I see a small area under the lip of my hood that seems to fit what a lot of Mustang owners are experiencing as far as hood corrosion. I mentioned it to a service manager friend and she said to take it to the body shop. I plan on doing it before my warranty runs out.

 

I'm not a seasoned mechanic on modern cars but defective cats could effect your gas mileage indeed. They could disturb the flow of exhausts etc...
Now melting the cats is scary, that would mean you're extra lean, in which case, your engine would already be dead.

If there is another dealer in your area, go see them if possible and tell them your car is acting funny.
Don't tell them you already ran a diagnose at another dealers...
See what they come up with.

 

you will never win a legal battle with ford or even get a settlement...unless a bad product is the sole cause of an accident that caused a life changing injury

 

Where on your fender did you see corrosion? Do you have any pictures of it?

 

You'll never hit that!

On my first Passat, I had it repainted 5 times and eventually I was just paid off, turned around and sold the car.

 

Well, I made an appointment last week and took it in today. I gave him a copy of the TSB 06-25-15 and he read it and took a lot of pictures from different angles to send it in to Ford. He said it is starting to corrode and he has seen it before many times especially on Mustangs. His opinion is some how when the hood's lip was being curled under, it got crossed contaminated. I asked him how would they repair it. Would they have to repaint the hood on top too? He said the method stated in the TSB makes perfect since to sand blast it in order to repair it. Since sand blasting would be involved, they would have to repaint part of the top of the hood then put a clear coat on all of it.
This just doesn't sit too well with me....but what are ya going to do? I mean the top of my hood is in immaculate condition, no scratches, no paint chips what so ever. I fear they are going to screw it all up.
I did mention to him that I hesitated bringing it in because of my concerns, He said it was a catch 22, that if I don't get something done, it would eventually rust. He said the only other option is to get an after market fiberglass hood. Looks like Ford would just make a fiberglass hood and slap them on all the Mustangs instead of putting a band-aid on the problem.
Oh well, I have to wait for him to call back to see what Ford wants to do.

My advice to ALL you S197 Mustang owners is check it out, especially before you run out of warranty. Like me, you may not notice anything but what seems to be a weld line. That weld line is where the problem begins and will only get worse over time. That's why I took it in today, I want to have something done before it gets bad.

 

yeah cos fiberglass is so "easy" to work with.

Aluminum doesn't rust, but it does corrode.

I can think of many car OEM's that have had paint issues in the past. Ford is not typically one of them. If ford is willing to take care of the problem, let them.

I wouldn't worry about the sand blasting. The hood will be off the car for one and for two they can protect the painted side. If you are that worried about it. Take closeup pictures of teh hood under flourescent lights at an angle to show the condition of the clear coat before the sand blast and compare them to after pics. You'll see if they were careless.

 

Oh I know fiberglass is a beast to get it right and you still may have problems if not painted correctly. I'm just saying, Ford has known about this issue since 2005. From what I understand, some have had it repaired only to have it happen again.

That's a good idea about taking pictures of the hood's condition now. They did say some sand blasting will be on the front lip, so I don't know how they are going to prevent sand from getting on the rest of the top. I hope they cover it or do something not to make matters worse. They are a good shop and I have had work done by them before and they usually do a good job. I guess I'm just a little obsessed with my Stang.

 

I am having the same problem with the hood on my 2010 Mustang.

Went to the dealer and Ford is going to cover the repair. I am well within the 3/36. My understanding is that they had problems around 08 with a bad batch of materials. Doesn't look like the problem has been cured. It's along the front of the hoods weld point. They are going to repair, not replace. Anyone with repairs of this type had a recurring problem after the work was done?

 

Mine is really bad, all along the lip. Ford wants absolutely nothing to do with it. I've called, left voicemails, addressed the TSB, emailed the "Ford rep" on the site and no answer, nothing... Going to buy an aftermarket hood and throw the old one on Ford's dealership lot. Their problem

I take a lot of pride in the appearance of my car and for a 2005 to be having a problem like this is embarrassing. I could see if it was from the 70's and sat outside for the past 40 years but come on