Welding crack lines on front struts mount
#1
Welding crack lines on front struts mount
Hello. I bought a 2007 Honda Fit Sport A/T 2 years ago. I can't complain about it, I already put 50K miles on it. The cars is now 143K miles, and no major issues so far. I'm aware of the small crack lines that the fit trends to develop under the weather strip, causing the trunk to leak. I already had this issue in the past, and silicone fixed it like a champ.
The issue why i'm writing today is related, but more critical. I have discovered similar cracks around the welding of both front struts mounts. The cracks are located on the frame that support the struts. Cracks seems to be limited to the welding only, but they go all the way around the mount. Seems to be metal fatigue or stress cracks. Car has no accidents and a clean carfax.
Have anybody else run into this issue before?
The issue why i'm writing today is related, but more critical. I have discovered similar cracks around the welding of both front struts mounts. The cracks are located on the frame that support the struts. Cracks seems to be limited to the welding only, but they go all the way around the mount. Seems to be metal fatigue or stress cracks. Car has no accidents and a clean carfax.
Have anybody else run into this issue before?
#2
You'll need to grind it clean. Drill a 1/8 hole at the end of each crack, tig welder to weld them up. Typically this is from bottoming out the shocks / the shocks are too long. Struts need pulled and inspected. someone may have put some aftermarket carrtidges in or had drop springs on it before you bought it. Also common for a car thats seen a lot of autocross..
Last edited by dwtaylorpdx; 06-24-2017 at 05:01 AM.
#4
I dunno .. those seem minor so far. Not encouraging though. Also not sure what you can do without a major job. Keep an eye on it and realize it's not going to get worse abruptly.
Well, until it does. But I think it will get worse visually first.
Well, until it does. But I think it will get worse visually first.
#5
Ive seen enough track cars with this type of failure that I'd be leery about even driving it on the highway..
At the very least I'd go after it with a Scotch Body sanding pad and clean the whole area with the crack to metal, so you know the extent of the crack. Some times paint cracks from the metal flexing, there may not be a problem at all.
While its all still in one piece the repair is a couple hundred bucks, if it fails it could total the car..
#7
Actually the cracks shown are in the body sealant that covers the spot welds /pinch welds in this area. Cracks like this are common on 20 year old cars (station wagons or hatchbacks where the roof meets rear pillars, but I never saw them around the strut towers on my 25 year old 79 Supra with stone hard upper strut mounts and shot front struts or on my 27 year old 87 Camry.
The cracks are indicating not enough flexibility of sealant or incompetent design of the body (too flexible)
On my car I found short crack in the sealant (1/2 inch long)
Imagine what excuse will Honda make now?
However' I have not found any reports of the strut tower separation on older Jazz cars (either from Europe or even Russia, where road conditions are really bad)
The cracks are indicating not enough flexibility of sealant or incompetent design of the body (too flexible)
On my car I found short crack in the sealant (1/2 inch long)
Imagine what excuse will Honda make now?
However' I have not found any reports of the strut tower separation on older Jazz cars (either from Europe or even Russia, where road conditions are really bad)
#8
Still awaiting for Honda.
Actually the cracks shown are in the body sealant that covers the spot welds /pinch welds in this area. Cracks like this are common on 20 year old cars (station wagons or hatchbacks where the roof meets rear pillars, but I never saw them around the strut towers on my 25 year old 79 Supra with stone hard upper strut mounts and shot front struts or on my 27 year old 87 Camry.
The cracks are indicating not enough flexibility of sealant or incompetent design of the body (too flexible)
On my car I found short crack in the sealant (1/2 inch long)
Imagine what excuse will Honda make now?
However' I have not found any reports of the strut tower separation on older Jazz cars (either from Europe or even Russia, where road conditions are really bad)
The cracks are indicating not enough flexibility of sealant or incompetent design of the body (too flexible)
On my car I found short crack in the sealant (1/2 inch long)
Imagine what excuse will Honda make now?
However' I have not found any reports of the strut tower separation on older Jazz cars (either from Europe or even Russia, where road conditions are really bad)
Honda support chat was pretty quick: "your car is out of warranty , bye bye", I submitted a ticket directly to HQ, I'm awaiting reply now. I'm concern that this could be an issue similar to the cracks on the rear that cause the water leak. Have some body else check to see if the struts towers are damaged? Those cracks are really hard to see, specially if there is dirt and you are not directly looking for them.
Can you image if this is a high mileage wide spread issue? My car has 144k miles, and I drove it everyday for the last two years, 100 miles every day. I don't feel safe to drive it anymore .
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allmotormark
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10-10-2014 01:16 PM