rustytop of strut

[jdq]

My strut top in engine bay is rusting out only on driver side.Would that be because of unproper seating of hood rubber seal.

[Bernard Feltzer]

No, rusting of strut tower caused by the poor design at the time.
Common problem. There is a repair kit available if you don't mind hard physical labor involved, other wise junk the van, buy a new one.

[Spit]

Bernard what are the details on the kit..Is it a Dealer kit, parts contained, cost, steps and time to complete the repair etc. I have the problem on my 97 GC with 154,000 mikes. I have tried to dry it out and spray it with rust inhibitor...

Hasn't gotten any worse, that I know of.

Spit

[Cntrysthbst]

I looked at mine and see no rust on either of them. Being this is a common problem I have some questions.

Can you see the rust?
Does it drive differently?
Is there something I can spray on to prevent it?

Thanks

[vipergg]

Yes dealer does have a kit for this as it was a fairly common problem . Not everyone had a problem . i had a 96 and we live in a very high salt area and i never had a problem in the 10 years that I owned it , so I don't know why some have a problem and some don't .

[peterjon1]

I just had the driver's side tower replaced at the CDJ dealer's body shop for $608. Mine was too far gone for the repair kit to be used. The passenger's side is fine, not a trace of rust. The repair took them one day. Yes, you can see the rust when it forms, and it starts from underneath, so I think oiling the area a couple times a year would help prevent it. You would have to spray up inside the tower from underneath, and putting some on the top in the engine bay would probably not hurt either. The van does not drive any differently until you hit a bump when the rust has gotten far enough to weaken the strut mount, and the strut pops up through the hood. Then you are up the creek. There is a double layer of metal in the tower, and the rust starts between the layers.
I have seen them so bad that you can look through and see the ground beneath. Definitely unsafe. Get it fixed sooner rather than later. Mine took a period of 2.5 years from seeing a rust film to being ready to pop through.
The dealer has a few of the repair kits hanging on the wall in the shop. It consists of a cover plate to reinforce the top of the tower, which is held on by a special epoxy. Mine was too bad for the kit, so I had the whole tower replaced. The repair cap is available on line for less than $20 per side. The adhesive runs closer to $100 with the special applicator required.
Here's a link to some pics where the repair kit was able to be used.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2203948/4

[Cntrysthbst]

I see no rust but I will keep them both oiled being I live about 200 feet away from the ocean. Thanks for the info.

[jdq]

Well I dont think Ill be junking the van Bernard as other than this it is in immaculate shape and only 90000klm.I will look into a fix thanks for info.