Winter / salt / rust - how best to take care of the car?

So my car is over 14 years old, and rust coatings don't last forever. No real issues yet, but I'm wondering what I should do to avoid problems. Some people - not sure if this applies to Porsche owners - seem to think old cars should have 40 pounds or so of rust protectant sprayed all over the underside every so often. And how about the salt? I'm thinking the more I wash the car the better, especially the underside (though I've yet to see a car wash with a jack ... ). On the other hand, the more high pressure soap and water I spray under the car, the less rust protection I'll have left, no? Any thoughts about adding rust protection or other proactive meassures? Or about cleaning? Thanks!

I saw this stuff from Eastwood a few years ago when I lived in Mn, never tried it though. A salt neutralizer, supposedly spray on and off. http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s-s...p-sprayer.html

more washing the better IMO, the factory cosmoline is very tough and doubt washing will ever take it off....if you can clean the car of all salt, you can apply fresh/additional cosmoline or other quality undercoatings, such as Krown. Majority of the underside does not need undercoatings, just aim for hardware, and sheet metal crevices, joints, and open ends.

For sports cars, 911s are incredibly tough when it comes to dealing with bad weather. The primary fastners (suspension, brakes, subframes) are zinc coated and I have yet to see any of them rust. The only bolt that I have replaced due to rust was the exhaust clamps right next to the rear bumper. The nice thing about a rear engine car is that the components arent getting blasted with spray from the car ahead so it stays pretty well protected. That said, a simple high pressure rinse every week (or more) is a good thing and make sure you spend some time underneath as well. As long as your not too close you wont risk damaging anything, its all pretty well sealed against elements. I do like to apply motorcycle chain lube to any exposed threads every so often but its probably more OCD than necessary

*don't drive it in the salt..?

Run it through underblast car wash at the end of the winter if you MUST drive when salt is on the roads. Once a year. That's what I do. No problems so far nor do I expect any problems. It's a car. A very special car but it's a car. CAR WASH duh. More damage is caused from stone chips flying up off the road than ever a car wash can cause. Mind you I have no need to take it into a car wash any more as I have decided NEVER to drive it when snow is in sight.

The wheel wells are my biggest concern.

Winter? Salt? Rust? What do these strange words mean?

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Ha!! And winter tires too, right?! I will be giving mine a rinse tomorrow as the temps warm up and will spray a little S100 Corrosion Protectant on various hardware bits to make me feel better. It probably doesn't do much but I figure it can't hurt. I do like BAD.TAG's idea of chain lube. That isn't a bad idea. Thanks B.

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No prob, it works well but dries very viscous so just dont do parts like the front hood latch or it will inhibit movement when cold (as me how I know ) I have been tempted to try Cosmoline too but compared to a $10 can of chain lube, its a bit pricey - http://www.cosmolinedirect.com/vehic...ing-solutions/ - Brett

Thanks everyone for all the helpful advice! As soon as I started the thread, an advert for CAT electronic rust protection: http://www.catsystemsaustralia.com.a...FWTHtAodMBMAig Anyone know anything about it? This (or some sort of electronic rust protection) apparently been around for a long time, so it seems to me that either there is some disadvantage (like it doesn't work?), or every car would already have it.

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And BAD.TAG, really just the threads of screws? I mean, what you wrote seems entirely clear. I just wouldn't have thought these were the only parts that need protection, nor the most valuable - but then if I were sure I knew much about rust protection, I wouldn't have started this thread ...

I use Boeshield spray on the suspension parts year round, it provides a lot of protection with easy application. When salt is on the road I try to keep the 911 off though.

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No need to over think this. Just whenever the ambient air temperature climbs above freezing visit the local DIY car wash and give the a good rinsing with the wand set to the rinse setting then follow with the no spot rinse. I rinse the well wheels and the wheels/tires and brake hardware. I have something I can lay on the ground so I can get down and aim the wand spray at the underside of the car to rinse away any salt. This rinse water won't remove any cosmoline. It takes something like diesel fuel or some petroleum based cleaner to remove cosmoline. Afterwards be sure you drive the car and use the brakes enough to get them hot to thoroughly dry the brakes, or the rotors will rust something fierce. Come spring then treat the car to a thoroughly wash and rinse. I would do this at home using a garden hose so I could really flood rinse the car both from above and from underneath. These cars are quite well protected against rust. There is a caution I would add however: Many lift their cars using metal jack lift pads which can damage the paint of the lift pads of the car. The underside of the car is painted with a very durable plastic based paint that is rock chip resistant. However, if the car is lifted improperly this paint can be damaged, cracked, or worse the actual metal exposed, and this can allow salt water to get in and next to the metal. It is very important to lift these cars properly and use something to protect the lift points from any damage from the lifting.

