Rust underneath the plastic coating is UGLY and probably getting worse. Considering rust proofing won't even touch it because of that factory coating.

 

Ruhroh you probably have only seen the surface of your rust problem.

Which wheel well/s are rusted? How big is the area of rust? any holes?

Yes they can be replaced, but only by finding good no rusted wells(good luck with that), cutting out your rusted wells, welding the good wells in. Or just cutting out the rusted areas and welding in fresh new sheet metal.

 

Dude it's horrible. All wells are rusted, but it's winter now and i won't be touching the max (hopefully nothing will break) until the spring...then I'll take the photos. There are holes in the rear wells, and I had to plug them with plastic bags scrunched up (I know PURE ghetto) because I ripped off the factory plastic coating and I think it pulled out some rust bits. When the bags weren't there, 1 rain storm soaked the floor board under the front seats and on the back floor.

Now I found bloody dampness under the driver floor mat....where the source is, I can't tell now - gotta wait till spring.

 

I have a better idea, scrap the car, it simply isn't worth all the time and trouble. There are other maximas/cars out there, this one is toast.

 

Absolutely so.

Go find another 3gen (or 6gen) and before buying, inspect for plastic bags... Leave car-ts to other folks (as u have already tasted maximized independent suspension).

 

I'd second that, unfortunately. I recently did what I'm advising you against and it was PITA and very time consuming. It also looks so-so at the end. I was cutting rusted metal and welding the fresh sheet metal there. I used about 15-20 sq feet of metal total. It was more like a hobby project than something with financial sense behind. The worst part is I'm not even sure I got everything there. I'll see the next Spring. On the front driver side the whole corner rusted through and I had to weld 5 holes in total from the cabin to outside. Never thought it had so many walls and they all rusted through - you start cleaning the rust to paint the part just to find out there's nothing there but rust and so on. The frame though looked solid no matter where I poked so I think it'll be OK for a while. I used POR15 as rust protection as none of 'rust protection' paint sold locally can hold through even 1 season.

 

Works as name suggests: viciously protects the rust breeding ground. The only sheet metal that wont rust is oiled. If weldwork is not oiled so that all cracks drink plenty in, the welding is going to be repeated next year next year next year next year next year next year next year next year next year next year next year next year -or- how long the MIG lasts

 

Oh, that bad? I'm just kidding, I think you're absolutely correct. BTW, I found interesting things inside those cavities in the body: on all 4 sides there're water bleeding hoses which were bleeding water inside the body. Actually there're 5 of them - the 5th one goes from power antenna housing and it is connected together with the rear right 'main' one. I think, the idea was to route water through special openings: at least in the rear I found their remainings but as they rusted first those hoses were just bleeding water inside the body. In the front of the car 2 hoses were just left hanging inside the boxes going under the doors. No wonder their bottoms rusted almost completely. One of the things I changed were to reroute them out of the body parts. I'll see if it will make any difference. OTOH, the car is a ghost - it was supposed to be dumped long time ago. It doesn't give me too many problems and it's my DD to work (35 km one way) but this only works because I'm fixing it myself otherwise mechanic bills would made me buy another one long time ago.

BTW, you're correct about paint as well, may be this is why POR15 folks call their product "rust preventive paint" . It does work and they're not kidding when they say if you get it on your skin "only TIME will remove it". Don't ask how I know: TIME means 5-8 days .

 

Yes, they do/may work on clean sheet metal, shielded from stoning. The welders rusty dirty reality is nearer lace-making, later to be used in salt stone showers...

 

This is a very grim day guys. That nasty oil leak is getting worse - and now I checked the dip stick and it's all the way just slightly above the LOW mark. I had just re-filled to the HI mark 1 month ago. I've laid down some newspaper to try and pinpoint the source...from what I can tell it looks like it is coming from directly under the power steering pump. It's isn't ATF from the steering pump...it's engine oil for sure.

I agree on leaving the wells alone> Im going to drive this car until it"s unsafe but now i got to deal with this oil thing _ looks like ill be forced to work in the cold very soon

 

IMHO, the car is already unsafe to drive, i would bet you have some rear strut tower rot as well.

The oil leak is most likely a bad front main seal, another royal vg30e pain in the *** job, which requires timing belt removal, along with the crankshaft sprocket just to access the seal.

Like is said prior, i think it's time you hit up canada craigslist for a not so rotted 3rd gen dude. i looked on there last night and seen some pretty good deals on some 3rd gens.

 

I wish I could bros., but I recently lost a large porton of my equity, in the recent market crash. What this means is I donts got the cash right now.

What I do have is the tools & the hoist and everything else...so I guess I'm going to have to make do with what I have. While I'm at it I will check those rear strut towers as well (I saved your message from last year) for any immediate safety risk. From what I can say working under it this past summer, the only bad areas of rust were the wheel wells and 2 parts of the rocker panel. I ended up greasing all of the suspension front & back...and while greasing it all, I didn't see much loss of metal from rust. After greasing it all I took my air tools (undercoating gun) and completely drenched the under of the car and suspension parts with 3 litres of used engine oil mixed with some spoon fulls of grease.

