what's up guys... I'm sure others have experienced this as well but anyways, the lower core rad support on my 98 maxima has rusted right through, so there's pretty much nothing holding the front of my engine up at the moment.

Now I know my engine isn't going to just drop right out, but I'm a little bit strapped for cash at the moment and was wondering if anyone knows if I can drive the car like this for another month or so before fixing it or is this something that needs to get fixed ASAP.

Anyone have any input or suggestions to this? Particularly people who have had their lower core rad support rust through?

thanks in advance!

 

Replace it ASAP.

 

Obviously, feather the throttle any time that you have no choice but to drive the car, but drive it as little as possible. I had my support replaced in 2006, but the guys who did it used a cheap aftermarket model. The next year, it ripped right through again! I took it back to them and they welded in a piece of steel so that the crossmember could bolt back up. They charged $200 for that which I think was excessive. It's been holding up ever since, though.

 

I have the exact same problem in my '96. Rust caused a huge hole in the rad support, probably the size of a softball. I've been driving mine for almost a year now without any problems from it so far. My maxima has 160k+ and i plan to drive it unti it falls a part (literally).

 

If its totally gone, as in the crossmember is just hanging there, replace it. think about what this is doing to the rear cross member mounts!!!!!
if it is in that gray area where it is rusting and not broken yet, no telling how long you can go. could last another year, or go tomorrow. who knows. Having replaced mine myself, i would just do it, but thats because i've been there done that.
My advice is to find someone who can help you and do it yourself. Want it done right, do it yourself.

NM91

 

If you're daily driving and you don't launch the car or go offroading (haha) you should be fine.

Dave

 

i have the same problem and ive bin driveing it like that the whole summer i say fix it asap but if u cant try not to drive it to often that means no joyriding lol

 

Would love to see what this looks like. How bad is it.

 

Sucks when you have no welder to DIY. Trying to find a shop that will fix it for a good price is tough.

 

thanks a lot for the input everyone .. I'm no DIY'er when it comes to this stuff but I have hookups when it comes to mechanics so it wont be tooo much to repair... the only downside is I moulded my stillen lip to my front bumper over the summer and I'll have to get that repainted to fix this POS rad support.

Snypa: basically there's a big hole right where the two bolts would normally bolt on to the rad support but since there's a hole the bolts are not bolting into anything so it's just hanging there.

I should be able to fix this in a month or so.. hopefully I'm fine... looks like no aggressive driving for me :P lol

 

I was in a similar situation a few months ago - 190K miles on my 95 SE, and the front support had been just hanging free for a number of months. Though I was having zero problems, I was having a couple of other jobs done (original clutch & struts replaced) so I decided to bite the bullet and get the rad. support replaced too.

Plus, the $$'s I had to fork over to replace it were very reasonable (IMO).

It's hard to tell how much longer I could have gone, but it sounds to me like your support is similar to how mine was. I'd say it's not an emergency for you, but is something you should plan to do not too far off (like, 6 months maybe?) - especially since you're planning to keep the car `untill it falls apart.'

 

Yeap. Do it yourself. Take everything off. Do a fitment test. Then when you're ready to put the rad support back on, rent a welder for a couple hours.

Took me 3 days to do mine. Could've easily been one day but I was waiting on the rad support to come in from the dealer, and the other half day was spent coating the new support w/ anti-rust paint and another layer of rubberized coating. There was a nice write up on here but it wasn't stickied. I'll let you know if i find it.

Edit: Found it. Pretty much all you need for the install. This is what I used.

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...st-pt-2-a.html

 

On the subject of radiator supports...I have a 98 infiniti i30 which was in an accident. As a result I need to replace the radiator support. I found one locally for a 98 maxima which is much cheaper than the infiniti version so I am wondering if they are the same part. I know the engine and drive train are the same, but I have had conflicting reports as to whether or not this includes the radiator support. Does anyone out there know definatively if a 98 maxima radiator support is the same as a 98 i30 support? Thanks.

 

they are different, the center support is different.

 

make a template and head to the junk yard! Or swap out a maxima rad into a I30 while in the junk yard, I'm sure they're the same! That or measure the distance between the support tabs on the bottom of the radiator and compare!

 

Thanks for the info. Are i30's actually wider than maximas? I was under the impression that the chasis were the same, but some of the measurements I have looked up show the i30 being wider. I'm assuming thats why the rad. supports arent the same? Also, is it advisable to avoid the cheaper aftermarket supports sold on most of the wholesale car parts websites? Some of the above comments sound like the cheaper aftermarket supports didnt last long. Thanks.

 

I would buy that part new and coat it. Well most aftermarket are not gonna fit like a nice new nissan part.

 

worldpartsexpress.com

FTW!

 

I had the same problem with my 95 GLE. I was getting it ready for inspection and noticed it. I didn't know what to do. So, me and my pop put a 2" flat bar across the bottem of the suport (inside) and usedsome self tapping screws to hold it into place. Then drilled holes into the flat bar and bolted the mounts on.
Hint: weld the nuts to the back of the flat bar. You won't get the bolts tightened if you don't.

Worked like a charm