As previously mentioned, these cars are very well protected against corrosion. Germany has winter too..... My routine for all of my cars is to regularly run them through a TOUCHLESS (not the whirling scratching brushes) carwash that has a good underbody spray, especially after it has snowed. When time and temperature allows, I wash them in my garage with a rinseless wash (Optimum No Rinse). I give them a full spring clean with a scrub of the wheel wells, polish/wax, etc.

I've read that salt-away does a great job Apparently other anti salt sprays make it worse because the acid eats away at the paint

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I have never taken one of my German cars through a carwash. I always prefered to wash it myself. The idea of the undercarriage spray to clean salt away that is difficult to get to makes sense. It seems though that I read a Car and Driver article one time where they damaged the 996 in an automatic car wash. Maybe the rails are too high or the stop plate too high???

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My thoughts exactly Frankly it would seem wrong to drive one in winter. In my search I've completely ignored cars that were exposed to a northern winter (road salt / extreme cold etc...) Winter driving is what winter beaters are for. just my opinion Will

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Well, I respect your opinion - it can make sense to make some sacrifices in order to take care of the car. My view: it would seem wrong not to drive it every chance I get! That's reason enough for me. What's more, winter provides some driving thrills that summer can't. (There's also a view, expressed elsewhere in this forum, that letting the car sit all winter causes it's own problems.)

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....But if you drive the 911 enough it will become a winter beater...

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I don't do the ones that have rails or stop plates. The one I frequent is just a drive in and park, you drive over the underbody spray bar as you enter. The sprayer moves around the perimeter of the car to clean it. When weather doesn't permit a proper wash, it's sufficient to get the worst of the gunk off. German cars are no different than any other car, the car wash won't hurt anything. I'll take a car that's driven over a car that's sat, any day. Cars aren't designed to sit idle, it brings all sorts of issues. Besides, driving a Porsche in the winter on snow tires is a blast.

When I was a kid I lived back east just outside of Boston. We had what my dad called the good car and a beater that we drove in bad weather and the winter snow. The good car stayed in the garage during bad weather and when the roads were salted but we always had a blast driving the beater car. I'm pretty sure that if my dad had a Porsche it would have been in the garage during the winter. I been lucky to live in Vegas or southern california as far as weather goes so my cars stay cherry and I get to ride my bikes year round.

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Depends on what you can reach. If you can see the head of the bolt and nut then I cover that as well. Living in the NE I have encountered my share of frozen hardware on other cars, so maybe its a bit paranoid but I dont think it can hurt. I'm looking at it from a "should I ever need to get this loose" point of view, but I'm sure you could broaden the application as you see fit. Its a bit thick for moving parts like latches though, as I noted. If you think of something else that would make sense, post it =)

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I used to work at one back in high school. Its the guide rails that damage the rim. If the rim was too wide it would grind away the inner lip as it rolled through

Cars don't last forever. Drive it hard, fast and long so it dies of mechanical failure instead of slowly rusting away.

no one has posted here for a long time but the issue still remains. I have two cars - 991 and 964 so one of them has to be driven in the NE winters with lots of snow, potholes and yes, salt. 964 has never seen snow nor rain ( in my possession, can't speak for her first 24 years of life) so its the 991.1 that gets winter duty. I know this is taboo for many but I won't give up one of the 911's for a winter beater though that would make a lot of sense. So how do you guys get to the under carriage ? Do you have the car lifted and sprayed clean or relying on some on the ground system you can drive over ? The local car wash has some "under carriage spray" but I've never taken any porsche through the regular wash - they've always been hand washed by me or others. Problem is, I don't know how to get under the car- I suppose I could jack it up and put her on jack stands ? Then again, I won't be able to have water during the winter time. HELP !!!?!

I live where winters are long and roads get heavily salted. A good trick is to put a lawn sprinkler under the vehicle and let it run for a half hour or so. But, salt is a killer even if you try to wash it off. My 911 stays in the garage in the winter.

You should use a pressure washer, rid your car�s exterior of brine deposits through regular bursts of water with mild detergent without scratching. And you also need to repeat wiping until the surface is without any salt stain and shows glow. For the undercarriage, spray it profusely as well.

Has anyone actually ever seen a 996 with a rust problem? I have not. German cars can handle winter weather. They don�t melt in the rain like Ferraris do ​​​​​​​

Old thread but, undercarriage wands and a quality former should be in everyone�s toy chest.

