I noticed a little white line of corrosion on one of my door hinges. Looking at used jeeps on car lots I have noticed this is a problem. Can the hinges be removed without chipping the paint? Are the hinges not painted while on the door?
Any suggestions would be great.
Common problem and is known as galvanic corrosion. The metal is bare under the hinge and the hinge is made of aluminum while the door is steel. Because there is no barrier between the two surfaces galvanic corrosion happens.
I believe they started putting a gasket between the hinge and door in the 2015 models so it's not likely to happen but all earlier JK/U's will have this issue.
I repaired my own last summer and made my own gaskets using a rubber material I found in my garage. I loosened one hinge at a time and repaired it while leaving the other hinge tight as to not cause misalignment with the doors. I never experienced any paint cracking off when I loosened the hinges.
I believe they started putting a gasket between the hinge and door in the 2015 models so it's not likely to happen but all earlier JK/U's will have this issue.
Yep they did one of mine last winter. Took it in, they took pics, called my a week later. I took it in and the next day it was done. No charge. 2013 J/K only one hinge did it. It would have cost $120.00 for the dealership to do that one hinge.
The dealership in Florida repaired and repainted all the hinges on my 2009 in 2011 and did a nice job. They weren't happy about it but I had been a return customer over the prior years. It's a labor intensive job. Just get done before the 3year warranty is up. You'd think after all these years, Chrysler would get a clue and come up with some type of barrier between the two dissimilar metals.
Living in UT the past 3 years in all the winter salted roads, the paint is starting to bubble again.
I might consider hinge covers if it gets bad enough since its way out of warranty.
The dealership in Florida repaired and repainted all the hinges on my 2009 in 2011 and did a nice job. They weren't happy about it but I had been a return customer over the prior years. It's a labor intensive job. Just get done before the 3year warranty is up. You'd think after all these years, Chrysler would get a clue and come up with some type of barrier between the two dissimilar metals. Living in UT the past 3 years in all the winter salted roads, the paint is starting to bubble again. I might consider hinge covers if it gets bad enough since its way out of warranty.
I have a 2014 Wrangler Unlimited Sahara. Purchased in October 2014 so my Jeep is 3 1/2 years old. I commute daily one hour each way to work, so I have 98,340 miles. Three weeks ago my hinges were all perfect. Last week all 10 hinges (all four doors and the two hood hinges) started bubbling on the surface. I called my dealer and they acted like they had never heard of this before (high volume dealer in New Jersey). They said that it would not be covered under warranty. I then contacted Jeep FCA and the representative told me he could not comment on whether this is a known issue or not. He had me explain the whole thing as if he had never heard of this happening before. He looked up my VIN and said that due to my (8,000 plus mileage Jeep would not cover the repair under "goodwill" and that I am on my own for the repair. I am a retired Marine helicopter pilot and know quite a lot about dissimilar metal corrosion. This is clearly a classic case of it. This Jeep is also my third Jeep I have purchased new (CJ-7 and Cherokee were my previous purchases). The FCA rep said he would document all of my comments and the issue. It's too bad that Jeep won't cover a $1500 repair for the hinge issue, but they are ready to give me a few thousand in incentives and a high trade in value for my Jeep on a new one. I'll bear the cost to fix my Jeep and keep driving it, but I won't be buying another Jeep Chrysler product. I was a loyal Jeep customer until now.
Sadly, this is such a terrible design choice on Jeep's part. Even more terrible is that they won't fix it for those of us pre-2015 when they started using the spacer.
This isn't an atmospheric issue, this isn't an abuse issue, this isn't a customer issue. This is a Jeep issue. This is a DEFECT. Something tells me we won't see @JeepCares chime in here.
Given the hundreds of thousands of JK's on the road, I wonder how this hasn't become a recall/class action yet.
Jeep/FCA should be ashamed.
edit/I feel terrible saying these things as I'm such a fan of this brand and it's vehicles but at the same time, it seems I'm constantly making excuses for things like "what do you expect, it's a jeep" and that somehow makes it okay when it shouldn't.
The dealership fixed my hinges in 2010 and did it under some part of the warranty. It's a pretty labor intensive process so it isn't cheap if you're going to have to pay for it on your own.
