2014 Liftgate Corrosion

[Richard Pittenger]

Hello Group,

I have a nicely equipped, low-mileage (39 K) 2014 XLT version of the Expy that we've owned for about 2-1/2 years. It was a one-owner vehicle, housed in Beaufort, TX. We bought it on-line and had it shipped to our home in Troy, OH. We're very pleased with the vehicle and it is well maintained and garage kept. Today, while performing a thorough cleaning of the vehicle in preparation for a trip next week, I noticed some corrosion on the inside of the lower edge of the liftgate (not noticeable from outside). I was shocked to see this but have learned this evening while searching the archives that it's a common problem on this aluminum part. Fortunately, I have discovered the problem early (I believe). There is one dime-sized spot where the paint has bubbled off and one other similar but smaller spot and I can see a bit of other bubbling under the paint along the inside of the lower edge of the door.

My question: What can I do to arrest the corrosion and prevent it's spread too the outside of the liftgate? Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Richard

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Hello Group,

I have a nicely equipped, low-mileage (39 K) 2014 XLT version of the Expy that we've owned for about 2-1/2 years. It was a one-owner vehicle, housed in Beaufort, TX. We bought it on-line and had it shipped to our home in Troy, OH. We're very pleased with the vehicle and it is well maintained and garage kept. Today, while performing a thorough cleaning of the vehicle in preparation for a trip next week, I noticed some corrosion on the inside of the lower edge of the liftgate (not noticeable from outside). I was shocked to see this but have learned this evening while searching the archives that it's a common problem on this aluminum part. Fortunately, I have discovered the problem early (I believe). There is one dime-sized spot where the paint has bubbled off and one other similar but smaller spot and I can see a bit of other bubbling under the paint along the inside of the lower edge of the door.

My question: What can I do to arrest the corrosion and prevent it's spread too the outside of the liftgate? Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Richard

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10177863-0001.pdf

And

Paint Bubbling, We need EVERYONE to register a complaint! READ FORDS RESPONSE!!!

So, Ladies and Gentlemen. I have a 2007 Expedition EL, and I am having issues with the bubbling of the paint on the hatch and hood. I thought that I would register a complaint with Ford, and I guess there haven't been enough emails sent to Ford direct! I encourage EVERYONE to send an...

www.expeditionforum.com

Known problem for years with Ford vehicles with aluminum body panels - Ford refused to identify the root cause and correct the manufacturing defect.

Good luck.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

Hmm; noticed some white dime sized corrosion under the lip of my hood. I wonder if scraping and sealing with epoxy would stop the progress?

 

[bloodhound]

Hmm; noticed some white dime sized corrosion under the lip of my hood. I wonder if scraping and sealing with epoxy would stop the progress?

On my 2009 I had the hood and tailgate stripped and repainted by a very high end shop. Still came back in about 2 years.

 

[Jamo]

I had a couple spots on my hood and lift gate edges when I bought my '14 EL LTD, w/80K miles in 2018. I just left them alone, haven't done a thing to thing to them and they look the same as they did originally. I'm hoping they don't get worse...

 

[mjp2]

On my 2009 I had the hood and tailgate stripped and repainted by a very high end shop. Still came back in about 2 years.

The high end shop near me said they wouldn't touch the panel and would only replace and spray a fresh panel for the very reason you experienced.

I ended up sanding down and bedlining my rear hatch. No issues since.

 

[GlennSullivan]

My 2011 has it around the wiper mount on the rear liftgate. I've got pearl white paint on that truck, so not looking forward to having it redone.

 

[Goofy173]

Another reason Ford has lost me as a long-time customer. Another is the 5.4 3v phasers

 

[lbv150]

The only way to stop the corrosion and to fix the paint problem, is to strip the paint off, sandblast and use an aluminum etching primer found in a marine supply store. Then paint it. A good body shop should know this. My aluminum hull boat was done in 2004 and spends most of it's life in saltwater, to this day no issues.

 

[mr_dave]

Another reason Ford has lost me as a long-time customer. Another is the 5.4 3v phasers

I'm very inclined to agree with you at this point. I bought mine a few months ago with only 45k on it and I've already had more issues with it than I've had with my 3 previous (German and Japanese) vehicles combined. It also just started a loud ticking noise on the passengers side this week and is down on power, thinking it's a broken rocker arm. Going to the dealership on Tues.

I also have the aluminum corrosion issues on the underside of the hood and rear hatch. And I also had to recently repair the infamous coolant crossover leak because ford decided to use *plastic* gaskets on a highly heat cycled area.

I can look past a few issues, but this is getting ridiculous, and for things that could have been easily avoided if they didn't decide to save literally a few dollars on cheap parts and engineering.