Rust Under Door Sills

ducsingle

ducsingle

Member
A few days ago I posted a question about removing the black plastic door sills. Now I'm glad I did.

I found the beginnings of rust on all (4) door sills [I have dual sliding doors], especially on the driver's door. As I suspected, the black plastic had worn through the paint, and the door sills trap moisture, leading to corrosion. This could be really bad in a wet climate.

I used a Dremel tool + wire brush attachment to clean up the lightly rusted areas. Then I put a couple of coats of Herculiner truck bed liner on the bottom of the sills, making sure I didn't block the drain holes. The Herculiner was about $30 at Kragen and one can was sufficient to do all (4) door sills.

I did the same thing with the plastic strip that runs under the rear doors as there was some light rust forming there as well.
 
TimJuhl

TimJuhl

Member
Rust is an issue with Sprinters.... It may have something to do with the paint job they got when they were assembled in the US. I get the impression that those vans that received a topcoat over the white base are less prone to such issues.

I found something similar to what you described when I was going over my van while converting it to a camper. See: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3809&highlight=rust

While you're at it, take a look at the top of the roof around the spot welds... another problem area.

My approach has been to be vigilant and take care of little problems before they become big ones.

Tim
 
mawsea

mawsea

sprinter guru
I had the same deal. Well worth looking into and fixing. It appears the paint job on these vans is below industry standards.
 
mawsea

mawsea

sprinter guru
The automotive......?

standards have been lowered. I have a 1979 mercedes 300sd sitting in my same driveway owned for as long as I have owned my Sprinter and it has NO RUST. The car and the van get the exact same treatment. The fact is mercedes knows how to paint a vehicle yet they failed to properly paint or prep? the sprinter.
 
Altered Sprinter

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
Correction look at a Euro Sprinter V as US import to a designed US standard be it from Germany or assembled in the US.
Front steps sides and the step has a deadner strip built into the voids they require servicing from time to time, depending on the atmospherics conditions of road use.
The deadner strips prevents small rubble bits of rubbish from catching on the plastic base, thus preventing the scraping of the painted surface from abrasion.
Cargo door strip same deal rubble builds up so a clean out is required from time to time, but the small water holes for releasing water build up, these plugs are a rubber stopper seal pull out and replace when cleaned, not left open for exhaust fumes and water bedrock contamination to enter into the voids.
Salts on roads don't help either. but that's a environmental issues with counties municipal administrators, not the manufactures.

There are two paint types but the secondary coating stops on the leading folded edge of the inner panels, the two whites or colors clearly show,on type one and type two painted finishes.
they can be a pain to maintain, but it's a maintenance issue of cleaning out the rubbish to stop any rust from building in the voids, due to dampness from salt contaminated crusty rusticates forming.
Richard
 
G

georgetg

2005 140" low roof
mawsea said:
The automotive......?
standards have been lowered. I have a 1979 mercedes 300sd sitting in my same driveway owned for as long as I have owned my Sprinter and it has NO RUST. The car and the van get the exact same treatment. The fact is mercedes knows how to paint a vehicle yet they failed to properly paint or prep? the sprinter.
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You are correct

MB Commercial vehicles are just that.
Most businesses write off the cost of the vehicle in 4 years time.
Basically the rust is never an issue for the original purchaser.

The sad part is MB has the highest standards among the mass produced Commercial vehicles.
Don't dare look at a Ducato or Transit in those areas...

Cheers
George
 
T

talkinghorse43

Well-known member
Altered Sprinter said:
Front steps sides and the step has a deadner strip built into the voids they require servicing from time to time, depending on the atmospherics conditions of road use.
The deadner strips prevents small rubble bits of rubbish from catching on the plastic base, thus preventing the scraping of the painted surface from abrasion.
Cargo door strip same deal rubble builds up so a clean out is required from time to time, but the small water holes for releasing water build up, these plugs are a rubber stopper seal pull out and replace when cleaned, not left open for exhaust fumes and water bedrock contamination to enter into the voids.
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Not the way my '02 passenger was built in Duesseldorf. No such deadener strips or plugs.
 
T

talkinghorse43

Well-known member
glasseye said:
They paint 'em in South Carolina? Surely they're painted in Germany.:idunno:
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Agreed, but probably not to the same standard. We got bargain Sprinters and you don't get something for nothing in this world. The hood of my '02 looks like it was painted to the EU & OZ std, but not the rest. The rest looks like a primer or metal prep issue with the water creeping under the paint at scratches/chips.
 
mawsea

mawsea

sprinter guru
mean_in_green said:
Not a like for like comparison though.
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Why not? It's made by the same manufacturer. It is in the same enviroment. It recieves the same cleaning treatment. It is driven on the same roads. So why doesnt my 79 300sd show signs of rust? Also why is there no rust on the hood of my sprinter? It takes the brunt of the weather and debris yet the paint chips aren't rusting. IMHO IT is rusting due to a manufacturing defect, not the enviroment.
 
3

312 diesel (closed)

Guest
mawsea said:
Why not? It's made by the same manufacturer. It is in the same enviroment. It recieves the same cleaning treatment. It is driven on the same roads. So why doesnt my 79 300sd show signs of rust? Also why is there no rust on the hood of my sprinter? It takes the brunt of the weather and debris yet the paint chips aren't rusting. IMHO IT is rusting due to a manufacturing defect, not the enviroment.
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The environmental standards have changed. Your '79 will have been painted using solvent based paints, rust protected with solvent based anti rust waxes, there was galvinising and zinc passivating. The simple fact is that a lot of that technology used in '79 has been banned or severely restricted.

This isn't a munufacturing defect, it's largely down to the change in materials.
 
Altered Sprinter

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
I should have said plugs only on the cargo door sides, 312 showed the somewhat insignificant deadened strips of the front step wheels and they cleaned up quite well considering the thing was full of concrete and builders rubble.

A simple solution is to place some corking rubber strips such as used in air con piping to prevent condensation,put this strip at the base of the plastic step where rubble can get caught and cause the step to squeak and abrade painted surfaces at the highest raised point of possiable damage, All I do is put an air gun through every three months or so on the drivers side to blow out any small amount of debris that may have gotten in from my shoes dislodging grit on the edge of the leading step and between the rubber door sill.

even my cargo door section has had some hots from MEK leaking from a can that should bite straight through the paint, but it didn't. It's dirty but no rust Guess I'll take it out and have to clean it up or maybe there will be a problem when the vans ten years old.

Warranty for paint on an NCV irrespective of who is at fault is covered for up to 12 years depending on country of origin it's sent to.

Think Seek was the first to photograph this section a few years back the screws may be a weak point that's an easy fix using either locktite gasket seal blue or the semi thread lock red heat and moisture proof, that will prevent water from penetrating at possibly causing rust to spread at that point of juncture.
Richard
​
 
mean_in_green

mean_in_green

>2,000,000m in MB vans
mawsea said:
Why not? It's made by the same manufacturer. It is in the same enviroment.
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Aside from the differences in manufacturing processes already described white Sprinters only have the bare minimum of paint on them. This white finish is intended for the fleet markets and whatever they want to put on that - be it a wrap, vinyl, or more paint etc. This is all a large portion of the market requires.

You can have proper paint on a Sprinter, but you have to pay for it (currently £585). Most people either don't need or want to pay for it or are unaware they can have it.

Your '79 300SD didn't have this issue - it would have been painted to the factory's highest available standard, priced into the new retail cost.
 
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