Trying to determine whether to keep this car for the long term or not. I had planned to and it is still in immaculate condition until late last year I was told about the rust underneath. At first I did not believe it until I saw it. So the question is will I just put some Crown rust proofing on it to see if I can get a few more years or can the sills be repaired? I understand they are a major part of the integrity of the X Type so is there any way to fix them at a reasonable cost.

 

There are some previous threads about this so search the forum.

This is a fatal problem for the X Type because the rust in the A pillar is caused by the windshield run off being directed into the inside of the A pillar and then out the sills (incredibly stupid design). The A pillar is key to the car's strength and there are several layers inside the pillar. Just replacing the outer layer solves nothing other than looks because the inner layers are not replaced and with the uncoated welds inside the new sills the rust will be right back.

To illustrate look at this diagram

2003 JAGUAR X-TYPE Parts - OEM Part Catalog

You replace part 4 and it looks good, but parts 1 & 3 can still be compromised.

 

get rid of the car and do it fast! The 2002-2003 models had a major flaw in the drainage hole of the rocker panels. I had a very long fight with Jaguar that luckily worked out in my favor. They fixed the flaw in all the X-Type models from 2004 on. Here is the link to the issue I had and you are having.

rust already?!?! - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

 

Everyone, who else has had their cars replaced by Jaguar?

Jvegas, I assume your car was within the 6 year rust warranty? Do you know specifically what Jaguar did in 2004 that solved the problem?

 

MY car was withing the warranty when I first took it to them. By the time they told me to **** off and that i was stuck with the car it was after the warranty ended. I am not sure if you read the whole post (I know its very long), but at first they told me there was nothing they could do and that I needed to come get my car (I had a loaner from them at the time). That's when I called my lawyer. He told me what I should say and it worked! It was not easy and even after I did as he instructed it still took 3 months to get them to agree to what I wanted.

As for anyone else getting their car replaced, I think I am the only one that I have ever heard of getting it done... Which is a shame because Jaguar knows about this issue.

In 2004 they fixed the issues with the cars. The issue is that the front drainage hole in the rocker panel is clogged shut (factory issues I guess) The X-Type has a rear to front stance, meaning the nose of the car is lower than the rear. This causes any water and/or salt water to get trapped in the very front of the rocker panel because the drainage hols is clogged shut with what appears to be rust protection spray Jaguar used or something. In 2004 They changed this and made sure those front holes were clear and free so the water would run out. That tells me this was an issue they found out about pretty quick and kept it quite.

 

So how will the rust progress? Left as is, I assume it will severely compromise the safety of the vehicle if it was ever in an accident. Also, sooner or later the rusted sills will just collapse when up on a lift from the weight of the vehicle.

 

Hello,

A few weeks late but I've attached a link to my own rust repair saga below. I made the repair about 3-1/2 years ago and it hasn't returned to any visible area yet - although I've not removed the plastic rocker covers since doing the repair. It's a long thread - about seven pages of posts - but has some close-up photos and the detailed procedure that I followed.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...pe-rust-35123/

Good luck,

Steve

 

Luckily, I'm in southern California at the moment and don't have much to worry about with sill corrosion, but I was wondering...

For those of you with experience with this, would it be possible to rustproof the inner sills on these cars with a thin oil-type rust preventative by spraying it down through the same pathway that the water takes from the drains? What I'm thinking about is something like ACF-50:

ACF-50 Anti-corrosion Formula

If this was possible, it might not be necessary to lift the sill plate and drill holes to rustproof the inner sills. Of course this might still be the best option.

 

Hello,

I suppose anything is better than nothing but the way the assembly is constructed makes getting rust inhibitor inside the sill difficult. There are two sills, an inner which you can't see and an outer which is painted body color before the plastic rocker panel is attached. Both are structural members of the unibody. The corrosion starts inside the inner sill and to get good coverage I think it's still best to drill access holes under the polished sill plate in the front door jambs through both the outer and inner sills. The holes are easily fitted with plastic caps that you can get at any home center and the caps are covered by the sill plate.

The most significant rust is at the front edge directly behind the fender where the sill meets the A pillar, just below the plastic plug and around the lower front door hinge. To reach that spot you'd need a flexible hose or wand that extends far enough from the access holes.

The corrosion issue seems to be limited to '02-'03 models, but as I said in my posts from 2010 I saw a 2005 then in a body shop that had some corrosion there as well - although it was much less severe.

Good luck,

Steve