December 2021, Touring Sports, Tail Gate hinge plate, corrosion, get checking !

[Gerhard_Corolla]

5 hours ago, Kooikerboy said:

Well, Here is the update, nothing strange, its taken 6 weeks for Toyota to deal with the matter, Vehicle went into approved body repair shop (Fix Auto) on  Monday 23rd May 09.00hrs, I was informed the work would take 5 days, Collected vehicle on Friday 27th 16.00hrs, Not had time to fully inspect work, but it is obvious there is a greater depth of paint on the whole section where both hinges mount, I understand the estimate of repair was high, So I guess Toyota had reason enough to sort the problem.                

 

When you can spare a little bit of time, could you please upload a few pictures?

It'll be interesting to know if they decided to add silicone grease after the paint repair job, as they do when the cars leave the factory. That would portray that the do not trust the solution either...

[Kooikerboy]

Please find attached pics of repair around hinges, As requested by Gerhard, As you can see loads of paint applied,   covering what who knows?.

[Kooikerboy]

Gerhard, re plastic covers at sides of tail lights, they are easily removed/replaced.

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, Kooikerboy said:

Gerhard, re plastic covers at sides of tail lights, they are easily removed/replaced.

Thanks for that 👍 I thought they were made together with the lights like older models , but these actually are covers for the mounting bolts. 👌

[Gerhard_Corolla]

5 hours ago, Kooikerboy said:

Gerhard, re plastic covers at sides of tail lights, they are easily removed/replaced.

Thank you very much!

I live in area where a lot of seeds, flowers and polen can clog the drain passages...

I can see two clips that go over the mounting points of the tail lights and three notches that just guide or retain the side of the plastic covers into the tail light itself. Am I right? It should just be a pull on the upper clip first job and done deal!

This is very helpful, thank you!

[Kooikerboy]

Gerhard, Yes fingers down inside top edge, then run them down the side, cover pops off.

[Gerhard_Corolla]

A few words on the 'right process' to remove the covers:

The clips do not function as a retainer, trying to maintain the plastic cover next to the body, but as a pressure item to maintain the three plastic hooks of the plastic cover, that goes against the three receptacles designed for them at the side of the rear tail light, engaged. That means that if you apply force towards you, pulling the plastic cover, the three hooks impede movement and the force applied to the two clips gets greater and greater causing their failure. I broke one clip, the upper one, trying to pull the cover.

Only after retrieving the left cover I finally understood how the retaining system works: The clips are designed to push the cover away from the body and always maintain a gap between the cover, mounting point of the tail light, and the body itself, to allow water drainage under the plastic rear bumper. So your best bet is: push a little bit the plastic cover towards the body of the car to cause the hooks to disengage from their receptacles on the side of the tail light, and just after they are disengaged, gently pull the plastic cover away from the car's body. You'll then see how the form and 'weakness' of the two clips are designed to push the plastic cover away from the car and towards the hooks that engage on the side of the tail light.

I'm sorry to publish such a wording for a task so simple, but I don't want to mingle with photos and photoshop to produce the same result with just two arrows...

... and I'm depressed for being responsible for braking the first thing on our Corolla.

🤪

A few words on the design of the back of the car, tail lights, mounting points, etc: They're terrible!

Everything was filled with pollen, seeds, flowers and, in the rear right space between the tail lights and the body, it was the beautiful house of a tiny spider.  I simply do not know how can you maintain those spaces clean to guarantee that water can be drained out of the rear of the car...

[Tech429]

Not on the hinges of tailgate - but I found out that you should check the doors as water accumulates in the doors.

Open doors and if not already removed then remove the rubber plugs from the front-most of the front doors and the rear-most of the rear doors (there are 3 in each door) to allow water to drip out.

[bunnyrabbit03]

On 6/10/2022 at 1:45 PM, Tech429 said:

Not on the hinges of tailgate - but I found out that you should check the doors as water accumulates in the doors.

Open doors and if not already removed then remove the rubber plugs from the front-most of the front doors and the rear-most of the rear doors (there are 3 in each door) to allow water to drip out.

I checked my Corolla yesterday and the door plugs have already been removed -well, not fitted - by the factory (MY22). But I think I have the dreaded corrosion on the hinges - I need to visit my dealer 🤔

[Hylen]

On 6/3/2022 at 6:23 PM, Gerhard_Corolla said:

A few words on the 'right process' to remove the covers:

The clips do not function as a retainer, trying to maintain the plastic cover next to the body, but as a pressure item to maintain the three plastic hooks of the plastic cover, that goes against the three receptacles designed for them at the side of the rear tail light, engaged. That means that if you apply force towards you, pulling the plastic cover, the three hooks impede movement and the force applied to the two clips gets greater and greater causing their failure. I broke one clip, the upper one, trying to pull the cover.

