Water Inside Ceffy Issues...?

[rayj]

Hey

Not sure if others have these problems, but here are mine:

Firstly, for some reason I'm getting quite a bit of water trapped in the spare tyre area in the boot.

It's easily drained because of the grommet, but where is it coming from anyway? I've had a good look and can't see any water marks/trails where it may be coming from... electric aerial, rear lights, boot lid...? I can't work it out.

Also, more worryingly, I've discovered moisture buildup under the front floor mats (front foot areas), especially on the passenger side. Small amount on the driver's side.

I'm not sure how everything is put together and connected behind the dash, windscreen and firewall. Could water get in these areas due to a leak somewhere around the windscreen or elsewhere, eg. bad seal?

Thanks for any help,

Cheers

[Nic_A31]

I've had both those issues before.

I'm not sure about the boot, I noticed there's a lot more water build up when it rains, so I'd guess it's the boot lid seal.

Sunroof open or closed made no difference so it's not the sunroof drain pipes. I just leave the grommet off and let water drain out as it comes in...I'll work it out one day haha.

Interior front, check that it's not coolant first, that'll be your A/C core, that's a dash out job, I thought that's what mine was, but its actually the seals and rubber cups underneath that black plastic gutter thing on top of the firewall.

Pop that off and you'll see maybe a dozen across the top of the firewall, mine were dried out and letting water in via those little holes. I can't remember the price but it was pretty cheap to buy the whole lot from Nissan.

If you want more info, part numbers, or pics, just let me know.

[rayj]

Thanks for that man

Yeah the boot has me stumped... I'm determined to work it out this winter haha

In terms of the interior front, it's not coolant, it's just plain water/moisture.

That black plastic gutter thing you're talking about, is that the long black plastic part which you can see just beneath the windscreen and underneath the wipers? I think that's what you're talking about anyway... I'll try to pop that off and have a look around.

Thanks again for your help

[Nic_A31]

Sorry for the late reply, you've probably fixed yours by now, by just in case/for anyone that hasn't yet, here's pics from mine.

-Remove your window wipers.

They're marked 'D' and 'A', D is driver's side, A is passenger side.

-Remove the bottom row of clips that go along the firewall and keep the clips with the rubber seal.
Just put a flat head screwdriver underneath the plastic tray at each clip point and gently push up, the clips should stay inside the rubber seal, if they come out, it's not too hard to put them back in.

-Remove the top row of clips and the centre screw.

They look like screws but they actually aren't - the one in the exact centre IS a screw, the rest are clips similar to the front.Use the same method as the bottom row, but push the screwdriver/whatever you're prying with in a little further, don't try doing it from the top because you risk scratching or breaking the windshield and/or the plastic tray.

That should free the tray up, get that out of the way and you'll see the seals

These are all the same, the one in the middle is a different shape.

It's only the 2 on the far left hand side that are responsible for letting water inside, as they don't drop into the gutter, the rest of the clips drain into the gutter and go down the A pillar into the wheel arches.

pop the new seals in

Pop the tray and clips in (I bought new clips as well)

Wipers back on, and if you roll like I do, don't forget to put all your spare parts up under the wipers for those roadside emergencies

Took me about 10-15 mins job done.

I can't remember the exact cost off the top of my head, I bought double of everything so I can do this to my other Cef as well, and I think it was roughly $50 all up, so say $25 to do all seals and new top row clips. Worth every cent. Kind of a pain in the ass but its shit like this that keeps our cars on the road and out of scrap metal yards. Parts were in stock at a Nissan dealer here in Perth,

If anyone needs part numbers, PM me and I'll dig up the invoice.

[Lum]

I wouldn't mind the part numbers.

Bonus points on mine, half the top clips are missing, probably from when my windscreen was replaced, and two of the bottom clips are damaged.

[ARTZ]

Dunno much about ceffiies but when the 33 leaks water in the boot its usually rust around the bottom of the windscreen...its under the seal and barely noticeable....the other thing is to pull off the boot seal as rust often makes holes around the top after years of dirt/leaves build up...

[rayj]

Cheers for the great write up Nic_A31!

I've worked out the cause of the water leak in the boot, where water builds up in the spare tyre area.

The leak is coming from the rear light. Looks like there is a seal problem there, and water slowly makes its way in.

The other water leak in the front driver's and passenger side has gone away.

All I did was take the wipers off and that long black plastic garnish, then cleaned the whole area beneath it properly, and it seems to have done the trick.

I'd still like to get my hands on those new seals though.

Cheers

[Nic_A31]

Cool, I'll have a look at my tail lights and see how mine are looking.

Do you have factory fitted taillights?
I swapped mine out for Series 2, never had the leak with S1 and the first 12 months or so of having S2, but I didn't re-glue them or anything, so I might try that now....

Here's my Nissan invoice - see below.

Disregard the top line, that's an oil dipstick for my RB25DET.

Line 2 is the cups, you'll need 6 of them

Line 3 is the clips, you'll need 6 also

Line 4 is the cup for the exact centre which uses a screw instead of a clip, need 1 only

[Lum]

Anyone fancy buying these parts and selling them on to me? Nissan UK are bloody useless.

[Lum]

Well it's been a while, but this job is finally sorted. Got the parts from irs.co.jp who will supply them nice and cheap and ship worldwide.

Thanks Nic_A31 for the instructions. Only suggestion I'd make is getting that white centre clip out, I found it basically impossible to lever the thing out, what eventually worked for me was to tear up the top/sides of it with the screwdriver and then push the entire thing inwards. The seal is weaker than the clips!

From there it's just the "simple" job of fishing it out from the gutter area, maybe not suitable if you have hulking great muscular arms but for me it was pretty easy to get my hand in there.

Also glad I got to it when I did. The metal hasn't started rusting yet, so just had to clean up all the sloppy brown/black crap that's accumulated under there, pop the new clips in and hopefully it's sorted.

Now I just need to get rid of that damp wet dog smell in the passenger footwell!