dropped off the 03 for thin paint and oil leaks

[MichaelAnderson]

i dropped off the truck today at the dealer. i took delivery in may and have driven 7300 miles. it has patriot blue paint. my truck looks like the truck was white and then when they painted it blue they didn't do the door jams, etc. there are spots that you can see from the outside that are clearly white. esp, around seams and drip rails. at the bottoms of the doors under the hood. i have a friend who works at a dealer tell me that there had been issues with paint adhesion, so i've asked that when the district quality rep comes they preform the adhesion test too. what my friend conveyed to me is that where the paint is too thin the uv rays get past and then you get flaking off! so far everything is going smooth. my service rep called back and said "that the spots behind the diesel fuel door are all like that, but that the spots that can be seen around the back window and under the doors is unacceptable. " duh, but now at least i know that he is on my side. it think that the 50 pictures i had taken with my digital camera helped, i had taken pictures of the problem areas and left him copies. so far so good.

i asked him to give me some options. he says that the truck will be looked over by the rep and at the body shop. friday-monday.

i'll keep everyone posted:--)

i miss my truck!

mike a

 

[MMeier]

Mike, where are you located and what kind of oil leaks?? By the way, welcome aboard!!

 

[MichaelAnderson]

the minor oil leaks

i am in fairfax va. the oil leaks are minor. oil is coming from the pan and from the passenger side oil filter adapter plate. they said they tightened it up and added dye. what the hell, i let them give this as try, i fear that this won't stop the leak, because my oil pans lip was crushed during assembly! there is a hole on the block, that looks like it should accept a assemply jig rod. but on my truck it missed the hole and crushed the pan lip @ the left front. i think it warped the pan, so now that leak is at the right rear. the dealer says that to replace the pan they have to pull the trans!

i am so glad that i am a mechanic! (ase cert master tech). i feal bad for the people who get jerked around. so far so good for me, but i've just started the process. :-{}

 

[rbattelle]

I have the same color truck (Pat. Blue), and similar paint issues. All the seams all over the truck have almost no paint on them, and you can see the primer. However, with the doors shut and the hood down, no primer can be seen through the paint. I thought this might be normal, until I saw JHardwick's truck (garnet red), which has no primer showing anywhere.



Mike, where was your truck built? Mine was in Mexico. I wonder if they just don't paint them so well down there.



Does anyone know what type of primer they use on these trucks? Is it tough stuff? I mean, if it's exposed in places will it stand up to road salt and water?

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

You guys' trucks sound like my '01 2500. The Pat Blue was thin on top of the bedrails and scratched easily and seemed very thin.



It's quite a different story on my Patriot Blue '03. I guess they had their best painter on the assy line that day because the paint is top-rate. No thin spots, jambs done nicely, and very scratch resistant. When I took it in for the spray-in bedliner recently the installer commented it's one of the toughest paint finishes he's dealt with in a long time. Mine was built in Saltillo Mexico on March 6th.



Vaughn

 

[rbattelle]

Vaughn,



Now I know what happened: they used all the paint on your truck and left nothing for me! Mine was built in the same plant on the same day (or very close to that day).



Expect court documents any day now... I'm suing you to get the paint that's rightfully mine back.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Yeah, and it's just a 2-drive. What a waste of good paint!



Vaughn

 

[rlittle]

A couple of dealers here in Phoenix let it slip that Dodge had some paint problems early on in the 03 production cycle and they had to repaint some trucks and even send some back to the Plant for repainting. When I pushed for some details since mine was built in 08 of 2002, real early in the new production, they clammed up.

Anyone know and specifics about when they got the paint problem right?

Also understand they had an alternator mout problem that they are fixing on the sly as they occur.

Rollie

 

[MichaelAnderson]

paint adhesion

rollie, from what i've learned they had a problem with the 3500's for 03, and that they sat at the dealers and couldn't sell them untill they passed a adhesion test. this involved placing a needle into the paint and with pressurized water, see if the paint stays put or not. if you ordered your truck like i did, it may of not been tested. the ones that may have gotten away without testing and had flaking, according to my insider were bought back and sold at auction with the paint problem disclosed.

that said i bought my truck with the plan to keep it for the 7 years, depending on the outcome i may just keep it for 3 years.

 

[DPKetchum]

When I bought mine made a comment about how on TDR everyone wanted that blue and pointed to one on the lot. He said STAY away from that color. Big paint issues and most all were that blue.

 

[coolcharters]

PPG paint will be extending paint warranty up to 100,000 miles on '03 2500 and 3500 models. Poor paint adhesion is the culprit. They have yet to announce colors or plants that were affected. Keep an eye on your mail box for a letter from DC. They will also update your warranty file to reflect the change. All other problems will be handled by the 3/36 portion. Chrysler had this problem before - typically blue paint but I have seen it on all other colors as well.

 

[Dieselnut59]

The new 2003 I just bought was factory repainted before I bought it. It is white. They did a great job on the paint and it came with the disclosure statement about the 10 year/100,000 mile warranty on the paint.

 

[DPKetchum]

What was the production date on that truck?

 

[rlittle]

DieselNut, Boy if they sent you a nice letter saying they repainted your truck and it is good for 10 years and 100K that is wonderful. If you feel comfortable maybe you could post a copy of this letter on the TDR (less your vin and name and personal information ) it would be very helpful to the members if they get into a paint discussion with their Dealers like I am having.

