Background
Around 2015 my car developed a strange problem which to this day i still find difficult to understand. While stationary with the engine running, depressing the brake pedal caused a strange noise to occur, coming from the front of the car. I took it to the dealers and they said it was a known problem. Basically, when pressing the brake pedal, the cars electronic system decided that the headlight level should be adjusted! The noise i was hearing was the headlight level motor hitting the end stop. If i did not get it fixed, eventually the motor and/or the mechanism would fail. This is all the more alarming that the headlights are normally adjusted using a switch and control on the dashboard. The problem was identified by Nissan as being due to corrosion of electrical contacts in the rear light units. Why exactly corrosion in a rear light unit should cause the system to decide to adjust the headlight level i really do not understand. However, the replacement units seemed to fix the problem.
Over the winter of 2021/2022 i noticed some condensation in the passenger side lamp unit indicating that moisture was getting in.
I decided to remove the lamp units and investigate further before any water getting into the bodywork did any further damage.
Over the winter of 2021/2022 i noticed some condensation in the passenger side lamp unit indicating that moisture was getting in.
I decided to remove the lamp units and investigate further before any water getting into the bodywork did any further damage.
This picture shows the right side of the car with the lamp unit removed. the clean dry are around the holes indicates that water is not getting in here although the top left does show signs of failing.
I forgot to take pictures of the left side before cleaning it up however it did show similar signs of early failure.
This picture shows the rear of the right rear lamp unit showing the poor condition of the foam which prevents water getting into the bodywork.
Where the foam has been compressed against the bodywork it has deteriorated and started to break away. A few pieces fell off when i removed the lamp unit from the rear of the car.
This picture shows the rear of the left rear lamp unit showing the poor condition of the foam which prevents water getting into the bodywork.
When removed from the bodywork several pieces fell off.
The pieces of foam around the mounting bolts, shown on the right of the picture here also show signs of decal and no longer had any 'spring' left in them.
In this picture the foam has been carefully removed from the rear of the lamp unit with the intention of using it as a template to cut a new pice of foam.
The stick residue left on the outer section was carefully removed ensuring no damage to the flat plastic surface.
After the old foam pieces were removed they were used as a template to make new foam pieces. The waterproof foam intended for outdoor use was purchased on-line and arrived a few days after being ordered.
From the off-cuts, circular foam pieces were cut for the mounting holes on the rear of the lamp unit.
This process was repeated for both the left and right light units.
The left rear light unit did show some signs of damage to the plastic casing. it was either overtightened at some points or some sort of solvent had damaged and softened the plastic causing it to be malformed.
Here all the debris from the old foam seal has been removed and the lamp unit cleaned up ready for the new foam seal to be fitted.
Here the right rear lamp unit is shown with the new foam seals carefully attached
I find it surprising that to replace a bulb, the foam has to be removed to get access causing possible damage to the sealing
This shows the left side lamp unit mounting area cleaned and polished ready for the lamp unit to be re-installed.
The same process was repeated for the right side of the car.
After installation the lights were all checked for correct operation.
Hopefully this preventative measure will prevent any water getting into the light units or the vehicle body causing much more expensive damage.
I will need to check the units a few times to verify that the problem has been solved and no water/dampness is getting into the lamp units.