Salt

Back when I was a kid, salt was a problem for cars driving around in/during winter weather. With the change in materials used to build Ferraris and other sports cars these days, is/cant salt still be a problem?

 

Salt is like an EX-Wife.

It doesn't go away until you completely pay it off,(washing it a zillion times then put it away dry) or don't get married to it at all (don't drive in salt.)

All vehicles and particularly european vehicles are suseptiple to corrosion.

 

I was talking to a fellow at the FCA national meet this year who said that the aging aluminum bodies have problems with corroding grounds and eventually all of them need to be removed, polished and reapplied. I have to guess salt would exacerbate.

 

Even today, with the different materials that are used? Can you tell me exactly how salt affects a vehicle, specifically contemporary Ferrari, and the components that are most susceptible?

 

Salt 1 or Salt 2 talks. easy way. do not use it when salt is anywhere near. new or old car. save yourself regret. unless you have deep pockets. or plan to trade it off at the first sign of issues.

 

Salt is the enemy of ANY car. Interesting story of THIS car at link.

Rusty Stallion: 1973 Ferrari Dino 246GT
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Aluminum + salt water + any other metal = accelerated aluminum oxidation (galvanic corrosion). That's probably why the grounds corrode, as posted above. This is a much bigger problem for boat owners, obviously, but I wouldn't take a new Ferrari out on salty roads.

Salt air will probably degrade electrical contacts over time, if you keep the car near the ocean.

As far as plastics and carbon fibre, those should be fine. And I'm starting to think Lotus was onto something by bonding the aluminum in the Elise/Exige chassis rather than relying on rivets...

Interesting but not sure how salt factors in?

(And I wonder if the pursuing police car is in a similar state?)

 

Could be the "escape" from the police happened in late winter. After a full season of salted road driving, the car may have been simply parked, wet, in the garage it languished in for the next several decades. Untouched nor washed.

Accumulated salt added to humidity could certainly result in what the photos show.

The pursuing police car? Probably gone to the junkyard, long ago.

Sad.

 

Salt DESTROYS cars new and old period.

As Bullfighter said, Oxidization etc. Salt, mixed with water, kicked up by your car puts salt in places you'll never find it and never get it out.

Like a camper, once the rust starts, it never sleeps.

 

Moving out of the frozen north I thought that salt corrosion was no longer a concern.
Not so according to the locals. Not only is salt air corrosive but rain puddles on roads near the shore have a high salt content.

 

Pure (demineralized) water is basically non conductive. Pure water on your car would be harmless and not result in corrosion. Add salt and the water becomes a conductor. If there are dissimilar metals in close proximity, or energized wiring, the salt water will allow electrons to flow. One of the metals will be the "sacrificial anode" and corrosion will begin. Almost all metals will eventually dissolve in salt water.

My father in law lived in upstate NY. He had a Toyota Tundra that he took meticulous care of, but he did drive it in winter. I looked under his truck after it was a few years old and I was shocked by how many items under the truck were significantly corroded such as nuts and bolts, exhaust brackets, fuel line brackets, etc.

 

+1,000,000

 

I lived in Cleveland 20 years ago, and when I walk by brand new cars in the showroom in San Diego now they corrode slightly due to the traces of road salt still in my body.

 

I've been warned never buy a used car from up north or Florida.

 

Salt is a nightmare on vehicles up here. I live at a ski resort and they use tons of salt on the roads to make sure the skiers/boarders can get up to the mountain.
I have two vehicles both 2003's my car I don't drive in the winter and it doesn't have a speck of rust on it, my truck I drive every day in winter and I undercoat it and wash it once a week in the winter and it is still unbelievable how rusted everything underneath gets. My brakes have rotted out twice my bumper supports, exhaust, even my oil pan has rotted due to the salt its nasty stuff.

 

Sold for (£) 132,250

 

Great. I bough a car in New England and brought it to Florida.

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/boxers-tr-m/471384-what-did-ferrari-use-stop-galvanic-corrosion-where-aluminum-touched-steel.html


http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/boxers-tr-m/251331-preservation.html

 

don't park in Chicago!



Wall collapses at Morton Salt building in Goose Island - Chicago Tribune

 

In a multiverse, this exact thing happened, and an executive is walking around, very pissed and very grumpy, and very nasty about the whole ordeal. And someone, hopefully the brunt of his discontent, has had enough and said to him, "All the flavors in the world...


...and you choose to be salty."

 

Why particularly European vehicles? Most German cars are galvanised by dipping the chassis in molten zinc.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

This sounds ...intelligent. So intelligent, in fact, that I'm uncertain whether or not it supports if contemporary cars are built to withstand salt's corrosive and erosive properties, compared to when I was a kid.

 

cars are just land boats

 

The reason why the grounds on aluminum bodied / framed cars is a problem is because aluminum will oxidize. Adding moisture and salt will hasten the corrosion. For the most part, this oxidation is harmless (aluminum oxide - Al2O3) as it provides a protective barrier and, unlike rust in steel bodied cars, limits future oxidation. Interestingly, the crystalline form of aluminum oxide are rubies and sapphires. Metallic aluminum is extremely reactive with oxygen in the air and oxidizes almost instantly upon exposure to air and the thin passive layer of Al2O3 that naturally forms provides a protective barrier to further weathering. The aluminum in car bodies and frames is an alloy, so it is not quite as reactive to air, but the protective barrier forms none the less.

The problem with electrical grounds and aluminum is that aluminum oxide is an insulator of electricity. Unlike iron oxide (rust) which conducts electricity. Get enough aluminum oxide and it will start to "insulate" the ground connections and eventually, the ECU(s) will see a noticeable decline in conductivity and cause problems. Ask me how I know this.

The solution is very easy ... disconnect the battery. Go to each ground point. Remove the connectors (ring terminals, etc) and clean the connector and polish up the aluminum grounding surface with a bit of abrasive paper ... this removes the aluminum oxide. Place a star washer under each connector and re-attach. As you tighten the bolt or nut, the star washer will dig into the aluminum and assure a good ground.

My opinion, if you start to see any electrical anomalies ... and you have an aluminum body / frame car ... the ground(s) could be a potential source of the problem. It is an easy, inexpensive procedure ... albeit, a bit time consuming, and is worth the effort.

Regards,

Steve

 

I grew up in Florida and was a huge Porsche fan at the time, so I'll comment on what I know about Florida and Porsches.

Pre-1975 Porsches tended to rust a lot in the humidity of Florida. Even back in the mid-80's, it was very difficult to find a rust-free 60's or early 70's Porsche in Central Florida because of the humidity (not salt in Central FL) and body materials. In 1975, Porsche went with Zinc-plated bodies and around 1978 they went to galvanized bodies -- those tended to be much more durable.

Regarding salt: Salt is really only in the air when you are truly beach-side. When I lived in Daytona Beach, there was no salt evident in the air in mainland Daytona until you crossed over the Halifax River. On that side, there was a ton of salt in the air, even if you didn't go that close to the beach. In one day beach-side, the windows would accumulate enough salt that it became difficult to see. Beach-side in Daytona was death to all cars from salt plus humidity. Humidity alone in Central Florida was an issue for older non-galvanized steel in my experience.