Only after retrieving the left cover I finally understood how the retaining system works: The clips are designed to push the cover away from the body and always maintain a gap between the cover, mounting point of the tail light, and the body itself, to allow water drainage under the plastic rear bumper. So your best bet is: push a little bit the plastic cover towards the body of the car to cause the hooks to disengage from their receptacles on the side of the tail light, and just after they are disengaged, gently pull the plastic cover away from the car's body. You'll then see how the form and 'weakness' of the two clips are designed to push the plastic cover away from the car and towards the hooks that engage on the side of the tail light.

I'm sorry to publish such a wording for a task so simple, but I don't want to mingle with photos and photoshop to produce the same result with just two arrows...

... and I'm depressed for being responsible for braking the first thing on our Corolla.

🤪

A few words on the design of the back of the car, tail lights, mounting points, etc: They're terrible!

Everything was filled with pollen, seeds, flowers and, in the rear right space between the tail lights and the body, it was the beautiful house of a tiny spider.  I simply do not know how can you maintain those spaces clean to guarantee that water can be drained out of the rear of the car...

I tried your method but couldn't work out how to remove it still was afraid I might break it too. Any video or diagram would be great help 😅

My one is filled with mud from previous owner! Also discovered under the chassis my one is full of mud and easily holds mud. A job I have to clear out to prevent future rust. Previous owner must have lived in a muddy countryside!

[TonyHSD]

6 hours ago, Hylen said:

I tried your method but couldn't work out how to remove it still was afraid I might break it too. Any video or diagram would be great help 😅

My one is filled with mud from previous owner! Also discovered under the chassis my one is full of mud and easily holds mud. A job I have to clear out to prevent future rust. Previous owner must have lived in a muddy countryside!

You can get one of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224107540737?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=jc7qak_ptue&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=p34UK1z2T4m&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

works great and very handy. 👍 For properly clean underneath you can use tfr or Snow Foam and jet wash it. May also lift up and remove wheels. 
Good luck 

[Gerhard_Corolla]

18 hours ago, Hylen said:

I tried your method but couldn't work out how to remove it still was afraid I might break it too. Any video or diagram would be great help 😅

My one is filled with mud from previous owner! Also discovered under the chassis my one is full of mud and easily holds mud. A job I have to clear out to prevent future rust. Previous owner must have lived in a muddy countryside!

What worked for me is:

First you push towards the body of the car, mainly on the upper side of the side cover (blue arrows). You'll notice that the upper right side of the plastic cover pops a little bit outwards (purple arrows are the hooks that maintain the cover attached to side of the tail light).

Then you have to play around carefully to try to get the third hook to disengage from its position, pretty slowly, and considering as well repeating the process of the first step, but with the bottom section of the plastic cover.

 

You'll end seeing that all the three hooks are detached and you can then play around with the plastic clips that attach the cover to body of the car through the mounting points of the tail light (last pictures). All the steps should be done with patience and care, the clips are quite delicate and the plastic used a little bit soft. 

The whole design is little bit lame! All the water drainage path (cyan arrow) is intended to go behind the tail lights and the rear bumper, and around each of the screws that attached these elements to the body. It's just a disaster waiting to happen... I more or less cleaned the whole assembly last week and it's filled with pollen and leaves all over again. I'll try to find something that blocks the access to seeds, pollen, flowers, insects, etc, and allows water to go through...

[Arita]

On 6/13/2022 at 5:26 PM, Gerhard_Corolla said:

What worked for me is:

First you push towards the body of the car, mainly on the upper side of the side cover (blue arrows). You'll notice that the upper right side of the plastic cover pops a little bit outwards (purple arrows are the hooks that maintain the cover attached to side of the tail light).

Then you have to play around carefully to try to get the third hook to disengage from its position, pretty slowly, and considering as well repeating the process of the first step, but with the bottom section of the plastic cover.

 

You'll end seeing that all the three hooks are detached and you can then play around with the plastic clips that attach the cover to body of the car through the mounting points of the tail light (last pictures). All the steps should be done with patience and care, the clips are quite delicate and the plastic used a little bit soft. 

The whole design is little bit lame! All the water drainage path (cyan arrow) is intended to go behind the tail lights and the rear bumper, and around each of the screws that attached these elements to the body. It's just a disaster waiting to happen... I more or less cleaned the whole assembly last week and it's filled with pollen and leaves all over again. I'll try to find something that blocks the access to seeds, pollen, flowers, insects, etc, and allows water to go through...

Thanks for this!! And I'm interested to see what you come up with to block seeds etc.

[Obsidian Estate]

Checked mine again, no rust.

Gave them a toot of Dynax just in case.

[beeblebrox]

Just a thought. Would clear melted candle wax do the same job or would it just peel off? Anybody tried it?😜

[AisinW]

It is probably not  rust but it is always a good idea to tell this problem to the dealership to check it. If it becomes rust outside the warranty period, you can ask them fix it because you had pointed it out.   It reminds me of Prius 2 leaking roof from crack paint under the joint on top of the boot. 

