hpl912

I've just noticed this that my car's passenger's side floor pan is rusted with a hole
is this covered under warranty even if i'm not the first owner of the car?
anyone dealt with this prob with nissan to have them pay for this?
I find this is unacceptable for a car that's not even 10 years old!

MAXMEL44

Sorry to hear.. I have the same exact problem on the driver side floor pan. It looks like the rubber plug for water drainage is missing and it's starting to rot out. I have not contacted Nissan yet. By the way my car is an 07!!

DAlastDON

Rust is five years, unlimited miles. Hence it being a 2007, you might want to contact nissan. They could be ****s and only honer the warranty from the "put in service" date. If i had a rust hole i would be sol because my put in service date is September 2006.

01bluemax

all this stuff i'm reading about 6th gens makes me that much happier i bought a 5th gen.

JamesNH

iTrader: (12)

one of the reasons that rubberized undercoating is bad. it just traps the water and rots..

hpl912

uh... 5 years so i'm out of luck... have to get this out my pockets.
looks like this is a common problem for the maximas and altimas after some search.

is it possible for a DIY on this? what's the cause of the rot? i see that there is a hole about an inch diameter just on the chassis below the passenger and driver's floor area. are these supposed to have a plug or covered? as i don't see mine covered. maybe the water gets trapped in from that hole?

L36

iTrader: (4)

Had same issue with my 04. I had it pretty bad with drivers side hole being the size of a football and passenger about a tennis ball. Has it fixed for about $350 with full cleanup, weld a piece in and several coats from both sides to prevent further corrosion. Although, Ive taken the car fully apart interior wise so that saved me money.

04vqmaxsl

Yeah not uncommon with these. My 04 has been rusting pretty badly on the passenger side floor pan for a couple years now. Good luck with Nissan though since their warranty only covers rust on the structural components which the floor pans are not.

mrjasonlyrics

Yeah but the 5thgens rust on the quater panel, door, trunk, hood and fenders

4dgs

You guys sure the rust warranty is 10 years?

On my G35 the door rust warranty is 10 years... might want to check with a trustworthy service department as the 04s are coming up on the end of their time.

Richlee

iTrader: (1)

My 04 max had a rust on the passenger side floor broad as well that I fixed myself. Cut out all the rust using a grinder which is going to leave a big hole then tape cord board on the bottom of the car covering the hole. Then I used fiberglass and lay it down from the inside of the car and leave it to dry. http://www.a-body.net/forums/showthr...air-Rust-Holes

hpl912

does it actually hold strong enough using the body repair method on a floor pan? i've searched quite a lot and floor pan rusts seems to be all repaired by welding a new sheet of metal.

mrjasonlyrics

My driver floor panel is pretty bad and is in definite need of some tlc. I mean I could do it myself but I think I'm gonna pay and have a shop do it professionally.

philpoe

iTrader: (4)

Same problem. Nissan left me in the cold as my car was more than 5 years out (2005 model).
They said they'd think further on it if I could provide all VINs from my previous Nissans and leases (this is my 5th Nissan, 4th Maxima), which I couldn't.

I'm investigating a fix now. Local shop wanted $2K to do the entire floor or $650 to grind and rubberize the problem area.

Richlee

iTrader: (1)

It's been three years and it hasn't moved an inch. It is solid.

BETO6700

I had the same problem in my 04, tennis size ball hole on the passenger side. I went around @ different body shops by no one wanted to touch it because of liability and warranty issues. I finally found an alley shop that did a great job for $350.00
I contacted Nissan about it they responded wanted me to take it to their dealer which I did they took pictures of the damaged area, they also wanted receipts for the work done on the car. Please an alley shop?? paid cash.
Just recently wanted to trade in but I was offered 200 buck for it, because they said the vehicle has structural damage. My ca is clean has 8900 miles ..I decided to keep it and let my daughter drive the craps of it til falls apart

hpl912

anyone knows what is that hole used for (pointed by the yellow arrow in the pic)? it is there on both passenger and driver's side floor pan. When replacing or repairing the floor pan, do we need to leave that hole too or it's not needed?

CRiME

iTrader: (21)

Don't forget the lower radiator support

T_Behr904

An unfortunate carryover from the 4th gens...

Porky

You need to leave that hole. If its not there on the replacement, you need to drill a new one. The hole is used for draining water during a rainstorm, it can trickle down from certain channels and can get trapped in there. The point is to let the water out if trapped in there. If you don't have the hole, the water will sit in there, and rot out the metal even faster.

To fix this stuff, you need to cut out the rusted area completely, and weld new sheet metal in. Be sure to coat BOTH sides of the metal your welding to and the new piece, with the gray weld through zinc primer meant for welding, or else the new weld will be covered in rust within a year, and start rusting all over again.

Once done, clean the area with gasoline, then paint it with Rust Bullet - 2 coats. Then top it with an industrial ACRYLIC ENAMEL.

One of the reasons that this may have ocurred is that there aren't enough drain holes there, and the water was somehow pooling AROUND the original drain hole but not being let out. This could cause the rotting. Additionally, if you look at the features of the metal, there could have been a design flaw, that they didn't drill the drain hole in the ideal spot(s), so water is getting trapped in there and pooling, then rotting. If road salt is around, this will accelerate the rusting even worse, as salt water is essentially trapped there.

philpoe

iTrader: (4)

Finally got my car to a body shop that's not trying to rip me off. As we talked about it, the working theory is that the sunroof drain system runs down the a-pillar, and should let water out near the front door jamb. If it's leaking or the hose has popped free, it would be pooling water right at the spot where the rust seems to originate. It goes in the shop next week and we'll know better then.

hpl912

finally had this done for a good price by a garage.


It is noticed that the rust also started behind the rail were you bolt the seat. even though from under the car i don't see any rust, but it started to rust from the inside.




inside (before):


inside (after):



Bottom (after)

gatsugansu

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, I got rust in size of silver dollar and getting bigger.

DrewSER

Wow, those are absolutely not drain holes and are not intended to be open. We're not talking about a Jeep here. They are there for use during assembly because the body sat on pins as it traveled down the line. Once the undercoating develops cracks (because that area is allowed to flex) it allows water in where it gets trapped between sheets of metal and between the insulation and the floorboard. The car rusts from the inside out. This is a common problem and a design flaw from Nissan. A good habit to get in is to occasionally paint/coat the area around the holes to keep cracks from forming.

Bmatz67

I have the same issue on my daughters 04 maxima....before I clean it up and sell it I will have to replace the pans. I found replacement pans on line at Raybuck.com. Part numbers 1601-221 and 1601-222. 79.25 each. And for doing it yourself you could use 3M VHB tape at the seams. This stuff is incredible and is used on airplanes panels and for installing metal and glass in sky scrapers. Easy to use and is stronger than you can imagine. Plus it's water proof!