Still under warranty ? Check your rear hatch struts for leakage.

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cwerdna

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Messages
13,674
Location
SF Bay Area, CA
Thanks to a post on the SF Bay LEAFs group, someone w/a '13 Leaf (w/a pic) reported their rear hatch struts were leaking. I never even bothered to pay any attention but sure enough, both of mine are showing the same symptoms.
IMG_6029-red.JPG

Since I'm still under 3 year/36K basic warranty, I'll look to get them replaced the next time my car goes in for service.
 
cwerdna said:
Thanks to a post on the SF Bay LEAFs group, someone w/a '13 Leaf (w/a pic) reported their rear hatch struts were leaking. I never even bothered to pay any attention but sure enough, both of mine are showing the same symptoms.


Since I'm still under 3 year/36K basic warranty, I'll look to get them replaced the next time my car goes in for service.
My drivers side looks just like the picture, passenger side has oil residue, but not that bad yet. Yet another Nissan build quality issue.
 
ElectricEddy said:
Yet another Nissan build quality issue.

I wonder if this is just a 2013+ problem and a US (or Canadian) supplier? The struts of my 2012 never leaked. In fact my 2012 was the most reliable car I've ever had. The only time I ever brought it back to the dealer for a problem was caused by something I added (dash cam causing radio interference with the TPMS which I've mentioned elsewhere).
 
ElectricEddy said:
My drivers side looks just like the picture, passenger side has oil residue, but not that bad yet. Yet another Nissan build quality issue.
You can probably blame their supplier and/or their or Nissan's design or parts validation.

I highly doubt Nissan builds the struts. All automakers depend on a ton of suppliers for components and assemblies.
 
Yikes! That looks like it would be easy to miss.

Thanks for the advisory. I have a few months left on the warranty. I will definitely keep an eye on this.
 
I had both my struts replaced under warranty, not long after it's 6 month anniversary :shock: One was leaking quite badly causing the hatch to slam, they did the other, well just because. The replacements are about a year old with no issues yet. IMO struts are just a maintenance item, sometimes they may last a while but eventually they will leak and fail to hold up the hatch. I got tired of replacing them on a Geo Metro I had so I purchased a neat little plastic arm that held the hatch open even though the struts were shot. It worked fine for me but I was always worried someone else would either hit their head on the hatch if they didn't know about the arm or use the arm and then forget to pull it back when closing the hatch, therefor breaking the little plastic arm.
I believe a lot of it has to do with how often they are used, I had struts on the hood of a Buick Lesabre many years ago and they never wore out, of course I didn't open the hood nearly as much as something like a hatch. Very good idea to occasionally check the struts for oil build up, especially if your warranty is about to expire, although I wonder if they might say it's just a maintenance issue if everything worked ok but they just looked dirty.......once they start leaking oil, failure is eminent, how long is hard to tell.
 
Gas springs a.k.a. Lift Struts do loose their ability to hold up hatches over time. It's not a Nissan issue.

If your out of warranty or don't want to waste time going to a dealer, Excellent after market struts can usually be purchased online for less than $25/pair and installed in a few minutes.
 
I see what appears to be a small issue on mine, nowhere near as bad as the OP's picture. And it seems to be functioning fine.

I will keep and eye on this as we get closer to our end of warranty. But I suspect it won't need to be replaced for quite some time. Good to know about this though. Thank you!
 
Flyct said:
Gas springs a.k.a. Lift Struts do loose their ability to hold up hatches over time. It's not a Nissan issue.

If your out of warranty or don't want to waste time going to a dealer, Excellent after market struts can usually be purchased online for less than $25/pair and installed in a few minutes.

My 2012 has a 10/11 build date and my struts are presumably still OK. I use the rear hatch to get the EVSE out several days a week and haven't noticed anything unusual yet.

Still nice to know the parts are cheap and easily replaced.
 
tl;dr: See bolded part.

FWIW, I brought my '13 Leaf in for this + the brake relay possible freezing reprogram recall (NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V119000) + some other noises (rattles and sometimes a squealing coming from either the AC compressor or radiator fans when shutting off the heater). Unfortunately, they didn't have the hatch struts in stock and had to special order them.

I'll probably get the hatch struts done in a a few weeks before my 3 year/36K warranty runs out in conjunction w/the annual battery check. Hope the parts, instructions, etc. are ready for the passenger OCS recall (16V244000) by then. At least I'd be able to get 3 things done in 1 visit.
 
Dammit, I just had my car in for the last "service" (wipers, inspections, recall work) under warranty, and I forgot all about this. I'll have to check them tomorrow. 10 days or so are left on my warranty.
 
The dealer called on June 8th to let me know the hatch struts have arrived. That took awhile but fortunately wasn't anything critical.

I'm having them replaced later today. My 3 year/36K warranty runs out in just over a week. Unfortunately, when I called today, they still didn't have parts yet for the OCS recall.
 
My replacements have been leaking. Dealer confirmed they're leaking (but needed receipt that they were done by the other dealer) and ordered them. So, I'm getting them replaced for free again since it's under 1 year/12K miles since I got them replaced.
 
In my Honda CRXs (I had two that worked, three total) I would have to replace the hatch struts every 3-4 years.. Pretty typical, I'm amazed Nissan honored them under warranty and just didn't declare them a consumable.
 
cwerdna said:
My replacements have been leaking. Dealer confirmed they're leaking (but needed receipt that they were done by the other dealer) and ordered them. So, I'm getting them replaced for free again since it's under 1 year/12K miles since I got them replaced.
Ugh. I messed up.

Today I noticed the left replacement from 2017 is leaking again but not the right one. I didn't recall when I had them replaced under warranty.

Unfortunately, I found my work order receipt and found they were replaced in late April 2017 so it's highly unlikely Nissan corporate will approve warranty replacements at this point, since I missed the 12 month/12K mile replacement parts warranty by a few weeks. Oh well.

Lesson learned. If you get this type of work done, put a note in your trunk and/or set yourself a calendar reminder (before you hit 12 months/12K miles) to check if the problem has cropped up again.

These hatch struts aka stays that Nissan gets for US-built Leafs seem kinda crappy. For me:
originals: both leaked
1st set of replacements: both leaked
2nd set of replacements: one leaked
 
Hmm. Never noticed this even though it's practically in my face every time I open the hatch. Both struts have surely weeped some oil, but they still seem to have a lot of holding force. Guess I'll just wipe off the schmutz and see how it goes. Someone once told me "a seal that doesn't leak, leaks" whatever the hell that means. :lol:

Anyone have any idea what what to look for in an aftermarket replacement unit? Are these basically standardized components that I just need the length dimension?
 
Nubo said:
Anyone have any idea what what to look for in an aftermarket replacement unit? Are these basically standardized components that I just need the length dimension?

They are somewhat standardized in that the car companies buy them from suppliers. To replace them, you will need to match the end mount types, the length and the force (weight the strut is supposed to support). I would also replace them in pairs even if only one looks damaged as the other one is probably either close to EOL or weakened. If one strut has to support extra weight it will wear prematurely so the usual advice is to replace as a pair.
 
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