kadams161

I was working on my car this weekend and realized my radiator bushings on top were off and my radiator is sagging a little bit. I was upset to look under and find that my center of the radiator core support is completely rusted out to the point where my hood latch is not mounted, and I am not sure if my main support is connected to it. The sides look okay, but the center is terrible.

https://imgur.com/a/mJWf9

This led me to googling on the issue to find it is a very very common issue with the older maximas, and it is a widespread fault. The OEM piece is $200 for just the lower support. The whole radiator support is $50-100 aftermarket. It appears I only need the lower piece and online people say to go with the OEM for this part. I am thinking repairs will cost around $300-$600 but I will have to get estimates from local body shops. The rest of the vehicle has rust on the underside, but it does not seem extreme to me. There are issues when jacking it up, that I use certain points with a wood board on my jack to spread the weight. Hopefully the auto body shops have a good second opinion. The car has 125,000 miles on it and has been taken care of. I bought it 3 years ago from the original owner, it has never been involved in a crash, and it has been maintained well. The car runs well and I have not had any check engine issues other than an evap leak since I bought it, which I fixed this weekend by replacing my fuel neck. There was also an 02 sensor that I had to replace. Other than that the maintenance I have done since I bought it is as follows...

**Already Done**

-All brake rotors and pads

-Front struts/shocks

-Front Right tie rod

-Front Right Control Arm

-Front Right sway bar

-02 Sensor replacement

-New headlight assemblies

-New tires

-New fuel neck

-Exaust sleeve repairs

-New Radiator



**Future plans**

-New Back Shocks/Struts

-Front Left Sway bar

-Front Left Tie Rods

-Front Left Control Arm

The car runs great and I feel that I have a lot of miles left on my engine, but I am not sure if it is best to save the money and get a newer car. I have the money to do it, but I am frugal and I prefer not to drop 10k+ on a newer car if I do not need one, and if I can run this one til it dies. What are your suggestions on my current situation? any advice or comments are welcome

I brought it to a few shops and decided on one shop. The shop will use a $90 aftermarket support, cut out the bottom, and use that for $700. They will use the OEM lower only for $930 or the whole OEM frame for $1500. One of my biggest concerns moving forward is I want to use aftermarket and am looking for advice on if that will last long at all. I do not plan on using it at all to jack up my car, but do not want to do this job again in 2 years. Any advice appreciated!

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Check my thread... May be on second page. It starts "picked up a 2001 se...

You only need the lower and the hood bracket . Hood bracket is like $30 OEM lower is about $230 at courtesy nissan .

Never go aftermarket. Check my thread out and ask questions. post pictures and do not go to the shop yet.

flames101sully

iTrader: (1)

Yes Kadams, check out the thread, it is an excellent restoration. Lots of useful info https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...-clean-up.html

kadams161

Thanks! Read through it! Very useful information for me. I think I will go ahead with repair because this car has so much left in it. Unfortunately the OEM from Nissan is $302 before shipping, but I will have to use that it appears. Unfortunately this is not a job I have the tools/skills/time to do myself, so a shop seems like the only option. I do the rest of my work myself, but have no way to weld it all and take it all apart.The work you have done is awesome! I was going to have the body shop by me do that and they would also spray my car with anti rust wax to prevent future rust! It sucks that these things run well and have a lot of time, but with the Chicago weather it destroys my car. The only exterior rust issues are around the wheel well where it is starting to bubble up unfortunately. I want fix it, but will have to research more on how to repair that or prevent anymore harm. Your post is inspiring me to do some more work on mine lol.

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Right here it is $208

https://www.courtesyparts.com/oem-pa...YT1uaXNzYW4%3D

And you could just bolt it on it would be fine for the length you own it. The other part is really cheap. bolt on also. If you were having someone do it i would get the nissan parts.

#5 and #6 in diagram

kadams161

Thanks!!! Wasn't able to find this good of a price! Yea I heard that it only needs to be bolted, but with the Chicago weather and limited welding experience and tools I don't think it is something I can do on my own! I wish I could and wish I had my own house to do it at.