Rust spots on new ST exhaust

[E7hty]

Hi again guys any ideas here ? Sitting on 110 miles and currently in the garage. Noticed it by chance really the bendy exhaust pipe near the drivers rear wheel I noticed surface rust spots all clustered in the one area maybe 6 inches long. Is this normal on a brand new motor never mind ST ? 

 

Cheers

[stef123]

if its mild steel then yes, surface rust is literally just that - some salt spray left overnight on a piece of mild steel will cause it to be rusty by the morning. 

[E7hty]

Not sure buddy it's the bendy part of the pipe which can be directly seen by the drivers rear wheel looking directly underneath. Is this liable to cause any problems. ie become worse gradually to the point of failing ? 

[stef123]

I'm not familiar with the exhaust setup of your car but it will take a fair bit of corrosion to eat away at a standard exhaust to cause it to fail. Most factory exhausts are mild steel, given the exhaust heats up and cools down constantly and is also subject to water and salt they do become rusty quite quickly, especially around welds. 
 

You should be thinking about a new system from pipe dynamics anyway 

[E7hty]

As long as it lasts me 4 years I'm happy ! It's mainly on an actual stretch of pipe. Perhaps the U.K. weather doesn't help etc You'd think Ford would mak OEM exhausts stainless steel. 

 

Cant really afford to put any uprated parts on it and I wouldn't anyway I'm happy with how it is in all honesty haha

[E7hty]

I've sent a quick email to my dealer to see what he says to cover myself 

[isetta]

hard to say without a photo. my 2007 fiesta had a hole in the exhaust pipe about 2 cm forward of the rear silencer (not on the actual join) when it was only 4 years old. hole about the size of 5p coin. put some exhaust paste on a piece of biscuit tin type metal and held it over the hole with hose clip(worm drive type). When it was 5 yrs old I had to replace the rear silencer as it was splitting open all over the place. Very disappointing for the original exhaust on a car.

In comparison my wife's 2001 Focus still had original exhaust on when we sold it at 15 years old. the rust on the exhaust looked terrible for at least the last 8 years but it never went right through

[CREED]

The stock ST exhaust is mild steel so it will show some signs of surface rust. The tips are chromed so they are the only bit which should stay shiny

[E7hty]

Yes but it's done 130 miles not thousand. It's two weeks old. Are they built to last or is it just a terrible exhaust because they know people change it ? If I get 4 years out of it I'll be happy if not I won't be 

 

 

[E7hty]

Also I looked at the guy at the works Focus ST 6 month older yet his looks brand new compared to mine 

[GingerFlame]

that looks perfectly normal for mild steel to be fair 

 

Most factory systems are mild steel, it isn't just ford or the fiesta. Surface rust can stay just that for years before it becomes serious 

 

 

Personally I went for a custom 2.5" Full system with sports cat made from T304 Stainless Steel = no rust for me. Lifetime warranty too 

[Tuffers69]

Thats fine itl last years, just be thankful its not on show! Every time i park my motorbike up the exhaust ends up looking like that!

[Paramanic]

nah thats normal lol if you want it to be shiny all the time upgrade to stainless steel exhaust :) 

[Ian Lanc]

Once read a while back were a chap took his whole exhaust system off his newish car and had it galvanised at a local steel engineering company!!

Anyone had this done or thought about getting it done ? Would really extend the life of an exhaust!

[Paramanic]

Depends on price as it's probably cheaper just to get custom or one of the top brands 

[Tuffers69]

The problem with protecting the outside of the exhaust is that they don't rust from the outside in, it's the inside out due to condensation!

[Ian Lanc]

21 hours ago, Tuffers69 said:

The problem with protecting the outside of the exhaust is that they don't rust from the outside in, it's the inside out due to condensation!

This is when galvanised comes in to play as the whole exhaust is dipped in the stuff, so every nook & cranny is protected, inside & out.

Found out that my friend who's father in law owns steel fabrication and they do galvanising, so going to enquire how much it would cost to get a full exhaust dipped.