Check out what I have found under the wheel liner

[vwtdi04]

Today I decided to rotate my wheels, and for no reason I decided to check how the body shop did the repaint of the fenders , went through the VW warranty (pain peeling off on the fender) , anyway I looked underneath where the lip is and I see rust .. coming back on new paint.. so I decided to remove the wheel liner and I notice I couldn't remove the bolts, all were rusted , now I was curious even more did they suppose to remove the wheel liners to check for rust on inside of the fender , after spraying WD40 , the bolts let go.. I spotted rust on the inside of the lip paint was peeling off , so I decided to deal with this issue myself, I cleaned the rust and painted myself on inside since nobody will look there , anyway I also notice this crap of dirt

sitting , I couldn't believe it, how much it collected over 6 years, so I cleaned it and found this more rust

so quickly I check other side and found dirt there as well

but this side didn't rust so I was lucky, I cleaned driver side and sprayed with rust paint, there about 5 coats..
I have also removed on both side this fender bump ?

it was soaked with water and I guess this is a cause of the rust on the inside fender and spreading to outside..

anyway I thought the body shop would remove the fenders and repained from both side but what they did is paint outside and what ever was visible to naked eye leaving the problem still inside..
I decided not to call and get involved and complain about it, it will take too much time to resolve this, feeling disspointed.. but I incourage to check both fenders for this dirt, I actually weighted and it was 1.8 lbs all together..
now my car is lighter.. hehehe

 

[Uisge]

This reminds me of another post that I saw this summer, where BrianCT had a little garden growing in there:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=141784

I checked mine out and there was some dirt, but not like yours.

 

[HossMan]

That piece of foam is to be removed by the dealer asit is the root of the problem. Barrie Autohaus claims they remove the inner fender and foam ,clean and paint and finish with a layer of rust proofing before the inner liner goes back on .

 

[Occams_Razor]

Where is that foam located?

I peeled back my fender liners when I was replacing the suspension on my wagon and found pretty much the same quantity of dirt and leaves but I didn't see any foam, (and thank goodness no rust!)

 

[Gringo]

Same on my 2001 jetta. Those pictures are after 100,000km.

Before:

Ater:

Luckily there was no rust on either sides.

 

[TheTDIWagonGuy]

Mine was the same.

 

[vwtdi04]

Where is that foam located?

The foam is located inside at the top of the fender , you need to remove the wheel liner to see it ..
it sort of rests on the fender and inner wall of the engine wall

 

[Occams_Razor]

I assume you have to remove the tire to get to the foam?

 

[vwtdi04]

Yes I did remove the tire to get it..

 

[dieseltwo]

Thanks a whole lot vwtdi04, will check out mine this week-end. Now I know for sure that I will install one of the Counteract Electronic corrosion control systems on sale $100.00 off from CTC, on sale for $199.00 and $249.00 ending today Sept 22 must get one today. Will get the $249.00 one and install on week-end and clean wheel wells. Will check out back wheel wells too.

 

[Danny647]

Is the foam issue only for the 04 models or could it also be on the 06 models??

 

[kharmin]

And what is the alleged purpose of this foam? ? ?

 

[PharoahTDI]

I beleive the foam is there to quiet the engine noise.