Rust near rain gutter...common?

Ive looked at a 98 xj with rust on the roof near the gutters up by the corner of the windshield on both sides. It seemed to be comeing from the inside out. I thought it was just a weird thing, but upon talking to another guy on his 98 xj and he claims the same thing. He said he has heard it was common (?). IS it common, what causes it, and is it expensive to fix? I really like the second xj, but dont want to invest in a jeep that will have a hole in the roof in a few years.

Thanks!!

mike

Hmmmm, strange. Nothing on my '90 DD or my project '87. Or a friend's '89 or his fiancee's '92. My '90 is a transplanted NYC vehicle, so with all the salt and sea air, it should have more rust than it does. But none in or near the gutters.

-Rich

I had a friend with a '97 that had the same problem. If you are SURE it's from the inside, maybe it's worth having a body shop look at repairing the joint there, and using a better sealant at the weld line so it won't come back.

AZ Jeff said:

I had a friend with a '97 that had the same problem. If you are SURE it's from the inside, maybe it's worth having a body shop look at repairing the joint there, and using a better sealant at the weld line so it won't come back.

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Im sure on both. The one i looked at had a large bubble with approx 1 inch crack down the middle on both sides. The other one has small bubbles in the paint, so im told. Im waiting for pics of the 'bubbles'.

thanks for the replys

fordtech said:

Ive looked at a 98 xj with rust on the roof near the gutters up by the corner of the windshield on both sides.

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It surprised the hell out of me to see this rust on my 2000 last spring!! I took care of the repairs myself... which consisted of a $12 can of spray paint from the Stealer, and some primer, putty, and TLC.

It was NOT coming from the inside.... as I cleaned it down to bare metal with a grinding stone in my Dremel before patching it. I used a "rusty metal" primer (from Rust-Oleum or such), just as a hedge against any future problems (I hope!). So far, she's holding...

Den

Ill definitally pay a body shop to fix it if i have to. I dont mind doing paint and 'body work', but I prefer to only do it on little trim pieces and items like bumpers, rims, and body armor, where if I screw up it still looks ok or its an easy fix. I would rather have a body repair like that done professionally, this way the paint matches and everything looks right.

Thanks for the replys!

fordtech said:

Ill definitally pay a body shop to fix it if i have to. I dont mind doing paint and 'body work', but I prefer to only do it on little trim pieces and items like bumpers, rims, and body armor, where if I screw up it still looks ok or its an easy fix. I would rather have a body repair like that done professionally, this way the paint matches and everything looks right.

Thanks for the replys!

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Hit the dealership first cause IIRC the warranty on the paint is 7 years or so.

Kejtar said:

Hit the dealership first cause IIRC the warranty on the paint is 7 years or so.

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60 month/ 100,000 on 98's, when i checked.