Rust in side door mechanism

Eeek! I discovered this while washing my 14 plate Cali. Any recommendations on how to fix it? It’s on the side panel near where the door latches.

redhairjon said:

Eeek! I discovered this while washing my 14 plate Cali. Any recommendations on how to fix it? It’s on the side panel near where the door latches.

View attachment 90826

Click to expand...

Sure others can advise on proprietary rust treatment product and paint touch up but my questions are
1) Manual or electric door
2) Any odd behaviour when door opens or closed or extra resistance or motor sounds under strain at start of opening.
Have you operated the door in manual mode (if electric) to see if the roller/guide arm that guides the door is not grounding at this point, as a repair without checking this would be pointless as the repair would be destroyed quite quickly.

This may be signs of roller wear or someone having tried to gain entry by”jemmying” the door and damaging paint

Looks familiar!



Mine was caused by the previous owner when a roller was replaced, they weren't careful enough when moving the unfixed door.
I'm sorry that I can't tell you exactly how it happened.
It doesn't look as bad as yours and is treated with a rust curing compound. The scratches are at least three years old and have not worsened. I always intended to have it dealt with by my local body shop, but am waiting for my "rountuit".
Have you had any work done on the door? Are any of the door fixings showing signs of wear, or sticking?
The door is electrically operated and glitches on occasion.

Just an update, this is the clearance on my 2018 Ocean electric door arm after a warranty repair for new centre rollers.
The wear had allowed the door to drop slightly and foul the rear wheel arch scuffing the paint.

Also noted that where your panel is damaged, my door panel appears to have a recess pressed into the metal. Design upgrade to give more clearance?/prevent issues such as yours?

Thanks for the responses. I remember there being a few “graunchy” sounds a couple of years back. However the door feels and functions fine now. I just assumed that something had got trapped - then loosened.

I clearly regret this now!!

It’s a mechanical door. I guess I’ll have to get to work on it, before the rust worsens…

I have a gouge in the same spot, on a 2008 SE. Turned out the middle door roller was catching on it as the door opened and closed - you could watch it if you moved the door slowly. We temporarily solved it 2 years ago by popping off the cover cap on the right hand inside of the sliding door, unscrewing the catch from the inside, getting someone to lift the door slightly and re-tighten it. That temp fix has lasted so far, so it could just be the door dropping (or this compensated for roller wear)

I hope this helps

Hopefully @redhairjon can take away the positive that having a manual door means the replacement rollers are much cheaper than the electric door centre rollers.