Leaf/seed drainage

[jstevens]

Both my Aveo's have had this problem. If you open up the front doors, and look in towards the fenders, you will see an accumulation of leaf's and what not. This will lead to rusting I fixed this by drilling a 1" hole in the bottom of the fender with a hole saw. When it rains you can see a puddle wear it drains. You can also clear out anything left with your finger. Problem solved. John

[OttoSV]

Sounds good, but drilling a hole won't make it rust as well?? I'm just wondering...

[Daox]

Yeah, unless you prime and paint the exposed metal.

[2010AveoLT]

Scoots had buildup of damp leaves in the bottom of her front fenders, I went ahead and put her on a lift (I was still in collision school at the time) took the bottom fender bolt out, and manually cleaned out the debris, and made sure everything was A-OK on the understructure.

[Thymeclock]

Scoots had buildup of damp leaves in the bottom of her front fenders, I went ahead and put her on a lift (I was still in collision school at the time) took the bottom fender bolt out, and manually cleaned out the debris, and made sure everything was A-OK on the understructure.

All cars are prone to this, from Rolls-Royces down to Yugos - unless you live in the desert where there are no trees, no humidity, and cars don't rust out from accumulating vegetation crud that holds moisture.

If you drill an hole into any part of the body of a car you must seal it with a rust preventive.

There are drain holes already present in the lower part of the door panel. Some might have a rubber flap over them. Use a pick or a fine wire, and/or compressed air, and/or a slender nozzle attached to a vacuum cleaner to clean out the leaves and rotting vegetation from inside the door bottom and the lower part of the front fender. This is best done yearly. Rust is like a cancer - and this sort of rot begins internally. By the time you see signs of it on the exterior, it's already rotted the body out.