I have been noticing some corrosion residue dried on the paint from where water drips from the door trim. It seems obvious that something is going on behind the trim, but I wanted to know if anyone has had this issue or heard of it.

I will note that this is not the same 'rust' look on the trim itself that some Tahoe/suburban owners have noted on older models. This is coming from behind the trim.

TIA

 

Are you referring the door mouldings on the outside of the door, the chrome/plastic door handles or where? Sorry, a pic would help

 

You're right, a picture will help. I will post one later today. The exterior door molding running below the Tahoe name.

 

This picture isn't the best. I just washed it last weekend, so it is not as bad as it has been. The trail that lines from the corner of the trim to corner of the door is what I'm talking about. At its worst, its pretty much a solid residue line in the same vicinity. [IMG][/IMG]

 

Yep, mine has that. And a line of residue under the plastic piece as well... very noticeable on black.

I've tried taking it off with a scrubber, but fear just rubbing off the actual paint.

It looks like GM's continual build process of: 1. Good Idea, 2. Cheap implementation has struck again.

The only thing you could do / try may be some goo gone or goof off, or maybe one of those 3M sticker wheels, because I'm guessing that's the glue holding the trim on, which over the years has degraded and is slowing leaving the vehicle... because... they saved $0.05 on that part.

I'm told these work well, but haven't used on personally:

 

I thought about that too. Unfortunately, to me it looks like the white corrosion residue that you see commonly on batteries. The stuff is nearly impossible to get off too. I can get it barely visible, but if you run your hand over it, its certainly still there just waiting to grab more of it when it drains.

It hadn't been rainy or wet for a few days and it was still dripping. Moisture just gets behind those pieces and sits there, which worries me about corrosion behind it. At least the new models don't appear to have a lot of this kind of trim, just molded body panels, so maybe they figured it out somewhere along the line.

 

I doubt it's adhesive as most if not all trim is attached using 3M VHB Trim tape. I suspect it's dirt residue from car washing that seeps out after drying. I noticed that the soap used at the car wash gets trapped and then seeps out later and if not removed soon, it becomes very hard to remove.

 

I'll agree with Shark here.

This is actually something I'm very familiar with. My company has a 60,000 sf facility that does nothing but die-cuts and adhesive lamination. We sell primarily to the Tier 1 suppliers. We are also an authorized 3M adhesive distributor.

VHB is the current tape used on just about all exterior applications, from Kia to Mercedes. There is yet to be any viable competitive alternative.

So, to address STS' comments - the way GM (and most other manufacturers, not to single out GM) tries to save that nickel is by pounding on its vendors for cost-downs, and if the vendor doesn't or can't, the vendor is shopped to his competitors. Why do you think Visteon and Delphi have been through multiple bankruptcies, like a revolving door?