Rusting bolt on front suspension strut - potential safety issue

[estomax]

i'll throw my 2 cents in. yesterday i looked and my drivers side had water in it and a bit of corrosion. my solution was to glue a 4.5" diameter plastic plate over the top with RTV to keep water out of any area of the shock tower. this mounts at an angle so the water just runs off into the rain drain that is around the shock tower anyway.

i had a sheet of about 1/16 plastic sitting around which is stiff enough to hold shape on it's own and i used metal shears to cut a 4.5" disc for driver and passenger side. i first sprayed the nut/stud down with some rustoleum paint to keep existing corrossion at bay.




should keep water out of the whole area as long as it doesn't pop off on it's own.

[rodenti]

I just bought a 2017 Leaf and rusting of these bolts would definitely be something I want to prevent.

It looks like the common solution is to cover it with grease and a plastic cover, but as an alternative does anyone think spraying the area with Plastidip or Flexidip rubberized coating would work instead?

[estomax]

that would probably fix it 95-100%. the 5% variability comes from the fact that water still drains into that hole from the wiper and you cant guarantee that the flexidip won't let water seep through at some point and slowly start rusting the bolt from underneath where you can't see it.

if you have it around, then spray that on first, as that will take most of the issue away. then later put in a fix that doesn't let water sit in that pool.

Marko

[rodenti]

Thanks for the reply Marko.

I just popped off the plastic grates under the hood and saw what you described. We had a thunderstorm earlier and the two wells were full of water. No rust at this time, but the car was only built in May so I'm glad there was none.

I agree that flexidip may not be a 100% solution since water will still sit in the well... any pinhole will hide the rusting.

Instead I fashioned a plastic hood from a small sheet of clear plastic from a strawberry container, bending the edges to hold around the outside. I wanted it clear so I can check inside without having to remove it.

[ElectricEddy]

Thanks for the reply Marko.

I just popped off the plastic grates under the hood and saw what you described. We had a thunderstorm earlier and the two wells were full of water. No rust at this time, but the car was only built in May so I'm glad there was none.

I agree that flexidip may not be a 100% solution since water will still sit in the well... any pinhole will hide the rusting.

Instead I fashioned a plastic hood from a small sheet of clear plastic from a strawberry container, bending the edges to hold around the outside. I wanted it clear so I can check inside without having to remove it.

Just did mine like estomax above.
Used a cut down 4" drain cap from plumbing dept at Home depot .
I have never found water in the passenger side on my 13 or 16.

[Reagle]

Has anybody checked with a dealer on what nIssan's thinking on this is on 2018s? Looking through parts drawings, up to 2917 they at leats had that cap with a hole in the middle, but they removed it in 2018s.

[Scaramanga]

They were actually dropped after the 2013 model year, neither my 2014 S nor my 2016 SL had them. I purchased the old Nissan part myself and installed them after cleaning the bolts and spraying them down with some protectant.

[bitmanEV]

the cap doesn't help at all so i used grease to make a kind of seal

one thing i noticed is that the drain hole on the right side is very small and mine was blocked but accumulated dirt
you have to check it with your hand moving almost all the way to the rear of that space
the left side the drain hole is way bigger and will fit tree fingers

[goldbrick]

I just checked my 2017 and both sides were clean and dry. I live in a pretty arid climate though so YMMV. I did notice that there was some sort of black rubberized type of coating that was sprayed over the bolt after it was installed. In my climate it doesn't appear to be an issue but I guess I'll check on it every time I pop the hood to fill up the washer fluid, which is my yearly maintenance routine so far on this car

[Reagle]

Just did mine- will see if it helps after a few rains:
Stock NIssan caps (954330-ED000) with vent holes covered by some surplus GoreTex vent stickers I had laying around.
HOpefully that will let things breathe but not let water in
Some Liquid Film spray on the bolt/nuts
Silicone grease on the plastic cover's mating surface