1991-1994 240sx: Hatch leaking

General discussion forum about the 240sx, and a great place to introduce yourself to the board!
vancouverbc
Posts: 3197
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2003 1:30 am
Car: 1991 240sx

Post

Get inside your hatch when it is raining or with someone spraying with water hose. It is difficult, but you will be able to identify the source of the leaks with help of flashlight.

Your tail lights will be leaking for sure. Use butyl rubber per this article to repair: Tail light leaking article

If you dont have time for the butyl rubber method, dig out some of the old butyl rubber(without removing lenses) and seal with silicone.

OTHER SOURCES OF LEAKS( easy to fix with goop):

-metal seams- where the sheets of metal are attached. lots of this



-screws that hold lenses-spoiler attaching nuts-window seams-hatch main gasket/seal(lift up hatch door when it is raining. if the top of hatch gasket is wet, you know water is leaking through where the metal of hatch door meets rubber of hatch gasket)

HATCH DOOR GASKET LEAK

My main leak is where the hatch door comes down and meets the hatch gasket(I think hatch sags in that corner). I applied some liquid gasket to metal of hatch door and greased up the door gasket and formed a mold when I closed door. Have not seen a drop of water since I did this.

click medium pics to see large pics

This pic shows the liquid gasket after it has dried. Do a thorough job of greasing door gasket or it will stick and rip apart.















AFTER THE LEAKS ARE FIXED RECONDITION HATCH

Sand out the rust and coat with a rubber(asphalt). Remember, your fuel pump and fuel tank are in the hatch.





(Bulbs in back are either 1157 and/or 1156. replaced all 8. 4*1157;4*1156)

Replacing Hatch door weather stripping -

. No regular parts store has it, as far as they know its a dealer item. I think the dealer wanted over $200 by me. Their hard to find online, but this site http://www.trademotion.com/spl...14086 has a lot of parts for your car and priced very good. As far as I know it's all OE stuff, the weather stripping was around $105 shipped to my house, it was a genuine Nissan part.

Install on this is very straight forward, pull out the old one and install the new one. I also suggest cleaning around your trim so the stripping has a clean fit. The split in the stripping is at the bottom of the hatch. It's going to be very snug when your installing it, so push down hard. That's it......or is it

Modified by vancouverbc at 12:36 AM 2/5/2008

Modified by vancouverbc at 12:38 AM 2/5/2008

Modified by vancouverbc at 2:18 PM 1/17/2010

Modified by vancouverbc at 2:21 PM 1/17/2010

Modified by vancouverbc at 2:38 PM 1/17/2010

Modified by vancouverbc at 2:42 PM 1/17/2010
Modified by vancouverbc at 2:46 PM 1/17/2010


User avatar
jdm_master_X
Posts: 3519
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 6:22 pm
Car: 92 Nissan 180SX LHD!...LaWL
Contact:

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i would just use rubber undercoating. its worked well with me and others for quite awhile now.

S133P3R
Posts: 4348
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 4:02 pm
Car: 1989 S13 240sx
Location: South BRO.C. Ca
Contact:

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Sh#t, of course i wait till this years first rain to remember that my hatch is leaking. my spare tire hole has water in it! sh#t! does anyone know if that black rubber plug (its @the 6o'clock postion on the tire support in the middle of the tire hole) will drain it out if removed?

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White Comet
Posts: 19033
Joined: Thu Jun 15, 2006 7:22 am
Car: fc, s13 and mazda6, Sierra
Location: lancaster, pa

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it'll drain most of it out, you might have to help it a little

S133P3R
Posts: 4348
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 4:02 pm
Car: 1989 S13 240sx
Location: South BRO.C. Ca
Contact:

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thanks white comet. I read this post first on my search results and didnt realize the other posts covered the topic so thoroughly... who knew, the search button works!

jkfcb01
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 8:58 am
Car: '91 240SX SE

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I followed the repairs for the taillights using butyl rubber as well as using silicon around all screw holes and I still have a leak. It appears that all seams and welds on the outside are in good condition. Is it still possible that they can leak. I'm assuming the leak is from elsewhere and just happens to run to that area.

It also looks like the wear wiper assembly is leaking but I can't find any posts about that.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

Jason'91 240SX SE

RickBlaine
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:08 pm
Car: 1991 Nissan 240sx SE
Location: Chicago, IL

Post

@vancouverbc:

Thank you. Your suggestions were spot on. I had water in the hatch area of my 1991 240sx and thought it was the butyl rubber around the tail light lenses failing- as it is 22 years old!

Used 3M's version (part number 08612) of butyl rubber- called "Window-Weld Ribbon Sealer" from Advanced Auto (about $24 a roll). Crawled inside during the rainstorm and saw that the seam just above the brake light was leaking too. Will patch that tomorrow after the rain. I chose that over a $5 tube of 100% silicone because if you ever have to remove the tail lights again, that silicone is gonna be a bear. 3M's Window-Weld (as well as Nissan's butyl rubber) were made specifically for this application.

To remove excess residue, I used a hair dryer and scraper. Took 30 minutes to remove 90% of it that way (from both the car AND the removed tail light assemblies). Then, I used a product called "Goof Off" in a well-ventilated area to just wipe off the rest. Very easy. But trust me on the "well-ventilated" part I just mentioned.

Is the general consensus to use 100% silicone to seal the leaky seam between the two metal folds? I also have roofing tar. Either way, it's not like I have to remove it again nor see it- as that seem is hidden behind the hatch's carpet.

If you have any suggestions for sealing the metal seam (about 4 inches), please let me know.

Thank you again.



At least I identified the source.


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