Replacing All Large Opening Seals & Hatch Small Seals

[HusseinHolland]

I started dealing with the body seals today. I removed the rear roof trim to look at the hinge seals, and from what I can see, if those leak it will run down the 1/4's into the body sides. Can't see how it would run into the rear floor area

I have 4 pieces that go with the hatch opening, but I only know where the main seal fits. Mine doesn't have any other seals around the hatch opening . Anyone have pics of their hatch with the "upper outer" and "lower side" seals in place?

I got both door seals in. Doors are a bitch to close / open now. I moved the latches slightly outward, just to reduce the load on the release mechanisms 

Driver's door-to-fender seal in

I started on the scraper molding seal, but I don't know what type of stapler would even work to staple the new retainer strip in place. Anyone done theirs?

Edited April 25, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[Yarb]

@Av8ferg

[Freez74]

On the window scraper, after removing the original staples I drilled the holes out with a tiny drill bit and secured the retainer with some galvanized wire from the hardware store.  I had no way to duplicate the staple, just cut a short piece of wire and bend it flat.

[Yarb]

@HusseinHollandWhere did you find the molding?

[HusseinHolland]

5 minutes ago, Yarb said:

@HusseinHollandWhere did you find the molding?

The scraper molding & retaining strip came from ZcarDepot.  You have to remove the original strip & retaining plate from the main molding.

[HusseinHolland]

5 hours ago, Freez74 said:

On the window scraper, after removing the original staples I drilled the holes out with a tiny drill bit and secured the retainer with some galvanized wire from the hardware store.  I had no way to duplicate the staple, just cut a short piece of wire and bend it flat.

OK - ZcarDepot sent me a link to the manufacturer video - that's exactly what they did. I will have to redrill either the strip to match the molding, or vice-versa

[jfa.series1]

The hatch has two seals - outer and inner. The outer seal is small and installs on the pinch weld seam aound the hatch. The top portion is usually bulb shaped to fit snugly against the hatch flange so rain is channeled to the sides and down to the slam panel. Your pics show this seal is missing. In my pic I also have bulb-shaped outer seal on the sides as well as the top. The rust you show inside at the hinge are suggests your hatch hinge boots are compromised and should be replaced.

These plates are an important part of the hinge boot install. They fit between the hinge and the boot and prevent the boot from being distorted when the hinge bolts are tightened. Unfortunately the plates are not available as a separate P/N. They came to Nissan as an assembly with the OE boots.

As to your squeegee strip install, pop rivets work very well to secure the rubber strip to the door trim. Space them about every 4". This is far easier than working wirh wire or attempting to re-use old staples. The same approach works well with the fuzzy strip at the top of the door panel.

[HusseinHolland]

5 hours ago, jfa.series1 said:

The hatch has two seals - outer and inner. The outer seal is small and installs on the pinch weld seam aound the hatch. The top portion is usually bulb shaped to fit snugly against the hatch flange so rain is channeled to the sides and down to the slam panel. Your pics show this seal is missing. In my pic I also have bulb-shaped outer seal on the sides as well as the top. The rust you show inside at the hinge are suggests your hatch hinge boots are compromised and should be replaced.

These plates are an important part of the hinge boot install. They fit between the hinge and the boot and prevent the boot from being distorted when the hinge bolts are tightened. Unfortunately the plates are not available as a separate P/N. They came to Nissan as an assembly with the OE boots.

As to your squeegee strip install, pop rivets work very well to secure the rubber strip to the door trim. Space them about every 4". This is far easier than working wirh wire or attempting to re-use old staples. The same approach works well with the fuzzy strip at the top of the door panel.

Many thanks for the seal pics, that makes it clear. Did you also use weatherstrip adhesive for the lip, or something more contemporary to glue it? Seems quite likely that is the reason for my water ingress.

There is no rust inside, that is all the spare glue residue from whatever they spray up in there are the factory. The PO certainly never ever took anything apart.

I did order new hinge seals, however it really doesn't appear that any water has come in through there. I may pour a little water into the hinge cup just to confirm it though. Those seals won't be here for a couple weeks and I'm doing the hatch seals NOW.

I removed all the remnants of the main hatch seal & all the glue/foam residue all around the lip. I used xylene, which softens the glue & foam, makes it easier to remove. Still took 2 hours to get it to where it is now though

Still need to clean out the remaining crud from the hinge inner boot. Looks like I'm going to be removing the hatch to finish this, there is some surface rust in the upper drip channel behind the hatch. Can't get in there properly with the hatch on

I did redrill the metal strip & staple the scraper for the drivers side. I'll go with pop rivets on the pass side, but I need to get a good drill bit for the stainless. 

Edited April 26, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[Racer X]

Use 3M weatherstrip adhesive to attach the rubber seals.

A nylon scraper works well fro removing the residual adhesive from the previous installation, and, as you mentioned, softening it with a solvent will make removal easier.

Use a high quality carbide drill bit, cutting lube, and keep the drill bit speed very slow. Take your time. Any heat from drilling will work harden the stainless, ruining the drill bit, and making drilling with a fresh bit next to impossible.

 

 

 

 

 

[jfa.series1]

Good to hear that was glue on the inside and not rust. Installation of the outer hatch seal will be much easier with the hatch removed. Weatherstrip adhesive is the best product for these seals. Looks like you are making good progress.

[HusseinHolland]

On 4/25/2023 at 3:12 PM, jfa.series1 said:

The hatch has two seals - outer and inner. The outer seal is small and installs on the pinch weld seam aound the hatch. The top portion is usually bulb shaped to fit snugly against the hatch flange so rain is channeled to the sides and down to the slam panel. Your pics show this seal is missing. In my pic I also have bulb-shaped outer seal on the sides as well as the top. 

 

I just looked at the seals in the Precision Kit I bought from ZcarDepot. You comment above did not register until I saw that the lower seals they provide have a square profile, and no bulb.

Where did you buy the bulb lower version? I don't care for these ones, they don't sit flat at all in the channel

I was able to remove the hatch (with assistance from a neighbor), clean up the channels, prime & paint the upper outer channel, install the inner hatch seal, and the top outer seal. Had to get the hatch back on as it's going to rain overnight & tomorrow morning 

base coat & clear

side channels

Test fitting the hatch seal. took a couple tries to get the correct orientation. Also had to drop the seat belt reels to get the seal inner lip properly tucked under the plastic trim at the top sides

overlap ridge that gets the glue

had to notch the seal inner lip where the hatch brackets attach to the hatch opening

Glued in with weatherstrip adhesive. With it in-situ, I worked the lower run first, then the left side, top & finally the right side. After that I put the upper side buffer blocks back in. Then I put the upper outer seal on.

Hatch & louvres back on

It will all have to come apart again at some point, I found that the hatch screws were not fully tight & the hinge was pressing into the rubber seal cup on the pass side, creating a rub hole on the inner side. I sincerely doubt that was the cause of the water in the hatch/cubby area, seems much more likely the lack of proper hatch sealing was the culprit.

Edited April 27, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[jfa.series1]

 

The full-length bulb-shaped seal is my own invention 12 years ago. I did not like the OE-style side seals just as you don't. I sent them back to MSA and purchased a second top seal and used sections of it as side seals to get a full coverage with a bulb-shape seal. Look closely at my pic and you will see the two ends butted together.