RUST DRIVESHAFT

[NewCivicRs]

Hello, been crossing flood road yesterday and went to carwash today.. found a rusty steel driveshaft, do I need to clean it out?

Anything else to check? Interior is dry, engine oil, cvt oil is dry too.

Any opinion guys?
Thanks in advance.

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[TriangleHeat]

I don't think there's much else to check. Make sure the floor pan is dry, the oils haven't been contaminated.

Me personally if I had parts submerged under "flood water", which could consist of anything that is more corrosive than tap water, I'd wash the car, hose the underside components off (the wheel wells, the undershield, the backs of rotors and calipers and hose off the engine bay).

Not sure if you think the rusty driveshaft has anything to do with the flooded road, IMO it doesn't. Driveshafts rust all the time, everything under the car that's ferrous (like steel or iron) rusts. I live in the northeast of the U.S. which is notorious for this, every car I've worked under had rusted driveshafts, subframes, exhausts, lower control arms, etc, whether it's painted or powder coated doesn't matter (especially on welds).

 

[LBP]

Do you have photos? What you are describing does not sound abnormal.

TriangleHeat is correct. Light rust on many underbody components is not unusual or cause for concern on most cars. This is especially true for driveshafts. I've seen brand new cars fresh off the dealer lot with surface rust on driveshafts - they are not a component which often sees a lot of environmental protection because it is simply not necessary. Maybe on much higher-end cars they will be e-coated, but even then the CV axle housings are almost always just bare metal, because rust is not going to impact their function in any way unless you're parking the car in a brine bath for years on end (and at that point you're going to have much more concerning issues).

Depending on how much water your vehicle saw, if it is a manual transmission I would check behind the clutch inspection plate to make sure the clutch is dry. But, if you have been driving the car for a few days with no issue I think you are fine. A friend of mine recently had his WRX flooded while parked in the low spot of a parking lot during a heavy downpour. It was deep enough to get some water ingress in the interior, which meant the water line was high enough to get into the clutch housing and saturate the clutch. A day later the clutch failed catastrophically (literally "grenaded") and destroyed the transmission housing, which lead to his insurance writing the car off as a total loss due to the cost of repairs. But, again, I don't think you have any cause for concern.

If you are very concerned about slowing and preventing rust, you could give your car a thorough underbody cleaning and apply a treatment such as lanolin (Woolwax is a very good brand) to any components where a coating will not impact their function.

 

[NewCivicRs]

I don't think there's much else to check. Make sure the floor pan is dry, the oils haven't been contaminated.

Me personally if I had parts submerged under "flood water", which could consist of anything that is more corrosive than tap water, I'd wash the car, hose the underside components off (the wheel wells, the undershield, the backs of rotors and calipers and hose off the engine bay).

Not sure if you think the rusty driveshaft has anything to do with the flooded road, IMO it doesn't. Driveshafts rust all the time, everything under the car that's ferrous (like steel or iron) rusts. I live in the northeast of the U.S. which is notorious for this, every car I've worked under had rusted driveshafts, subframes, exhausts, lower control arms, etc, whether it's painted or powder coated doesn't matter (especially on welds).

Do you have photos? What you are describing does not sound abnormal.

TriangleHeat is correct. Light rust on many underbody components is not unusual or cause for concern on most cars. This is especially true for driveshafts. I've seen brand new cars fresh off the dealer lot with surface rust on driveshafts - they are not a component which often sees a lot of environmental protection because it is simply not necessary. Maybe on much higher-end cars they will be e-coated, but even then the CV axle housings are almost always just bare metal, because rust is not going to impact their function in any way unless you're parking the car in a brine bath for years on end (and at that point you're going to have much more concerning issues).

Depending on how much water your vehicle saw, if it is a manual transmission I would check behind the clutch inspection plate to make sure the clutch is dry. But, if you have been driving the car for a few days with no issue I think you are fine. A friend of mine recently had his WRX flooded while parked in the low spot of a parking lot during a heavy downpour. It was deep enough to get some water ingress in the interior, which meant the water line was high enough to get into the clutch housing and saturate the clutch. A day later the clutch failed catastrophically (literally "grenaded") and destroyed the transmission housing, which lead to his insurance writing the car off as a total loss due to the cost of repairs. But, again, I don't think you have any cause for concern.

If you are very concerned about slowing and preventing rust, you could give your car a thorough underbody cleaning and apply a treatment such as lanolin (Woolwax is a very good brand) to any components where a coating will not impact their function.

Thanks guys .. appreciate it ? the car seems fine,. no contamination in engine oil, but I can't check for CVT oil because there is no disptick to check. But so far, the car has strong acceleration. Been checked for the base carpet, inside chassis frame, no water no rust. Only the driveshaft getting rust.

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