Fender liner alignment after dropping bumper to change light
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 12:17 pm
Hi all...been lurking around for awhile and finally joined "the club". I have a 2010 Kizashi SE AWD...car has almost 50,000 miles and has been mechanically flawless except for an alignment issue which pretty much trashed the second set of tires (didn't notice it until the tires started to howl due to the uneven wear). After the alignment fix all is well. I really like this car...it's fun to drive, economical and very reliable (so far)...I take good care of it.
Over the weekend I had to change a burned-out headlight...dropped the bumper as directed and removed the headlight assembly. While I was at it, I removed both assemblies and replaced ALL the bulbs (just my luck another one would blow a week later). The job was a BEAR...took me the better part of Sunday afternoon. I DID break the tabs off the foam absorber behind the bumper cover...not a big deal as long as it lines up again I figured.
I finally got all the bulbs replaced, assemblies put back in place and raised and reconnected the bumper (THAT was tricky...took awhile and lots of swearing). All seems OK but I've noticed that the fender liner from the bottom of the bumper cover to where it meets the upper fender doesn't extend all the way to the edge (hope this makes sense). It's inside the bumper cover (I'm talking about the plastic bumper cover in front of the wheel) about an inch to an inch and a half. The passenger side is the same way....maybe a little less. I can't remember if it was that way before or not. Is the fender liner supposed to extend to the outer edge of the bumper in front of the wheel? If so, something is f****d up. A guy from a local body shop took a look at it and said everything looked OK to him...said it was probably just like that...I'm still not sure.
My concern is if that liner is out of whack could it allow water and salt to get up into the fender if it's not positioned properly? Of course there aren't any local dealerships anymore (all closed) and I can't find any information online. I want to be sure this issue is OK before the snow/salt season begins here (which should be any day now).
Can someone check out their car and let me know if the front fender liner extends to the OUTSIDE rim of the front bumper cover in front of the wheel or it it recessed in?
Sorry about the long post...this is bugging the crap out of me. Appreciate any help...
Over the weekend I had to change a burned-out headlight...dropped the bumper as directed and removed the headlight assembly. While I was at it, I removed both assemblies and replaced ALL the bulbs (just my luck another one would blow a week later). The job was a BEAR...took me the better part of Sunday afternoon. I DID break the tabs off the foam absorber behind the bumper cover...not a big deal as long as it lines up again I figured.
I finally got all the bulbs replaced, assemblies put back in place and raised and reconnected the bumper (THAT was tricky...took awhile and lots of swearing). All seems OK but I've noticed that the fender liner from the bottom of the bumper cover to where it meets the upper fender doesn't extend all the way to the edge (hope this makes sense). It's inside the bumper cover (I'm talking about the plastic bumper cover in front of the wheel) about an inch to an inch and a half. The passenger side is the same way....maybe a little less. I can't remember if it was that way before or not. Is the fender liner supposed to extend to the outer edge of the bumper in front of the wheel? If so, something is f****d up. A guy from a local body shop took a look at it and said everything looked OK to him...said it was probably just like that...I'm still not sure.
My concern is if that liner is out of whack could it allow water and salt to get up into the fender if it's not positioned properly? Of course there aren't any local dealerships anymore (all closed) and I can't find any information online. I want to be sure this issue is OK before the snow/salt season begins here (which should be any day now).
Can someone check out their car and let me know if the front fender liner extends to the OUTSIDE rim of the front bumper cover in front of the wheel or it it recessed in?
Sorry about the long post...this is bugging the crap out of me. Appreciate any help...