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Paint is bubbling up on the edge of the hood

8568 Views 74 Replies 24 Participants Last post by  almartell75, 
almartell75
Just discovered paint bubbling up in two areas on the front edge of the hood , I remember my car on the lift with the hood open for oil change with lights on in the work area I waited almost 2hrs to have my oil changed wonder if paint damage happened at the dealer with hood left open on the lift with hot light from above. I don't know what to do?. I will post photos later
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M0Par
This is a standard Pacifica issue covered under the 5 year Corrosion Warranty. Just had mine repaired under warranty with 1 week left until the warranty expired

If you can, find yourself a dealer with a body shop and get it taken care of immediately. They completed the work in 2 days.
Seems like dealers who have to outsource it don't want the hassle.
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M0Par
Bad Dolphin said:
Sadly, this is a common problem. I just discovered it on my 2018 when two months out of warranty—my problem. If you’re still under full bumper to bumper warranty, take it to dealer. My expensive Chrysler extended warranty does not cover it.
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Did you verify that with Chrysler? I just had my 2017 covered under warranty. The dealer was clueless and told me the wrong date for my warranty timeframe. When it comes to Chrysler verify everything because the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
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M0Par
Papa Tim said:
This is a common problem with these vehicles and was a problem with the Town & Country as well.
DO NOT let them 'FIX' it as it will come right back, the hood needs replaced and it is covered under the corrosion warranty.
I retired from a Chrysler dealer and replaced many hoods for this.
This is caused by trapped moisture .
The only way to prevent it is to spray a wax based coating inside the front edge of the hood.
I sprayed it in my hood a week after delivery.
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Will have to try that after the recommended curing duration of 90 days. Wax does interrupt the curing process and they told me not to wax the newly repainted hood for up to 90 days to allow it to fully cure.
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M0Par
Papa Tim said:
This is a common problem with these vehicles and was a problem with the Town & Country as well.
DO NOT let them 'FIX' it as it will come right back, the hood needs replaced and it is covered under the corrosion warranty.
I retired from a Chrysler dealer and replaced many hoods for this.
This is caused by trapped moisture .
The only way to prevent it is to spray a wax based coating inside the front edge of the hood.
I sprayed it in my hood a week after delivery.
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Can you explain how this process works? My vehicle was in and out within 2 days for this job. No hassle and none of the back and forth denial/approval from Chrysler. Why are some people going through a completely different process than others?
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M0Par
simo10 said:
I'll give my experience here for my 2017 with almost 60k miles

I purchased the van in Nov 2021 knowing about the hood corrosion issue. Mine was relatively minor.

I took it to a dealer that has an onsite body shop in Late Jan. 2022. They said no problem, its covered under warranty. They would replace the hood completely.
Fast forward to March and I hear nothing back, supposedly they had no record of me coming in the first time LOL. I take it in again and they once again take photos of the issue to submit the warranty claim.

Life happens and fast forward to June with no reply. I call them back and all the sudden they say great, we are ordering the parts and it will take a few weeks. They would paint the hood then have me come in to swap it out. I had to come in one last time so they could use a color analyzer to ensure a good match (mine is white (no pearl).

Finally, I was able to set an appointment this week and they gave me a loaner (another Pacifica, which surprise, also had hood corrosion!) for a day while they performed the work. The color match looks great and the hood is brand new. It was a long process mainly due to my dealer being seemingly very disorganized, but I'm happy it's done. I had to pay $0 out of pocket. I'm sure if it were out of warranty it would've easily been $2k+.

My 2 cents. Poke and prod until they replace the entire hood! The body shop told me almost every Chrysler Dodge Jeep in the last 5 years with aluminum hoods have the same issue, and cannot be fixed without replacing the hood entirely, as it is an issue with the substrate under the paint. The warranty also covers 5yrs, unlimited mileage.
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Thanks for that.

About the warranty on the repair, where did you find that info? Would like to get that nailed down so that if it resurfaces can get it replaced/repaired again under warranty.
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M0Par
Papa Tim said:
I know exactly what it is and what causes it.
Retired after 35 years in a Body Shop at GM & Chrysler Dealerships and 13 years in a GM assembly plant, Paint Dept.
I have seen this hundreds of times, it can not be properly repaired but it can be prevented.
Replacing the hood is the only proper way to address this issue.
A sealant, like the Cavity Wax I previously mentioned, is the only way I have found that prevents this problem.
Also, this has nothing to do with surface prep, it is corrosion that starts inside the seam and comes around the front lip of the hood, from underneath.
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So the question is, is this caused by galvanic corrosion and if so how does the wax inhibit this process?

