As some of you may know, my daily driver is a second gen Nissan Leaf. The car, like all EVs is awesome, but has an interesting quirk, apparently dating back to Nissan Versa days. For some mysterious reason, the drain hole under the drivers side windshield wiper sits right above the strut tower. So any water that drips there ends up sloshing around in a nice cup on top of it. Can’t wrap my mind around this one- why? Reading around the forums, it appears that after the early Leafs had the top of the strut corrode to the point of failure. Nissan changed the hardware to stainless but did not do anything to eliminate the cause.

After checking my own car after a rain, it was clear I needed to do something.

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Try 1. OEM Nissan cap from Versa/Juke etc.

After hearing some people having success with this one, I ordered a couple of Nissan caps. ( P/N 54330-ED000). The disappointing thing about them is the vent hole on the top as well as fairly loose fit in the strut top. To deal with that and to allow it to still breathe a bit I added a GoreTex sticker I had lying around as a cover. After drying and cleaning the area and applying some silicon grease, I popped the covers in and left them alone. That was September 2018

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When I checked them again in early 2020, the passenger side was dry as expected (no wipers draining there), but the driver side still had some rusty water in it:

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Try 2. Custom cap.

Enter a 3D printed solution. After stumbling on a 3D model of a cover on Thingverse made by Paul Kennett I decided to print some via Shapeways. The big advantage of this design was the size- these covers extend past the opening at the top of strut tower, directing water away completely. I picked ” White Processed Versatile Plastic” as a material, based on the properties. A few weeks later I had my parts. Obviously Shapeways uses much nicer printers than any home hobbyist can have access to, and you can see that from the results.

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Note the sloped lid and vent ribs on the underside to allow air to circulate. The cover snaps on top of the strut tower nicely and redirects water.

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Another option (untested)

As RSThinks has mentioned in his Youtube video on the topic, a VW Golf dust cup P/N
17141235901C is also a good option. I have not tested that, but it looks like you get a good coverage and the price is much lower than 3D printed parts.

Conclusion:

So far so good. The fit is secure and no water made its way under it in the three months since the install. I don’t know why Nissan could not do something similar to redirect water- if anybody has an idea- do leave a comment. I suppose they may feel that the rubberized coating inside and stainless hardware is sufficient. I still do not like driving with pools of water there. Could breed some mosquitoes for all I know..

Resources:

• Nissan Versa strut tower cap P/N 54330-ED000
• VW Golf strut tower cap P/N 17141235901C
• Thingiverse printable model by Paul Kennet
• Shapeways 3D Printing service
• RSThinks video on the topic
• Forum thread