Rusting bolt on front suspension strut - potential safety issue

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electricjay

Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Messages
7
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Hi,

I recently upgraded the suspension on my 2011 Leaf, and while doing so, I noticed something that looks like a serious design flaw that could cause future issues.

I discovered that the drains below the windscreen channel water straight onto the top of the front suspension struts, where it is caught and trapped by a dish-shaped plate / washer / spacer on top of the strut, thereby creating a lake in which the nut sits (that's the one large nut which holds the whole spring and strut together). The car was parked outside when I first noticed this, and one side was actually brim-full of water. Both sides showed surface rust on the nut and bolt.

Here's a photo showing what I mean:

y3m6YYACslJV7AGvpN539gjqfyjAicxST84dVuckGv3alQIRzNkUBUz07wrsnA05mrq2MsdW4VPYxmw4ioeoJ7movEj_hZrjz3V7Z0Iv1-7JiSfYRBA6SLOqcTw55E8HSogU5f_3e55uiYHo0EqvuH30iliUGE3ZoilQlk6fTnyS7Y


It looks like this would be an issue if you live in any rainy climate. At best, it will just make future replacement of the struts difficult since the bolt will be rusted up. At worst, the bolt and nut could eventually deteriorate to the point where it came apart. At that point I think transient shock absorber loads would tend to pull the strut out of the through-hole, and then bad things could really happen...

Anyone else observed this? Nb: If you want to check, pull out the clip-in plastic cover at the left and right sides just below the windscreen, to reveal the top of the struts. I temporarily "fixed" the issue by wiping the bolt with "Lanox" (spray on protective lube) then covering the whole 'dish' thing with wide sticky PVC tape to keep the water out. I've now changed the struts anyway, and the new ones don't have the water-trapping dish.
 
I've seen this on my driver's side front strut, but not the passenger side, first noticed it a couple years ago. I put a bunch of grease in there to counter the water. I should look at it again.

The flaw is that the dust cap doesn't seem to keep the water out as it should.
 
Pics from my car I just took.

Driver's side, dust cap on, looks OK.


Driver's side, dust cap off... Eeeewwww!!!


Passenger side, dust cap off, looks great!


Obviously I need to clean the driver's side out again.

If you look, the windshield wiper on the driver's side leaves a gap which just drains down onto the dust cap. And you'll notice that the dust cap has a hole right in the middle, so it's obviously not designed to keep the water out.

I'd hate to see a car from a snowy area.

You mentioned that your new struts don't have the bowl area for the water to collect - what kind of top-hat do you have now, it must not be stock? I'd guess coilovers or something?
 
The new ones are a Blitz fully adjustable system. They have a flat plate on top, although I will still check to make sure they are not trapping any water.

Strange that mine was missing the dust caps - it came from Japan and had only 13,000 km on it, and in all other respects everything was present and completely original.
 
electricjay said:
There's supposed to be a dust cap? That could explain it...
My 2013 SL does not have the dust caps. The passenger's side was clean, but the driver's side was full of water (no rust yet).

I covered it with grease for now. Does anyone have a good solution for keeping this area dry?
 
Here is my 2011 SL in Florida. More images here: http://imgur.com/a/CByXi

oiJdEvs.jpg


Cleaned it, soaked in WD-40, sealed with silicone. I also plugged little hole at the top of the cap. Will check it in a year.
 
I think a better solution is to cap the whole top so water doesn't get in at all. I found that a plastic, clear SOLO container from my grocery store measures 1 3/4" deep by 4 5/8" diameter (I think it was on the olive bar for takeout). You can wiggle this in and place it over the everything so water does not get in at all. I will play with this because you need a way to secure it so it does not flop around - maybe silicon adhesive?

I plan to dry it out, paint the bolt with Rustoleum, then secure the cap over it.
 
According to some on this forum, Nissan fixed this for free:

http://ozleaf.proboards.com/thread/726/cleaning-leaves-leaf?page=2

If you are missing a dust cap, then this is the replacement part:

https://www.parts.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.PartInfo&PartNumber=54330ED000&VehicleID=206546&diagram=F993050&Title%3D-Versa-CAP

Have to look at my car too now, sort this out before it gets any worse. Sounds like the water only gets in through a 1mm dia hole in the top of the cap.

Could probably cap the cap to prevent that :)
 
I've been meaning to check this on my Leafs but forget when I actually have the hood opened. Well seeing this thread brought it to my attention again so I went out and checked my Leafs. Both my '12SL Japan built Leaf and '13S TN built didn't have any caps over the nut. All 4 nuts were quite rusted/corroded with the drivers side being worse shape than passenger side. My '13 currently had water sitting around the bolt, maybe 1/4" deep.
My guess is the caps were just on the '11s and I agree a good glob of thick wheel bearing grease in the whole cup should help, after things have dried out. Poor design for sure.
 
Thanks for the thread. Just went out and checked my 13SL and it is also a little rusty and in a pool on the drivers side after a mild rain.

Agree with others that filling the cavity with grease will be plenty to keep it dry. I just need to remember at the right time!
 
On my 2013 SV, I found that the strut was only accessible after removing an access panel on the plastic trim piece. Also, there is no cap on my struts, so it would seem that those were only on 2011/2012 models.

Here's what the shock nut on the driver's side looks like on my car:

https://1drv.ms/i/s!AjONM_UrXWS89SRznocB3GSfW5EF

And this is the passenger side one:

https://1drv.ms/i/s!AjONM_UrXWS89SMtDWepNrxr5Wpz

I was expecting worse, glad it's not too bad yet - just some rusting inside the allen key hole.
 
A clear "Oikos" yogurt cup turned upside down also fits well over the bolt surround and sheds water. The cup is pretty sturdy, but a tight squeeze through the opening after snapping out the removable plastic grate section. A string used as a leash and a couple drops of silicone caulk should keep it from going astray over time. Then replace the grate.
 
alozzy said:
If you are missing a dust cap, then this is the replacement part:

https://www.parts.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.PartInfo&PartNumber=54330ED000&VehicleID=206546&diagram=F993050&Title%3D-Versa-CAP

So the caps were only installed on Japanese production cars? I'll go look at mine tomorrow morning but do we know if '13 and on Symrna, TN production cars had them, which years, etc?

p/n 54330-ED000 is plentiful and cheap on eBay.
 
Just did some research on this by referencing the FSU section of the service manuals from 2011 - 2015. The strut cap in question is present in the 2011 & 2012 service manuals, but has been deleted from the parts diagram from 2013 moving forward, although the 2013 and 2014 versions of the manual address re-installing the cap after re-assembly of the strut, so it's pretty clear they deleted the part, maybe for weight savings as this was one of the features they touted or the Gen 2 LEAF.
 
After seeing these posts, I got brave and called 1800NISSAN1. The Leaf customer service guy first told me that the strut tower cap USED to be carried by Nissan, but is not any more... When I gave him the part # 54330-ed000, he tried to get rid of my by making this deal with me::
"I WILL AUTHORIZED A 0NE-TIME COURTESY TO PAY FOR THE PARTS... BUT... IF IN THE FUTURE, YOU NEED A NEW AIR CONDITIONER COMPRESSOR, THEN YOU WON'T GET IT BECAUSE YOU GOT YOUR "ONE-TIME COURTESY""

Isn't that a form of strong arm customer service? Anyway, I insisted that I wanted someone to determine that the tower caps SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED on the car when I bought it new. THE service guy promised to find out and get back to me... I know that these are $12 parts, but please Nissan, don't try to get rid of me...
 
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