During the winter here in New England (which uses salt and brine spray liberally), I take it to a touchless car wash several times a month, just for the underbody spray during the winter snow season. The wash doesn't clean the car all that well, but it does cut down on the crap underneath. In the spring, I use Salt Away, jacking the car up and getting into every little nook and cranny (even pulling the fender liners out and cleaning behind them). I do like that wand idea and will pick one up this winter (easier on my back).

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I have one of those. Really nice tool. You Tube

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yes, I have one that spent its life in new York, and getting many bolts and parts off the car is difficult at best. Don�t kid yourself into thinking it�s German it�s fine. They are better than some cars, but will have issues. As said above, I steer clear of purchases from salty road states, it makes simple repairs difficult.

[QUOTE=cdk4219;18513013]yes, I have one that spent its life in new York, and getting many bolts and parts off the car is difficult at best. Don�t kid yourself into thinking it�s German it�s fine. They are better than some cars, but will have issues. As said above, I steer clear of purchases from salty road states, it makes simple repairs difficult.[/QUOTE Many a collectible never see�s snow, garaged kept and used 9 months out of the year.

Walk, don't run, to get "Salt-Away": Amazon Amazon And a foam gun sprayer (if you don't have one): Amazon Amazon Salt-away removes salt and leaves a protective coating. Can be used everywhere as a pre-wash (apply by foam gun), spray and then rinse off everywhere, then do regular wash. Underneath the car, spray on, rinse off (to clean), then spray on again and don't rinse to leave a protective coating.

How do you get that under the car with a foam gun?

Doing a spring cleanup It takes less than 15 min to get her up with a set of lift bars.

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There are two types of foam guns - garden hose and pressure washer guns. The garden hose type sprays water that foams, the pressure washer type is more like snow. I use the garden hose type with Salt-Away and you can spray the undercarriage in a pretty in a pretty targeted fashion from underneath. You could also jack it up to get better access.

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Before 1977, when they started zinc-coating the bodies, and then galvanizing with the SC model in 1978, 911�s used to rust like crazy, � worse than a �typical� car in my experience, but from 1978 onward, they are quite rust resistant. The above said, even trace amounts of salt and other junk from the road lingering on the undercarriage, with the cars now being 20+ years old, it�s worth cleaning the undercarriage in my opinion to keep it in the best condition. Our 996 is parked for winter 99% of the time. I still do Salt-Away in the spring, and again right before parking it for winter. It takes only a few minutes to do. You�ll likely see a difference in the surface rust that normally accumulates on the brake rotor bats.

I am a fan of Fluid Film aerosol . Can be purchased at big box stores and your local hardware store . It is an oily waxy spray that I spray onto hard brake lines , transmission housing and suspension pieces . It clings and gets absorbed leaving a protective film . I have a lift so very easy for me to inspect my cars .

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Fluid Film is really good. I have used it on my M1009 for years with good results. I just switched to PB Blaster Surface Shield, as they claim it lasts significantly longer, especially in higher abrasion areas, like wheel wells and other similar areas. We shall see.

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Haven't used anything on my 996, but I've used CRC HD Corrosion Inhibitor on another car, in select areas, as recommended per this review: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lyWHF4NoNVk

For detail, Firstly you will use a pressure washer, rid your car’s exterior of brine deposits through regular bursts of water with mild detergent. With a damp microfiber cloth, wiping away the remaining salt deposit stains and do this gently to avoid scratching your car’s paint. You need to repeat wiping until the surface is without any salt stain and shows glow. For the undercarriage, spray it profusely as well.

Ship it to Florida for the Winter!

can anyone advise what the big deal is with the foam type soap? does it do the job of a wash fit, or what?

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First of all, it makes the car wash more fun FWIW. Foam should stick to the car more than just soapy water helping to soften any dirt that is on the car body. If you use a good product it will help lift a lot of the dirt, vs soapy water that will just quickly run off. There is a lot more to it but a proper wash technique will go a long way in maintaining nice paint finish and not adding a crap load of swirls and scratches.

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It really is more fun isn't it? But yes, the idea is to hold the moisture and soap against the dirty stuff longer and hopefully loosen it up. I've added it to my winter maintenance and I like it. As for commercial car washes, one of my main concerns is whether or not they filter out the salt when they recycle their water. I haven't been able to find a substantive answer. If they don't, they're pressure blasting saline solution into every nook and cranny of your vehicle. Not good.

I'm probably in the minority but I never go to any automatic car washes, especially in the winter and I find hand washing my car enjoyable and therapeutic. During winter, I'll wait till it gets closer to 40 and I'll do a rinse-less wash. Car is usually back to clean in under 45 mins.