Hi,
Decided to finally get some much needed paint work done on my CRD. It was brought to my attention that there is paint is blistered around the trailgate light. I live in Colorado, until recently, was a very dry climate.

Anybody else notice this? Anybody know where this is coming from? The paint is not broken and the bubbles in paint means to me that the rust is occurring under the paint. Bummer!

Tips would be appreciated. I'm getting fresh paint and hail repair done early next week and may get this fixed but don't want it to happen again.

Thanks!

Drew

By tailgate light I am assuming you mean the roof mounted third brake light. I had noticed on the left side of mine is a hard bubble in the paint. I have not noticed any rust yet or cracked paint. I was hoping at this time it was weld slag or misplaced sealer. One day I will need to take the light off & check. Let me know what you find if you get into it.

Cheap jeep junk, that's the answer, lol. I just fixed a rust bubble under the paint on rear passenger door, towards the rocker. Everything surrounding it is not rusty, looks like the metal had issues from the factory. The rest of the paint also seems immaculate.

_________________
2005 kj CRD, samco, suncoast tc, provent, Kennedy lift pump, GDE ECO full torque, 2nd gen filter head, 245/70/16 a/t tires, mopar light bar, fumoto oil valve, OEM Skid Plates, ARB Front bumper and HD OME, tru cool LPD47391 40k GVW tranny cooler (stock cooler delete), FF Dynamics e-fan and shroud, rocker arms replaced, HDS2 190F thermostat.

Edges or seams like that are susceptible to rust on any vehicle from any company unless the panels in question are something like aluminum, plastic, or fiberglass. Usually what happens is the paint is not fully applied "around" the corner and in any case it's going to be thin there and easily damaged so little to no paint equals likely rust. Not a DCJ issue alone I've seen it on DCJ, Ford, Chevy, MG and Mercedes.

Bubbles under paint are a bad thing and "demand" as immediate attention as possible (delay is not your friend). If you are lucky the bubble is caused by surface rust popping the paint loose but if you are unlucky the rust has broken thru from the back side and is popping the front side paint looose.

At minimum you need to remove the loose paint and a bit of the surrounding area; KILL all the rust or as much as possible (depending on location using sand paper, wire wheel, or sand blaster followed by chemical treatment usually with a phosphoric acid based solution; I use a local chem company product and have for decades of car rebuilding and such so I get it in 4-6gallon lots but any good parts store will have an acceptable product); repair any rust holes (I like the waterproof fiberglass reinforced "bondo" for the base coat); apply a quality rust proof primer; apply top coat of your choice.

This repair is not hard but you need to do it sooner rather than later and do it right.

_________________
Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

Yep... I have the same rust bubble by my 3rd brake light. I need to address it someday.

_________________
Mike Rausch
Bear, Delaware
2006 Liberty Sport CRD 253K

X2

_________________
TWO Identical 2005 Liberty Sport CRDS
#1 CRD, 174,000 miles. Eco tune, Samco hoses. Mobil1 0-40w used since day one
#2 CRD 143,000 miles. Bought used (unknown history) with 100,000 miles. Samco hoses.
Eco tune, new rockers, and 5 volt glow plugs installed at 124,000 miles

"Tips would be appreciated. I'm getting fresh paint and hail repair done early next week and may get this fixed but don't want it to happen again."

The Princess's rusted around the light about 5yrs ago. I asked Chrysler Jacka$$es to fix it as this wasn't, "normal". Well according to Chrysler Jacka$$ses, it was "normal".
Went to a body shop on fixing it, high price + no guarantee on rust return. I dremmeled out the rust bubbles, added rust killer, dabbed in touch-up color. No more rust and I gave her a no rust return guanrantee. Imagine that. An old cantankerous carpenter does better body work than the great hoitie toitie Abbra.

_________________
05 KJ CRD Limited..
08 WK CRD Laredo
03 DR 2500 Cummins
13 Edge Limited AWD

Yep not hard to repair in place if you catch it soon and kill all the rust, been there done that a bunch on older car rebuilds. Body shops unless you find a "real" one don't repair anything anymore; just like most places they just toss on new parts. I mind the time I got popped on the rear end. Me 1973 Plymouth Satellite other party later 1990s Ford LTD, me stopped at red light Ford did not on wet road, Ford bumper/grill/hood/radiator/both headlights gone, me tiny scratch in but not thru chrome on rear bumper/tiny ding in silver color panel below trunk lid. I got ca. $250 from other party's insurance; nice since fix cost teaspoon of bondo/way less than that finish putty/2 minutes of sanding/1 minute of Rustoleum primer and silver paint - all supplies on hand net cost 0 my time maybe 15 minutes.

I am a bit curious about the dealer response because it dxxn sure is not "normal" and if you had the factory warranty rust was covered for all external panels for 5yrs or 100k miles on the O5 model.

_________________
Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

"I am a bit curious about the dealer response because it dxxn sure is not "normal" and if you had the factory warranty rust was covered for all external panels for 5yrs or 100k miles on the O5 model."

I used the "dxxn sure plus maybe one or two enhancements" phrase as they took the pictue and issued me the no dice. Surface rust was not covered only rust thru. The rep took a picture and sent it off to the almighty Auburn Hills. No dice. It took me maybe 60 minutes to do the repair. Dealing with the Chrysler jacka$$es would have bee futile (based on years of past battles). I have a good parts friend in the same Jeep portal and He said there was absolutetly no rhyme or reason to the rust policy. He said he's seen Chrysler repair the rust on a 10 year old mnivan and deny a two year old vehicle. I guess it amounts too, if the one who decides has cramps that day or is getting along with their wife or girl friend or special friend or what ever you name it these days.

_________________
05 KJ CRD Limited..
08 WK CRD Laredo
03 DR 2500 Cummins
13 Edge Limited AWD

Yep, surface rust is not included, must be rust through. Had a 06 Cherokee that had rust through on the floor pan. They replaced the entire floor pan on that vehicle. It was the only part that was not rusty after 10 years.

Spend must time in auto plants as a suppliers of adhesive and sealants to the OEM industry. The worst exterior metal on a vehicle is the roof. Through 2005 when I left the roof were still cold rolled steel(CRS). There was no galvanized metal on the roof. They came in with a lot of oil coating the metal so it wouldn't rust. When the body went through chemical conversion and e-coat the interior of the roof would hold a bubble of air and not get coated properly. The newer e-coat tanks allow the car body to flip during coating so the entire panels would get coated. CRS and no e-coat leads to quick rusting. I spent a lot of time in Toledo and can tell you that is why most XJ roofs started to rust quickly. The Liberty was better though obviously not perfect.

? Wait, I want the last 3 years of my life back, where did they go?

On topic, I have the same CHMSL-area rust bubbles on my '06.....

_________________
2006 Liberty CRD - the commuter. GDE Full Tq Eco, Samcos, etecno GPs

2006 GMC Sierra Duramax/Allison - the toy
RIP - 1995 Tahoe 6.5 TD
1990 JD 332, yep, the mower is a diesel too

I do that all the time for some reason. It was a '96. I must have lost a decade somewhere.

Totally understandable.

You lost the 90s, I lost the 80s.....god I miss college.

_________________
2006 Liberty CRD - the commuter. GDE Full Tq Eco, Samcos, etecno GPs

2006 GMC Sierra Duramax/Allison - the toy
RIP - 1995 Tahoe 6.5 TD
1990 JD 332, yep, the mower is a diesel too

'02 here(feb of '02) and not a hint of rust around the 3rd brake light.Then again I actually wash my vehicle often(every sunday regardless of weather) and the whole roof has been bedlined since '02 also.