Maroon95SE Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Im new please dont roast me... I have spent countless evenings reading thousands of posts since buyn my new to me Pathfinder. And holy crap have I learned alot about my new truck, what to look out for and how to fix it. Back to the Post. As I live on the beautyful wet coast I have noticed water leakin in the rear hatch, from the glass(will get to that another time) and the rear door seal. Today out of the corner of my eye while closin the spare tire carrier i noticed that the gap between the tail light and the hatch trippled in size. A light went off in my brain, thinkin damn thats gota be how its gettin in. All rear seals look new and not all compressed, so pretty sure its not them alone leakin. Obvious answer (to me) is shave down the plastic shim that lifts the carrier into place.(behind the spare, not the latch) Which would stop the upward lift of the carrier and outward flex of the body.(seems to tight to me) (claim shops know for subpar work around here-just guessin by all the nice paint new seals and shocks) But before I go bastardizing somethin I know nothin about, I would love to know if anyone else has had this problem. Should I just remove the shim temporarily and see if it stops the leak? Is this screamin another problem? Thanks for any input, you guys know your $h!t 95SE Bone Stock (complete with speakers that at one time had paper and foam in there, i can see the baskets lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 The tire carrier is probably bent. I've seen this a few times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Mine moves the fender out a little when I close it but I don't get any leaks that I know of. I did have a leak from the rear window at one time. Crap gets in between the window and the seal after a while. When hitting hard bumps I can hear the window bounce on the seal. Just clean the seal often to keep it from leaking and do the same with the gate seal. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maroon95SE Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 The seal was pretty clean already, but i gave the glass, seal, body and seal a good cleanin. I also turned in the rubber stops on the hatch a bit( hope it dosent rattle now). Time to get the wife to stand there with the hose while i lurk about inside. The body flex seems to be more of an optical illusion than a measurement. Got out the tape measure and the gap really only increased from 7/32 - almost 9/32. Is that about what youve got James? The water comming in is not a river but enough to see it on the hatch door and a 4" by 4" patch of wet carpet on pass side and 2" x 2" on drivers with one night of rain. This would be accaptable but not desired if I drove her everyday, then the water could evaporate. As I only really drive her on the weekend (company work truck mon-fri) I dont want to flood the rear over a week of rain. I will let you all know how it goes with the hose, both with carrier open and closed. Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maroon95SE Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 As anyone knows who has had a leak, an hour with the hose never yelds the same results as a night of rain. I still got a few dribbles inside but in different spots than before. WTF. Didnt appear to make any difference with the carrier open or closed. Should I file down the plastic shim to get rid of the body flex anyway? Of course its not raining tonight, so I will just have to wait and see if the adjustments made any difference. thx again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Seems like the problem isn't the shim so much as a bent carrier... short of chopping and welding I'm not really sure how you'd fix that. You might try backing out the bolts a little, open it and close it, that might at least show you which hinge is sitting wrong... maybe a little work with the BFH would put it right. Watch out, though, the carrier is one heavy SOB. If the hose isn't working, try an automatic car wash. I remember going through one of those in my mom's old Jeep with worn out window seals... it washed them on the inside too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maroon95SE Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 Thx Slarti, I will try to loosen all the bolts, close the carrier then retighten, hopefully there is enough play in the holes to alow the small amount of reposition needed. Should i remove compleatly and locktight? Do these bolts ever get loose over time? Or should i just torque em down and call it good? Thx Maroon95SE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I torqued them and called them good, and haven't had any trouble with them since. No locktite, though I did shoot a little WD-40 on the threads so they wouldn't rust in place. I don't remember how close they are... maybe remove all but one, then see if the hinge tries to pivot. If it is bent, you might be able to find a straight carrier in a junkyard. Fixing a bent carrier sounds like a royal pain. Also, I just went out and checked mine. The gap between the rear quarter and the hatch does change, but not by much (maybe a millimeter or two). I'm not sure if it's a little bent, or built a little wrong, or if it's just heavy and forcing the panel to flex. Dunno if this helps any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 People drive like morons and back into things. That is why mine was bent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maroon95SE Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 I second people drive like morons, I havnt hit anythin with her yet, and I stress yet. Home late tonight, now its dark, never much a fan of tryn to fix somthin in the dark. Allthow I would fit right in with my neigborhs (fixn her by flashlight), as they have their picnic tables and bbqs on the front lawn. WD insted of locktite, lol , not really what im used to, but as the rest of her is brown and flakey thats probably a good idea. THX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 (edited) Little late, but... I figured out what causes the flex. When you shut the carrier, there's a little skid on it that rides up onto a plastic pad to align the latch mechanism. Mine didn't flex because it didn't hit the skid (the skid was badly worn). When I realized that the latch was hitting wrong, I raised the skid. Now, the carrier hits it, and when it rides up and over, it bends the panel out. Note that this only causes flexing when shutting, not while swinging in general (what I was thinking this was about before). Now that I've got the latch lining up properly, the panel deforms, and the worn out bushings are rattling... Edited April 26, 2012 by Slartibartfast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maroon95SE Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 Yes that is exactly what mine does, guess that means if I file down the shim my latch may not line up.... I think I will just look away when I close the carrier, and pretend everything is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 I just loosened the bolts for the skid, pushed it around until the latch just barely hit right, and resolved to ignore the tiny big of panel movement left over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lint Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 I just adjusted my skid plate (which was wearing down from use) and the latch. Everything lines up nicely now, but I still have body flex when I close the spare tire carrier...just not as much as before. I also noticed that the lower mounting bolts on the carrier were not as tight as the uppers. Maybe this had something to do with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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