The car is my son's freshly acquired 2000W Nissan Primera S. It's in gleaming red and at £2495 (50,000mls) looks like a good buy. Just one tiny niggle:
I wonder if anyone else has experienced condensation inside the rear-light cover - in particular the bootlid-mounted reversing light?
If so, I'd be very interested to know how you got rid of it, how you gained access and if you had any success in maintaining it condensation free. Many thanks Waino
|
Little crack or hole, or poor seal somewhere.
Take the unit out and remove bulb panel and dry it thoroughly. Then check for cracks and go around the joint where the two halves meet with a bead of silicone sealer.
|
Thanks, Aprilia - the cover doesn't appear to be cracked so we'll assume that the problem is caused by a faulty seal. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a Haynes manual available beyong the year '99, so we are guessing about the way things are laid out.
When you say 'take the unit out', do you mean via the plastic panel on the inside of the bootlid? I noticed that there were 2 small nuts on the edge of the lid, I wondered if they could afford a useful point of access.
I'll get a better idea again tomorrow when I have a look in daylight, but 'the joint where the two halves meet' - is that where the bulb panel meets the cover?
Thanks again, Waino.
|
Working from memory here. You have to remove the trim. Then undo the nuts that hold the light unit into the vehicle and remove the light unit.
IIRC the unit is basically in two halves - lens assy and the back part (with holes and reflectors). These two halves are bonded together.
You could probably get a P12 Primera shop manual off ebay for under £5.
|
You could probably get a P12 Primera shop manual off ebay for under £5.
This car will be a P11-144, (I'm sure Aprilia has made a typo here ;-) These '144 PDF manuals are available to buy on eBay, but are also possibly free for download if you search around. Ask on the Nissan Primera Owners Club forum.
|
Yes, sorry, it should be P11.
In fact the Haynes manual which runs to '99 will be pretty useful, the -144 variant is not that different.
|
|
|
|
Take the unit out and remove bulb panel and dry it thoroughly.
Then put it somewhere warm like the airing cupboard just to make sure.
--
L\'escargot.
|
|
Or stick a couple of sachets of silica gel in,put them on a radiator first to make sure they are dry.
|
These lenses have a clear outer shell which has a very brittle seal on it. The seal cracks very easily and water gets in - I tried to seal one up and made it worse (cracked it). I made a paper funnel for the hairdryer and was trying to open up the crack in the seal when it shattered - many, many expletives were heard in our kitchen that afternoon...
The only proper solution is to buy a Valeo replacement unit which is around £45. Be warned they are a nightmare to remove because they have mastic sealant around where they are secured to the bodywork. Once the boot trim is removed and the nuts taken off the three studs that hold them in, I ended up drifting the old one out by repeated use of a hammer and piece of hardwood on the studs (in rotation) until the mastic surrendered it's grip.
Hope this helps
|
I have taken these out in the past and its not that difficult. I certainly wouldn't hammer the studs. The trick would be to do it on a warmish day, or warm the unit up. The mastic goes softer when it gets warm. They pry at the unit from the outside with your fingers.
You do not have to try to open the seal up. Just run a thin bead of clear silicone sealant into the join and then smooth it with a finger.
|
|
Thanks again for recent posts. My son is overseas at the moment, but we'll check again when he gets back. We should have taken this up with the garage when we bought the car - but we simply thought that it would evaporate once it was in regular use again.
|
|
I have the Factory Service Manual for the Mk3 Primera-as I recently bought a 2001 Y Primera 2l SE. If you would like and you can somehow get your postal address to me, or any convenient postal address, I will happily send you a copy on CD, gratis. Let me know if you're interested, we can sort something out.
|
Many thanks, c p, that's very splendid of you. I'm not sure how we go about this as giving out my e-address usually just means it is available to those offering even more pharmaceuticals, incredible share deals, cheap watches and Russian ladies!
I live in the heart of Suffolk and my son lives in west London. Don't tell me ..... you live in the Outer Hebrides ;-)
Maybe DD could kindly suggest a way of exchanging addresses/e-addresses.
Thanks again
|
Well you can email at mars.opportunity AT gmail.com
obviously replace the AT with an @ symbol, and there are no spaces in it either.
Cheers
|
|
|
Maybe DD could kindly suggest a way of exchanging addresses/e-addresses.
Drop me or one of the other mods an email, and we'll forward it on. DD.
|
|
Thanks DD - I've already replied to the address above, but will bear your offer in mind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is a common problem on Nissan Almeras, water gets into the rearlight cluster and leaks into boot as well as condensing on the lenses.
Nissan do the sealant to do both clusters for around £30 on ebay. I have however found an alternative on Amazon here: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00G58HJ1O/ref=oh_aui_...1
for 9 quid and is made of the same material.
Good luck sealing your lenses.
Alcapone
|
|
|