I went through a paint problem with Ford a number of years ago and it turned into a mess when after a few years Ford could not "find" any record of there being a paint problem

Rollie

 

[geusterman]

You would think they could have this worked out. My April 2002 "Graphite" colored 2500 has poor adhesion. The first day I had it I jumped in the bed and moved something around. Just the grit on my shoes (minute) ground off the paint. It takes very little to scratch the truck. It is a mess now. I have to be extremely careful. I have NEVER had a car/truck so fragile. Our new Pilot and Jetta have great paint. Perhaps it is inviro stuff but don't hear this from GM or Ford owners. I would love to see some relief here. geusterman

 

[MichaelAnderson]

latest from the dealer

ok things are getting strange. i asked my service rep, keith to fix the oil leaks and address my concerns about the thin paint where you can see the white primer showing through and the paint adhesion ( the paint inside the tail gate is flacking off just from opening it and closing, and where the support cable rubs the paint) so they give me a saturn loaner YUCK (nice paint though) and tell me that they send the body work and paint to a chevy dealer. (i am trying to keep a open mind ) i thought that chevy uses dupont and dodge ppg. anyway i just a master mechanic not a body man so i'll let them check it, no problem.

tuesday the body shop calls me and bill says in a southern accent:

i looked the truck over and we would have to remove the bed to paint it where the white shows through. and if it were me i wouldn't do that.



me: why because removing the bed is cost prohibitive?



bill: yes and the paint still wouldn't look exactly right.



me: so you could remove the bed and paint the thin spots so that there no longer white showing through, not repainting the entire truck repaint the truck you would just blend in paint to cover the thin spots?



bill: but you wouldn't want to fix the paint like that because you would have to remove the bed to shoot it.



me: and it would look right anyway?



bill: right so i wouldn't advise that



me: so why is my paint so thin i've seen other patriot blue rams where there is no white showing through even on the door jams and behind the fuel door and bed pockets?



bill: musta been a Friday robot.



me: well that sucks, to be me. so what about the adhesion issue, are the uv rays going to go through the thin paint and start to flake it off?, I've already had to spray undercoating on the tailgate.



bill: no, your clear coat is plenty thick, we don't do undercoating we send them to zee bart.



me : how do you know?



bill: by experence-an-eyeball.



me:

:--)

so you don't have a paint gage or a adhesion tester, or have any info about ppg paint or daimler chrysler's standard for adhesion and toughness?



bill: no those are chrysler issues, but you have noted the issues so if you have a problem they have been noted.



me: thanks for looking at my truck!



so today the service rep calls me and says :so we had bill look your truck over and i understand that you going to go with bill's recommendation on the truck.



me: i recap the stuff about the friday robot, and the eyeball stuff and tell them that it doesn't seem like a professional operation, and that i want a adhesion test and a thickness gage used and i want the chrysler rep to see my truck. it looks like it was painted white and then blue.

and i would like me truck back untill a appointment can be made so that, i use my pickup before the hurricane hits!

so this is the latest.

will give developments as they happen.

mike

 

[DPKetchum]

Beds are removed everyday to paint trucks. Its no big deal. The D. C. store I worked at had the best body shop in the area. Did very little Chrysler warranty but lots of G. M. and Ford. Saw many a black Ford (trucks&mustangs)getting ALL over paint under warranty. Caddys and Oldsmobile PEELERS also. They had four paint booths and one vented/heated drying booth. Used LOTS of clear with LOTS of buffing. Gave a LIFETIME warranty to the original owners. Their paint always turned out better the factory. They did my 1993 W250 with 86k on the speedo and I paid a $100. 00 deductible. The new type paints with the cleacoat made it look a 100% better the the original in showroom new condition. Sold that truck 2 months ago with 6 years on that paint and it still LOOKED new. Never even showed a rock chip one. The thing about outside sourcing paint work THEY don't have to adhere to the WARRANTY times because its a SUBLET. They can and will get PAID GOOD money for it. That is if the body shop manager is worth his salt. Probably $2000 plus. Most Dealers don't have body shops or Good body shop managers. The D. C. rep needs to inspect and authorize it and get it painted. Walk around that body shop and look at some of their REPAINTS and talk to the painter-etc. See how long they have been there etc. The painter and the guy who BUFFS it when finished are REAL key people. Buffing is the real WORK. Can take as long as 6 to 12 hours to get it RIGHT. Black a ******* to do if their BLACK repaints look good the others are sure to look great.

 

[dPierce]

Chiming in with paint issues!

I have done something to my truck that I hate to do... . installed mudflaps, due to EASILY chipping paint. I hate mudflaps, I think they really detract from the look of the truck.



I have never seen paint chip so easily. It is really aggrevating to have such a nice and in my opinion expensive vehicle with such crappy paint. I have used my bed lots of times for hauling stuff and can't believe how easily it scratches! Sliding light wood furniture accross the paint leaves huge scratches, that will be highly prone to rust when the winter salt comes around.



Why in the hell would DC use a white primer on a dark blue paint job. Every little nick and chip shows up as a bright white spot. What's even more aggrevating, is I'm starting to even accept the fact that I will need to repaint this truck within the next few years to keep it looking good and prevent rust. I was planning to keep this one from 5 to 10 years, but this paint..... !!!!



I do not have the thin paint issue that some of you describe, nor do I have flacking, but I do have unacceptable chipping and scratching for a truck that stickered at $40K.



What can be done? I'm thinking I should get it into a dealer and at least get the problem on file. Maybe if there are enough complaints, DC will have to address this problem?

 

[Pit Bull]

Re: Chiming in with paint issues!

Originally posted by dPierce





I have never seen paint chip so easily. It is really aggravating to have such a nice and in my opinion expensive vehicle with such crappy paint.

Guess I got lucky, my truck was made in the Lago's Mexico plant they closed after the last of the 02 production run (mine was one of the last trucks made in that plant) Maybe they used more paint to get rid of it . I have a Red truck with great tough paint. Had it a year and don't notice any paint chips even with the dually wheels and no mud flaps. Sorry to hear about others problems, this would be very frustrating. Good luck