EDIT:
I see my question has been addressed by the cavity wax manufacturers:

Cavity Waxes
OEM’s spray an anti-corrosion cavity wax on the inner panels of vehicles to protect inner seams that can’t be sealed from corrosion. In collision centers, these products are applied after panel replacement by spraying through access holes with a 360° spray pattern tip attached to a long wand, ensuring complete coverage of the inner panel. There are several aftermarket manufacturers with this type of product but not all are equal. Make sure to choose one that provides a complete 360° pattern with no gaps for complete coverage and also has excellent wicking characteristics to pull itself up into internal seams for maximum corrosion protection. SEM’s Rust Preventer Cavity Wax provides best in class for all characteristics.
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M0Par
bowhill said:
I noticed bubbles on my hood after reading this thread. Took my 2018 to the dealer, they took photos and would submit the warranty claim to Chrysler after getting a quote from their body shop. They said the process would take 2-3 weeks and expected it would be addressed under the corrosion warranty.
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That's the part I can't understand. My dealer just did the work and had it back to me in 48 hours. Didn't have to wait in Chrysler for anything.
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M0Par
Papa Tim said:
Many dealers will do the work right away as long as you're still under the warranty because they know it's covered, others string you along for weeks or months for no real reason.
It should take no more than 2 days to replace the hood.
Also, many dealers are having trouble getting new hoods right now, like a lot of other parts, so make sure they have one in stock when they tell you to bring your van in or you could be without it for a long time.
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They ended up doing a repair rather than a replace. Will give that cavity wax a try since the seams between the two metals are the cause for the galvanic corrosion.
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M0Par
Papa Tim said:
Keep an eye on the underside of the hood, that's where it will start from.
I've never seen a repair last more than a year although getting the wax in there should at least slow it down.
Once it's started it's very hard to stop.
MOPAR will replace the hood for this problem, it was the dealer you went to that didn't want to mess with the paperwork.
Also, the dealer makes more money repairing it so they would much rather do that rather than replace it.
Good Luck!
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Interesting about the repair motivations. Certainly lines up with how quickly they did the repair. Looks like repairs are covered under a 2 year warranty. I'm tempted not to get the wax because if it's going to reoccur I don't want to delay the corrosion from showing up after that 2 year warranty period ends. Do you have any idea why a new hood is any better than the a repaired hood? They both should be subject to galvanic corrosion.
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M0Par
almartell75 said:
Chrysler got back to me with a case # they said I can take it to any dealer, they [Chrysler] need a compete diagnostic report & photos from whatever dealer I take my car to . I understand photos but what a complete diagnostic report has to do with bubbling paint front lip of the hood?... Lets hope this is a path to fix the paint issue on the hood. stay tuned.
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How did they contact you?
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M0Par
almartell75 said:
Telephone
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Guessing that's the standard response they give without knowing the details about your hood given that diagnostic reports makes no sense. Typical corporate bureaucracy.
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M0Par
jdcmontana said:
I've got the same issues on my 2017 Pacifica. I opened a case with Chrysler and just got a call saying they wouldn't do anything because it was past the 36,000 mile 3 year warranty period.
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It's a 5 year, unlimited mileage warranty. Whoever you were dealing with was clueless.
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M0Par
Jeremy M. said:
This is straight from Chrysler as you can see outer panels are covered for 5 Yr/ 100.000 miles.

View attachment 51150
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Wonder what year, make, model that is for?

Here's what I received from Chrysler:
Font Parallel Number Brand Signage
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M0Par
Jeremy M. said:
I would be more worried about it being a 2017 .
Depending on the in service date jdcmontana is right at the 5 year mark with 56,600 miles. So if it's 100,000 miles or unlimited doesn't even matter at this point.

From here note the web address as www.chrysler.com
https://www.chrysler.com/crossbrand/warranty/pdf/00CPJDGenericCoverage.pdf
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Yeah at the end of 2022 it will close out the warranty period for all 2017s.

Thanks for the link. It's definitely generic and not for Pacificas. At least in the US.
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