Please Tell Us Your City

location icon
    location iconClose
      Sorry!! No Matching Results found. Try Again.
      Close

      Protect Your Car From Rusting

      CarTrade Editorial Team

      CarTrade Editorial Team

      Many of car owners complain about rusting of their car. During winters, this problem rises to new heights. If you are one of the victims of car rusting, then you are at the very right place. Your task is just to read these car maintenance tips and follow them regularly. Keeping your car rust-free is a win-win situation. While preventing some serious damage to your car, you will get a well-maintained car to show off in-return. And since no one wants to buy a rusted car, it prevents your car’s resale value from decreasing. This car maintenance guide will help you protect your car from rusting.

      Protect your car from rusting
      Protect your car from rusting

      There are three main car care tips to learn: how to find rust; maintenance tips to protect car from rust; and how to remove it if it has already started. The very first thing is to understand the cause of this rusting. If you are a good strategist, then the phrase, “know your enemy” would not be a new thing for you. Time to jump into the treasure of car care tips; ready? Every new car has a well-polished surface. It is this polishing that prevents your car from rusting. But, as you would have observed, larger the distance the car has travelled, the higher is the extent of rusting. The main cause of this rusting is the chipping and nicking your car’s surface receives from the stones striking it while driving. These small nicks expose the bare metal to the outside atmosphere, and the story begins from there. The atmosphere, as you already know, contains both water vapour and oxygen – the compulsory agents for the process of rusting.

      Rusting is a simple chemical reaction. In the presence of oxygen and water, iron (the main component used for building car’s body) gets oxidised to form hydrous iron oxide or “rust”. As the uppermost layer of iron gets oxidised, the rust starts shedding with time and results in a new onset of chain of rust formation. Once this process starts, it cannot be stopped. It can only be slowed down. The most you can do is to address the problem before it affects other areas of the car. This is why, prevention of rust formation, and its early treatment is very crucial for the good condition of your car.

      Once you have realised the importance of rust prevention, the next thing you should know is the signs of rust formation. Dark spots in the paint are common signs of rusting. Rust is most commonly found in any place on a vehicle where dirt and salt can accumulate easily without coming to your attention. These areas usually include places around fenders. So, next time when you are looking for rust, pay special attention to this area. Once you have discovered the rust, the most important step of car maintenance begins. Use a brush to gently scrape away the rust. You can also use rust removers. Be very careful, carelessness can result in damage to the surrounding paint. And that won’t look good at all. When you are done with brushing away the rust, apply some rust arrestor to prevent rust from spreading to surrounding areas. Leave the area to dry naturally, and have a hydraulic break.

      When the area is dry, you can again apply paint on it to protect it from rusting in the near future. That’s all it takes to give back your car its original beauty. But, this doesn’t end here. Rust can be classified into several types – surface rust (rust formation has just begun; easy to fix), scale rust (rusting has corrupted the area and has reduced the metal strength) and penetration rust (sorry, but you were too late to notice it. Steel has got converted to brittle iron oxide and formation of hole has begun).

      Auto makers try different tactics to prevent corrosion. A lot of research work is done on rust prevention by each and every automobile manufacturing firm. One method that has become popular is to use a fair amount of Aluminium and Magnesium while manufacturing car frames. Since, the formation of oxides of these metals takes longer time and also the rust layer, once formed, doesn’t shed early, this sounds a promising solution. But, they are very expensive to be used in a large amount in producing cars. An aware owner with the right car maintenance guide is all it takes to prevent your car from having such a dreadful fate.