Maxie40

The front support of my chassis is seriously rusted in the middle. Can I weld this with a plate or do I have to cut a piece or the whole thing out to replace? Or is it even worth it? How much can a repair like this run me? My Maxima is 16 years old (bought it in 1994).

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

Yup, just about all of us in the east coast and midwest have had this issue. Its called the "Radiator Core Support" average list price at dealerships is 383.75 but some dealerships will try to ask for more. You can get it from www.courtesyparts.com for a lower price but still have to pay shipping.

Most shops will charge between 500-1500 for this job which normally is replacing the entire piece. You might be able to get away with just replacing the lower portion which would make the part around $150 +/- $20 for the part.

Search for "core support" or "radiator support" and you should find some how-to threads. I've replaced about 6 of these and would do it for 200-300 bucks but you're kinda far.

Maxie40

Thank you for the search and website info. Ordered the part and I went to my body guy today who will take of it for me at a reasonable price. He also said he has seen this problem often. I read some stuff on the posts and I think it is a design flaw with Nissan. It was the Nissan dealer (who I only go to for oil changes and serious part replacement jobs) that pointed it out to me. He had a quote for almost $3,000.00 to do the work.

My question of the day now that I know the part, if that breaks will my engine and tranny drop, or isn't that what the motor mounts are for? This is what the dealer told me.

maxfever1987

iTrader: (93)

Maxie40, if your ready to get this job done right way, read and contact me when your ready, a complete job like this with my help will cost you $450 give or take

1.$200 for lower rad support brand new from nissan
@.around $250 or so for complete labor of uninstalling and reinstalling the new support, its about an 8 hour job, perfectly weled in and guaranteed to last, This job will not cost you past $500.

3. I dont care which route you go BUT DONT BUY AN AFTERMARKET SUPPORT, or else you will be doing this after one snow season.

my number is 917-442-1775 in in Queens/nyc 5 mins east of shea stadium

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

Yea, DO NOT buy an aftermarket piece, they are junk.

najee1062

Whew after reading this I went out and checked mine and glad to say that i'm good. I want to say one thing though. The shield that should be covering that is there for several reason and this is one of them... or could this have happened from a leaking radiator. I've notice a lot of people are removing there shields.... Is there a reason for doing that? I don't know maybe I'm missing something.. A mechanic one time told me oh you don't need that just throw it out. I'm glad I didn't or do we need it?

Maxie40

That's the question, it seems there is a major part of the engine structural bay attached to that piece, if it breaks, what happens........

Bassbreaker

iTrader: (8)

If it breaks, then your motor will be only on the mounts....i believe it helps in holding some of the motor weight in the front.

Those shields are worth having on your car...it'll keep the snow, rain, dirt out from under your engine bay

Trini Boom

iTrader: (5)

Those shields are very important. The rain and snow along with the salt will eat away the support. Keep those on and make sure you have all of them or else your A/C compressor will suffer the same fate with its bearings..

ampire

iTrader: (12)

Is it worth putting POR15 on that area if its not rusting yet but could potentially rust?

dgoodhue

iTrader: (1)

I look at my I30 yesterday, it only looks a little better than that. At least the previous owner had already mentioned to me that it might be a problem in a couple years.

ajm8127

iTrader: (8)

I'm thinking the problem is with water and salt getting inside the lower rad support through the cross member mounting holes. The spot where the bushings pass through the rad support can also trap water, keeping the area moist by preventing any air flow that would dry it out. I've heard great things about POR15 and if you could get a good coating inside and outside the portion of the rad support where the cross member connects, I think it may help.

najee1062

You could be on to something, cause i look again at mine and yea it's bad and i've never left my shields off for any reason. So why is this area **** to rusting out... I look over the entire car underneath and found no other rusting areas surprisingly... would por15 save the op problem?

Maxie40

Where can I get POR15 in NJ? My body guy is doing the work once I receive the replacement part, so that would be a good time to protect this from future problems.

ef9

iTrader: (8)

You have to get the POR15 in every nook and cranny for it to really work. You can opt to purchase a sprayer to spray the POR15 using an air compressor. Eastwood carries the special sprayer.

bamboomerang

iTrader: (14)

The problem is caused by the plastic splash guards. Either toss em or add a little piece of plastic sheet in the middle and fill the rad support with window expansion foam (it eliminates condensation).

Trini Boom

iTrader: (5)

Hmmm... this is interesting. So you are saying that the splash guards are holding water and moisture under the radiator support?

nelledge

iTrader: (6)

One could easily imagine snow/ice/slush/salt mix slowly eating it away for that reason.

najee1062

You maybe on point with that... I notice that it is a slip between the two shields and the rust is right at the split and nowhere else. Definitely should have been a recall on this.