General Panda rear axle rust

[CWUK82]

Good morning
I have a 2006 fiat Panda active. The MOTis due middle of march. In 2013 It failed it's MOT due to rear axle rust and had it replaced with a 2009 axle off another panda. Last year on the MOT. It had an Advisory that there was Heavy surface rust on rear axle . I have taken some photos and was wondering wether you kind,knowledgeable people could tell me if you think it'll fail the MOT in its current state . It such a shame as the rest of the car is sweet as a nut. Car has done 53000 miles and is garaged kept.
Thanks in advance

 

[varesecrazy]

A fail should only be for impaired structure.

If it looks sound.. and you wish to preserve it..


Get a wire brush on it. Threat the rust... and put a protective layer on it.. either paint .. or a specialist coating.

I took the springs out of mine. Cleared the dtain holes.. then painted.

Charlie

 

[dac69er]

I took the springs out of mine. Cleared the dtain holes.. then painted.

Charlie

I noticed the drain holes weren't in the best place. I drilled some additional ones and that seemed to help keep the spring pan dryer than before as the water could actually drain out.

Looking at the pictures, you would have a pretty harsh mot tester if he failed that.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

When Becky, our 2010 Panda Dynamic Eco, was at our local fiat independent garage a couple of weeks ago getting a new clutch I specifically asked him to give me an opinion on the rear axle as she has an MOT coming up very soon and I know there is quite a bit of rust on it, but not just quite as much as your's. He said he was really quite happy with it - so I suppose he'll have to find something else to fail her on!

 

[chris3234]

Good morning
I have a 2006 fiat Panda active. The MOTis due middle of march. In 2013 It failed it's MOT due to rear axle rust and had it replaced with a 2009 axle off another panda. Last year on the MOT. It had an Advisory that there was Heavy surface rust on rear axle . I have taken some photos and was wondering wether you kind,knowledgeable people could tell me if you think it'll fail the MOT in its current state . It such a shame as the rest of the car is sweet as a nut. Car has done 53000 miles and is garaged kept.
Thanks in advance

Should pass
But need a through sanding/wire brush then a couple of coats of paint

 

[Michael Dranfield]

Tap it with a hammer to remove and heavey rust,then quick rub down with a wire brush and paint with either general purpose grease or brand new engine oil and you won't get any more advisories, it is going to be impossible to remove all surface rust and re paint with it in situ.

 

[CWUK82]

Thank you all for your input . So at this stage would it be right to say it's still surface rust at this point .
second hand rear axles in good nick are as rare as unicorn poop. So will have to see if the garage can treat it .

 

[varesecrazy]

Thank you all for your input . So at this stage would it be right to say it's still surface rust at this point .
second hand rear axles in good nick are as rare as unicorn poop. So will have to see if the garage can treat it .

Slightly beyond SURFACE.. but not as far as structural..

As stated.. giving it a liberal coating of an oil should almost halt further damage.
(You can do this yourself.. a bit like creosoting a fence.. messy but cheap..)


Technically the corrosion is Oxidisation

Any coating that keeps Oxygen away from the metal should stop further damage.

Charlie

 

[Sweetsixteen]

How can you tell if it's just surface rust without first cleaning the rust off?
Do that first, then post some photos, and the helpful guys on here will have more to go on.
Otherwise, any conclusions are little more than guesswork.

 

[varesecrazy]

How can you tell if it's just surface rust without first cleaning the rust off?
Do that first, then post some photos, and the helpful guys on here will have more to go on.
Otherwise, any conclusions are little more than guesswork.

It still carries a spring in each cup..

So structually ok


To me.. surface rust.. is staining..

This looks well beyond 'discoloured..'

 

[DaveMcT]

I've seen far worse - and I looked at quite a few. The usual failure point is about 20 to 30mm from where the pan is welded to the axle frame. I suspect its a stress point that accelerates corrosion.

If you intend to keep the car clean the base metal and weld reinforcement steel about 75mm long from the frame along the side of the spring pan. Clean the rust well as it will otherwise continue under the new metal. I'm suggesting do it now because its so much easier to repair something that's not yet failed than wait for it to collapse.

Elsewhere, clean off flaking rust and treat with thinned chain saw oil. It soak nicely into any surface rust and eventually polymerises so its not oily for too long. DON'T get it on the body paint as it's a nightmare to remove.

If you don't intend to keep the car, clean it enough that your chain saw oil treatment does a good enough job. A healthy axle will sell the car that bit better.

 

[goggs]

Over 50 odd years my remedy has been to chip away the flaky rust layers, wire brush it whether hand or power tools, then make up a mixture of lithium grease and old engine oil and slap/rub it in. Usually only lasts about a year though but you'll be checking it out again anyway the following year. Brake pipes were done the same way, making sure there's no scabby rust on them and they were smooth and not pitted.
Even had a garden sprayer made up at one time that I squirted a more liquid mixture into the sills.

 

[koalar]

Hard to tell from a photo. Pictures 1,2,5 look to have areas that need closer investigation

 

[DaveMcT]

Over 50 odd years my remedy has been to chip away the flaky rust layers, wire brush it whether hand or power tools, then make up a mixture of lithium grease and old engine oil and slap/rub it in. Usually only lasts about a year though but you'll be checking it out again anyway the following year. Brake pipes were done the same way, making sure there's no scabby rust on them and they were smooth and not pitted.
Even had a garden sprayer made up at one time that I squirted a more liquid mixture into the sills.

I spray chain saw oil thinned with white spirit but it was the hassle that made me have my axle zinc metal sprayed. Clearly it's more than necessary but it wasn't costly. Rust is almost impossible to stop - hence the regular re-treatments and the grit blast and spray cost was just £80 plus the use of a car to take (and return) the axle to the metal finishers. Decent quality paint isnt cheap and doing the job under the car is horrible. I dont have a garage lift like Edd China.

I chose to paint over the metal spray but it wasn't really necessary. For the record I used etch primer and Hammerite smooth black.

Another option is fit a Fiat 500 axle and springs with rubber spring seats at both ends, then clean and sell the old axle. You get a smoother riding better handling car for around £150 with money back from the old axle. It's improved our 1.2 Dynamic to such an extent I think its worth doing even when the Panda axle is not rusted out. Sadly, it wont work on the 100HP.