[bunnyrabbit03]

On 6/11/2022 at 8:24 PM, bunnyrabbit03 said:

I checked my Corolla yesterday and the door plugs have already been removed -well, not fitted - by the factory (MY22). But I think I have the dreaded corrosion on the hinges - I need to visit my dealer 🤔

To update the thread, my dealer has confirmed that it is indeed rust and will be fixed under warranty - I need to visit the local approved body shop next week for a quote. 👍

[Tech429]

With regards those pesky tail-light plastic covers...

What a huge design flaw if ever there was one!  Any form of water run-off channel must never have to pass over through or under any other item other than the actual run-off channel due to the potential for clogging (like with the posts and comments here).

Even the bolts for the light unit looking at the pics would at some point fall under the rust devil and so cause all types of issues.

[AisinW]

On 4/19/2022 at 7:12 AM, TonyHSD said:

Here a very interesting video about Tesla S plaid body and we have few things to learn and to make our thoughts about Toyota cars too. 
First issue is the rust on the hinges or under them , as we can see the hinges are mounted to the body clean metal to metal and then dunk into a bath for anti corrosion treatment, if that glue pad that seats in between is faulty or not up to the standard and let oxygen and water get into the bare metal the results are obvious.

Second issue with wind noise at high speeds and particularly the Yaris problem that at certain speeds become loud like there is a window open or something wrong with the door seal, the guy explains that at higher speeds the front doors has a tendency to open slightly at top rear corners, and here we go this could be the case. Btw these guys are as valuable as the car care nut or even more. 👍

 

Munro is so opiniated about overhyped BEV.  He is also part of TESLA propagandist.  I think.  

[TonyHSD]

Just now, AisinW said:

Munro is so opiniated about overhyped BEV.  He is also part of TESLA propagandist.  I think.  

He is indeed. I have stopped watching become of that but they still provide interesting information about cars and technology in general. 👍

[Gerhard_Corolla]

I'm ashamed to publish this so long after the original messages, but I think we've finally found a feasible solution for this mess!

I bought two different types of seals, material and form wise, to make a test and decide which "solution" is the better one from all perspectives. It was almost impossible to find the adequate material that would allow water through, but impeded everything else...

The seals are these two:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/394078033172?mkcid=1&mkrid=707-53477-19255-0&siteid=77&toolid=10001&mkevt=1&campid=5338739871

https://www.ebay.de/itm/394442825461?mkcid=1&mkrid=707-53477-19255-0&siteid=77&toolid=10001&mkevt=1&campid=5338739871

 

I haven't been able to to fix both seals because of the weather, but I made a few photos of how they could look on the car. The right one is an L or V form seal, with a more dense material and a quite thin upper lip. I think this could be the best looking solution, but maybe the one that provides worse protection.

 

The left one is a P or D form seal, with a less dense material, intended to be used in doors, hence more compresible. In its original state, the seal would be hit by the back door's stop all the time, so a cut is necessary to insert the seal between the car and the plastic cover. this one is the "ugly" one, but with the better protection potential.

 

Both solutions could need a little bit of silicone on the top to not collect dust or polen next to the glue strip; or just buy a better two side tape to glue the seal all the way through the top; or maybe just live with seeing polen and dust over the seal, but not at the mounting points of the rear bumper and the rear headlights. 

Who knows...

🙄

I think the first option is the better one, but let's wait and see which produce the better results. After that maybe I can remove the rear lights and thoroughly clean all the mess...

I'll report back with the results!

😅

[AisinW]

That reminds me the tud..tud..tud noise over uneven road inside the cabin of Auris.  I replaced the stabilizer bar bushings ($40) and links ($300) and still did not fix these annoying noise. It turns out the rear seats backrest metal to metal contact. I slap a used bike inner tube rubber and it is very quiet now.  Simple stuffs work and do not overthinking too much. I learned from my stupid mistakes, I sould  start from the cheapest things first and do not randomly replace things if we are not sure.  

[Popama]

Having kept up with this topic for the past 18 months I was surprised to discover today bubbling effect around the base of the hinges and I am almost certain it is rusting underneath.
I will book an appointment with the dealer later this week but I wanted to double-check with owners on this forum if the area around the base has remained smooth on your units.

[TonyHSD]

24 minutes ago, Popama said:

Having kept up with this topic for the past 18 months I was surprised to discover today bubbling effect around the base of the hinges and I am almost certain it is rusting underneath.
I will book an appointment with the dealer later this week but I wanted to double-check with owners on this forum if the area around the base has remained smooth on your units.

This is a known issue and many cars are affected made between 2019-2021. There were changes made in mid 2022 and extra padding is applied between hinges and body panel. The manufacturing process seems different too. 
If the dealer try to avoid warranty repair you can argue and show them the new models in the showroom and pint these insulation padding. If they does not accept liability then rise the case against Toyota head office in your country. 
Good luck 🤞 

Here 2022 model with padding 

 

 

 

and 2019 without padding 

[Popama]

I had not noticed this before. I would have thought the additional layer is from the GR trim wrap. Thank you for the tip!