface of my transfer case. Covered in aluminum powder from corrosion. Also, there are 3, maybe 4 of these bolts that come from inside the transfer case and are secured with steel washers and nuts. The corrosion flakes off in large powdery chunks. The worst one I already cleaned up, so this is the second worst one. Not even half as bad as the first one was, but it will get there.
Borg Warner uses epoxy coated bolts to hold the case halfs together, but these bolts they used raw steel. Odd and wrong.
But when aluminum rusts, it forms aluminum oxide, an entirely different animal. In crystal form, aluminum oxide is called corundum, sapphire or ruby (depending on the color), and it is among the hardest substances known. If you wanted to design a strong, scratchproof coating to put on a metal, few things other than diamond would be better than aluminum oxide.
By rusting, aluminum is forming a protective coating that's chemically identical to sapphire--transparent, impervious to air and many chemicals, and able to protect the surface from further rusting: As soon as a microscopically thin layer has formed, the rusting stops. ("Anodized" aluminum has been treated with acid and electricity to force it to grow an extra-thick layer of rust, because the more you have on the surface, the stronger and more scratch-resistant it is.)
Aluminum is reactive and will react spontaneously with water and/or air to form aluminum oxide. Aluminum oxide, Al2O3, forms a stable passive layer that protects aluminum from corrosion or further oxidation. This layer is about 4 nm thick and will provide corrosion protection as long as this oxide layer is stable.
Aluminium corrosion resistance
Aluminium corrosion resistance is very good in untreated aluminium. Untreated aluminium has very good corrosion resistance in most environments. This is primarily because aluminium spontaneously forms a thin but effective oxide layer that prevents further oxidation.
Aluminium oxide is impermeable and, unlike the oxide layers on many other metals, it adheres strongly to the parent metal. If damaged mechanically, aluminium’s oxide layer repairs itself immediately.
This oxide layer is one of the main reasons for aluminium’s good corrosion properties. The layer is stable in the general pH range 4 – 9.
I don't think you have anything to worry about. By the time the components corrode through. We will all be long gone and the "automobile" will be a thing of the past. Seriously, just drive and enjoy your new ride, its not uncommon for the drive train to look aged on a new vehicle. Especially the aluminum parts.
07-25-2015, 04:07 PM
Bare Aluminum Corrosion