Mine started to bubble again. I'm thinking about buying the rugged ridge black hinge covers and ordering the 2009 bright silver paint and an auto detail sprayer from harbor freight and calling it fixed.
Jeep can make them any way they want. We still buy them all and wait in line for used ones. If you want a jeep type vehicle this is it. This just crackes me up, cracked heads, roof leaks, oil leaks, radiator leaks, missing paint around hinges, just to name a few. So, buy a new JL and start all over again and look cool doing it.
Glad you started this thread. I had no idea those hinges were aluminum. I have a MY14 and I took one hinge off and so far and there was the very beginning of corrosion, at this point very minor. BTW they do paint over top of those bolts so yes you will see evidence of the removal, but it's the aluminum hinge. I did not have any gasket material handy so I coated both sides with petroleum jelly. Heck it works on battery terminals it should help until I see if I can order these gaskets that come on the MY15s.
This was my first Jeep and although I do love it, due to the lack of quality, it will most likely be my last. I'm excited about the 2020 Ford Bronco return, if it comes in a two door I might trade.
Just take off one hinge from each door and have it powder coated...while that's happening get the touch up spray paint in your color and prep and paint under the hinge...slap the powder coated hinge back on with stainless bolts and don't worry about it anymore.... obviously you'll have to do this twice if you don't want to worry about taking both hinges off at the same time and screw up the door alignment....easy peasy...
Naw, that's too much effort. I did mine one hinge at a time so I could keep the door alignment as others have suggested. Basically, I removed one door at a time and placed it on the floor, then with an exact-o knife I cut around the bolts, then untightened them. The bolts are tight, this takes some effort with the doors removed, I used an electric impact tool. You could upright the door when removing the bolts. Next with a safety razor blade I started to cut around the hinge and pull up slightly from the end. The hinges came up easily.
I sanded the unfinished area on the door under the hinge, painted it and covered the flat side of the aluminum hinge with clear plastic packing tape about 1.7 mils thick to insulate the aluminum from the steel. (I read about this tip on-line) Before installing the hinge I put a very thing coat of silicone around the hinge spreading it with my finger to seal it. It was easy to tell where the hinge was originally located and I placed it carefully back, torqued it and checked the door fitment, before removing the other hinge. Remove door, remove, next hinge. Repeat for all doors. Yes its a bit labor intensive this way but my doors fit and close without issue.
I ran in to this same issue on my 2014 Rubi X (70k + mi); paint flaking and some bubbling on one of the hood hinges. FCA wouldn’t cover under the paint warranty so I replaced with some Stainless Steel hinges and hardware. Had to clean up some corrosion under both hinges and then painted before putting the new ones on. No issues seen on the doors yet but now I’m tempted to pull a hinge off and see what’s underneath.
You might want to keep an eye on it. Stainless steel does not play well with iron steel either. Hopefully, the layer of paint on the hood and/or powder coat on the hinge will separate the dissimilar parts. If you do pull it off, I would apply a layer of clear package tape to the hinge as a gasket.
My dealership took pictures of the hinges on my 14 JK. They contacted FCA and received authorization to repaint my door hinges. I got a callback later that day, they have ordered new hinges and will paint them and install the new ones next week. If they don't put anything between the hinges and doors, I will remove them and put a gasket between them myself.
I have the problem too. Just noticed it, 2014 Rubicon-X.
Either I battle with the dealer, I have an extended warranty, or I figure I could buy black aftermarket hinges and put those on. Black should look good on my Jeep. Maybe the black hinges, but use the OEM yellow screws? Might be a nice contrast.
Interestingly, it's only on the passenger side. The driver's side has no problems.
I also have a paint protection film, you can see the seam in the photos. Always adds another level of complexity.
Sorry to see you have the same issue. Mine looks like yours on all 10 hinges (hood hinges included). For the comments that follow, Jeep Cares told me that this would not be covered by Jeep. I'm planning to buy the Kentrol paintable hinges and take it to my local body shop who has a Jeep specialist and have the area under the old hinges cleaned, prepped and painted and the new hinges painted and installed. The Kentrol hinges are stainless, so I'm not sure if there will still be a dissimilar meal issue, but hopeful that painting all surfaces prior to reassembling them will help.
