Rusty arms!!

[MrG1981]

Firstly Anyone here got or know of a rear axle / beam for a Jap MK1 D4D I can aquire?

Secondly the reason I ask........

Driving back from town (less than a mile) I started to notice a knock as I went round corners.

This eventually became a constant rubbing. So I put the hazards on and limped home.

When I got home I discovered the rear wheel had an "intersting" camber to it and was rubbing on the strut. Imediately I thought the cheap(ish) hub assembly that one MOT centre said had play in it had given out after 2 years.

NOT SO!!

The the arm that comes from the rear beam to the wheel has rusted to the point that it has cracked through and twisted.

Now I'm shocked as it had an MOT in Feb and had some sil rust done, but nothing mentioned about the rear beam!

Now I find out that the beam is different on models across a single phase and depending where it was made. Do toyota just send a picture of a car to the factory and say "make that" instead of parts and drawings. How on earth could this be so?

[flash22]

If you are not doing the work yourself it's time to scrap it tbh the problem is finding another beam that is in good condition

[Devon Aygo]

See HERE

[Madasafish]

Sorry to appear  smug, but I have dinitrolled/waxoiled ours on/off for the past 15 years whenever they appear to have surface rust...

[MrG1981]

On 7/24/2020 at 8:46 AM, Madasafish said:

Sorry to appear  smug, but I have dinitrolled/waxoiled ours on/off for the past 15 years whenever they appear to have surface rust...

I've only had the car 2 years, the MOT this year needed some rust work at the back, so after that I got under there scrub it and Zinc182 the entire thing (except that beam, I don't really have the space and time to do that).

But I fear nothing is ever going to be enough for this car.

It was definitely a family waggon from the forest. The rear footwells had over a litre of water soaked into each of them due to a leak in the boot somewhere, the wiper mechanism needed replacement, the gearbox seized on me entering a roundabout, drivers window mechanism broke, rear wheel bearings were worn..............2 years of ownership!!

I don't want to think how much i have spent on it.

Edited July 26, 2020 by MrG1981

[sproutdreamer]

I feel for you as we were in a similar situation. 3 years ago we bought an 04 Yaris T Spirit with an exceptionally clean engine, only 41K miles and a very good body and inside. Unfortunately it was pouring with rain, the car was stood in a deep puddle so I did not look underneith as I would normally but it drove very well.

The first test 6 months later virtually condemed the car for scrap due to extensive underside rust although it passed after I fiited new springs all round, rear shocks and a couple of brake pipes. So unwilling to accept I had paid too much for the car I then undertook to derust and treat with antifoul and rust treatment and after spending about 10 days under with a finger grinder & fortunately there was no structural rust and the last test there were no advisories. I have also done a rear wheel bearing, ABS sensors, new exhaust, complete rear brake cylinders and shoes, and other stuff I have forgotten about.

I think the moral is you either have to see the light very early and get rid or once you have started spending money you may have to spend more to get the benefit of the money you have already spent. I will keep this Yaris now until it dies and my wife loves her little car so not all bad.

Good luck sorting yours!

[flash22]

The labour on the rear beam is going to be the killer if a garage does it, Pm me your vin and i will look up the rear beam for you

[MrG1981]

Thanks everyone, the beam itself wasn't hard to get out, but before we completely removed it we set about undoing the brake lines........which all rounded off or sheared the pipe despite a very liberal application of PlusGas.

We also found another big crusty patch that was breaking through right at the passenger side beam mounting point.

I've got to say the under floor design at the back end is shocking.

So many catch point for dirt to impact. So many little pockets to hold moisture. Just terrible design back there.

So my "reliable" Yaris get to be the first car I have EVER had to scrap.

I am so disheartened

R.I.P  Yannis

[Mooly]

I think you also have to be realistic and look at this as a car that is nearly 20 years old... and it's not that many years ago that some big name manufacturers were having serious corrosion issues on cars a fraction of this age.

[flash22]

Jap cars do seem to suffer with the tin worm, it could be the factory under coating or the lack there of, A lot of Fords up to the early 2010's had rot problems

[Madasafish]

In my experience of our Japan built 2003 1.4 D4D

 

There is paint and some form of stonechip on top of zinc coated steel. At the rear after about 10-12 years usage, the paint wears off and exposes the galvanising (shiny when clean).

 

Leave that untouched and the zinc will eventually disappear due to  salt solution in winter. And unlike the front of the car, there is no hot engine to dry the body out.. so it keeps corroding.. especially if mud on the wheel arches is not hosed off regularly.

Then you are on bare metal - two -three years to corrode away.. The rear subframes are not galvanised.. but thicker steel- so corrosion takes longer to make holes.

 

I would not buy a secondhand 15 year old car without looking underneath with a torch and screwdriver.. And I have been buying and running cars on a diy basis for  err - more than half a century.. Any signs of crusty rust and I would run away..  As for buying a 20 year old car, I would not do it. Period.

 

(original Minis rotted their rear subframes in five or so years ,, and the sills .. and the wings .. and the floorpan.. and etc etc.)

 

I find HJ's advocacy of buying a  Mark1 Yaris sheer lunacy - it is an OLD car and beginners will usually  have no clue where to look for  signs of serious corrosion  of rust.