Rust inside fuel filler area – anyone else experienced this?

[brzboy]

Hey all,

Noticed some rust forming inside the fuel filler area today while refueling (pic attached).
Pretty sure it was not there before – I always close the fuel door properly and never leave it open.

I only go to touchless car washes, but have been going quite a bit in the past month.

Could this be from moisture building up inside?
Any tips on how to clean it off safely and keep it from coming back?

Anyone else seen this on their Stinger?

For reference, it is a 2022 GT2

 

[Thomby]

Since it's bare metal, I'd just take some emery cloth or sandpaper and clean it up. You could coat it with a thin layer of 3-in-1 or other light oil, but it won't likely last very long.

There are a variety of rust preventers/converters you could use. Many are spray on, meaning you'd want to mask things off very thoroughly (both inside the fill nozzle, and all around your gas door, basically that whole side of the car...assume anything you can see will get overspray). Better would be the paint-on style you can buy in quart jars and apply with a small brush.

Rust-Oleum, KBS, and PQR all make them.

 

[Snicklefritz]

That's just the lip of the pipe. It's probably anodized. It's not painted. When I see steel or aluminum showing a patch of corrosion I try steel wool first. My '18 doesn't have the first hint of this. Yours is probably a flaw, like sometimes when "stainless" steel shows tiny spots of rust. Other than being unsightly there is no danger of a deepening or spreading problem.

 

[Johnny B]

My fuel filler shows the same signs as yours but with even more rust half way around the lip.

 

[D.J.]

Mine is much worse, next time I get gas, I'll snap a picture.

 

[Thomby]

It's probably anodized.
Yours is probably a flaw, like sometimes when "stainless" steel shows tiny spots of rust.

I stuck a magnet to mine, meaning it's not aluminum (anodized), or likely to be stainless (which can rust, hence the "less", just resists it more). That means it's most likely galvanized steel, and the rust/corrosion spot is where the zinc coating has worn through.

There are zinc coatings/primers that you can use to cover the bare metal, I just don't have any experience with them or know how they stand up to gasoline. But I'd want to get some kind of coating on there after removing the corrosion.

 

[D.J.]

Mine is much worse, next time I get gas, I'll snap a picture.

Here mine after 269 fuel ups (136k KMS).

 

[Snicklefritz]

^^^That looks pretty gnarly, but it's surface crud and isn't going to eat the metal away, not in the lifetime of the car anyway.