Count me in...2016 purchased in Nov. 2015. Guessing I didn't get the gaskets, or they don't solve the issue. Going to the dealer to see what they are going to do. I have it on every hinge but one...UGH
After the dealership replaced my door hinges with new hinges (with the divider on them) painted and gave me my receipt for $0.00 owed, they called me a couple days later and asked me to pay for the paint costs of about $500.00. I told them it should be covered under my extended warranty and that I would contact FCA Canada to provide this information to them. 19 June 2018
Today. I just got off the phone with FCA Canada, they looked into this and apparently, none of the replacement or paint should have been covered, but since they did get authorization for the new hinges, they would be covered, but the painting would not. Now I'll make payment arraignments with the dealership to cover the paint, because Stettler Dodge and RV has always been very good to me as a customer.
Just to let everyone know that this repair is NOT normally covered (at least in Canada).:blackeye
Oh man that is stinky since it is a not so much rust issue but the two metals making contact that set off a gas. Hence the paint blisters. I would contact Jeep Cares to see if they can help.
Oh really? Darn, well sorry to hear, I was just going by the info I found in all those rusty hinges threads on here. Mine is a 2018 and as soon as I got it, I wanted to know more about the hinges issue found on so many, well most, JKs
Not sure if they are going to cover it yet or not. Under 36 months but over mileage by about 4000 miles and counting.... I do have a max extended and a secondary...not sure it either covers it. When what I read its not considered rust so its only covered under the basic warranty. I sure hope not....
I put Kentrol hood hinges on my 2014 recently. Haven't had them on long enough to tell how they hold up, but the install wasn't too hard.
If I did it over, I'd follow the video instead of printed instructions and remove the four fasteners at the top of the metal cowl piece instead of the fasteners at the bottom of the plastic support bracket. Removing and reinstalling the metal cowl with the support bracket still attached to it was a pain, and I'd have scratched up the back edge of the hood (where hood and cowl meet) if I hadn't covered it in masking tape first.
Kentrol recommends a lot of extra materials like paint, Brillo pad, rtv, anti sieze, masking tape. I'd recommend masking off a large area with plastic drop cloth since paint over-spray is way easier to prevent than remove.
Worst ratio of cost-of-mod VS cost-of-install-materials I've come across yet, but figured it's worth it since I had the time to paint / rtv under the new hinges 🙂
I'm a bit hesitant to do the door hinges. Worry about adjustment of doors after the install being annoying, but I may get annoyed enough with the door hinges to risk it at some point 🙂
TSB #23-025-16
NHTSA ID #10137063
JUNE 09 2016
Additional Info:
How to Fix
Summary: Discolored Door Hinge Nuts This bulletin involves replacing all the lower nuts on the side upper and lower door hinges. The customer may describe discoloring or rust from the lower nut securing the doors to the hinges.
This was the only bulletin I could find on the hinges:
TSB #SB-23-025-12
NHTSA ID #10048159
SEPTEMBER 01 2012
Additional Info:
How to Fix
Summary: JEEP: REPAIR PROCEDURE INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED REGARDING REMOVAL, REFINISHING, SEALING, REPLACING DOOR, TAILGATE AND HOOD HINGES. MODEL 2007-2012 WRANGLER. *PE
Here is another that doesn't say what years it covers, but was under 2012 models:
TSB #23-021-13
NHTSA ID #10136870
MAY 30 2013
Additional Info:
How to Fix
Summary: Replacing Door, Hood And/Or Tailgate Hinges This bulletin involves replacing, refinishing and sealing door, tailgate and hood hinges
We have two 2015 JKUs. Mine, bought in October 2016, had hinge corrosion. Old hinges without liner. My wife's (ordered end of Nov 2016, bought Jan 2017) has the hinge liners. I don't know if FCA used the new design on every Jeep they built then, but they used it on hers.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ask a question
Ask a question
Jeep Wrangler Forum
9M posts
468K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to Jeep Wrangler owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about reviews, performance, trail riding, gear, suspension, tires, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, for all JL, JT, JK, TJ, YJ, and CJ models!