 

Been there (except never lost my equity as there has been none)... This rotten feeling after finding out the facts gets stomach upset However, you can never repair this rot without any money... Looking for another car (cheap, broken engine?) is best u can do; then loan the 200 dollars u need. Drop current engine, swap belt and seals and put in your newly found rustfree lady.

Taking rear struts out is easy, prepare for new surprise ... here the stanza inserts cost only one third of maxima inserts, they fit in but need big washer on the bottom. See http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/25

Oil is a problem? You seem to have no GM experience: User handbook says 2½ liters per 1000km is NORMAL. That means one gallon a month, just to keep the level is normal. Then, if u happen to drive Citroen, you also need on top of that two gallons of suspension juice in the trunk just in case. No oily spots on parking lot means its reserved to Nissans...

Hey! You dont know what kinda a goldmine the ol Maxima is! Trunk is always free to fill with white girl silk skirts... BUT. Alas, I miss the blk hands with my Opel, the Greasy feeling of the steering wheel. (Now smbdy pls tell me why GM is going under...)

 

It's a doozy Wiking - I found the source of the leak with a better degree of accuracy. I still need to wait until a sunny day to be 100% confirmed, because their is like NO LIGHT in Canada anymore, it's bleak - like Russian Oil Rig bleak.

I suspect the leak is the Left Camshaft Oil Seal (closest to firewall). From looking at the items that are wet, I don't think it could be the crankshaft seal. Either way, I'll feed the beast like you say GULP GULP SHLURP as long as I can (the leak is gradual), and when I do engine removal in the spring, I'll do all the seals. Because I have to get it on a stand anyways to do other stuff, the seals would be so much easier to do on the stand.

As for your response:
I didn't get much of a rotten feeling because the losses occured mainly back in SEPT & OCT, not when everyone was panicking recently, AND alot of (all?) wall street gains aren't real - it's other peoples money that one takes from someone other. (A 'fat whale' in Connecticut?). Money is never lost - it only exchanges hands.

Alot of the work on this old Maxima is also a backup plan for me. Just in case the capitalist system does completely fail over the next 5 yrs., I want to have 'some' practical and hands on experience that I can build on, that I could do to make money. I don't know how long the pony show will last. How long will American people pay for the losses of their 'great captains of industry' .... old white dudes who play golf all day. Out of their own tax dollars. It's a dumb system and I don't think the people are going to stand for it much longer.

Right now America is going down the path of 'State Owned' Capitalism, so it will be interesting to see how things pan out. GM should be alowed to fail...but again, the 'State' will step in to prop it for some time. Everytime the government steps in to do a stimulus or prop up the market, it's just delaying an even WORSE crash.

Re Girlz: I'm into Asians now - i have a little doll of my own now, and I'm amazed at how well they age. I'm hoping to have her stuffed eventually, and placed in the back window of my Maxima.....that way all the new little living hello kitty girls can say "Oh my, what a nice doll you have - it's so life like"

 

Man, thats dirtiest tingie on earth ... change to cheap oil, buy/add seal crimping additives (buying helps at least the capitalist system).

The 'capitalist system' will continue as long as sun rises; the end has been promised and day is coming when everyone will have to answer for his/her own deeds/words. T here would be no communication between us rich car owners if the system was nonCapitalistic = parallel Lenin's ideas [me rebel would be long dead in the gulag as I still tend to think, thinkabout the annihilation of 60.000.000 CCCPitizens].

Good idea: a skill is smtg that cannot be stolen even in gulag ...but did they have maximas in there?

The doll: eventually summer will come and burn it on the rear shelf to look like the ol golfers and glorify our rich 'system' - be happy; I am rich like a king as long as I am allowed to own a Maxima

 

ok guys let's keep it back on topic please. i know the economy sucks but this is not the venue.
thanks!

 

For the cost of fixing the rust problem on your car- even temporarily- you can buy another reliable beater to get you by. no equity lost there. part out the Maxima and use the cash to put into another car.

Hell, running 3 gen maximas can be bought for $500 around here, albeit the body probably won't be exactly straight.


oil leaks are no big deal- as long as they don't drench the timing belt. just keep topping it off if you don't feel like working on it. when you do, go ahead and replace the timing belt and water pump and all the oil seals. There's $300 in parts right there if you buy the proper parts. that puts you a long way closer to your beater car and dumping the Maxima, so take it for what it's worth.


Sorry, but your Maxima needs to be scrapped, IMO. by the time ALL the wheel wells and rockers are rusted out, the chasiss isn't in good enough condition to make it worth rebuilding.

 

True - I could do that - just take the parts out, but when the time does come (right now it's running fine still...besides the oil leak) I want to try and drive down to the states somewhere, and I remember months ago you guys recommended where, but a certain state(s) that have 1. No snow 2. No salt damage 3. No blowing sand from ocean 4. No rain....basically, virtually dry forever. This would be the best place to find a 3rd gen, AND I could then even try and fix it up nice since the chassis would be intact. Where is this car heaven again?

Something strange i've noticed with that oil leak (Camshaft Seal). I put the new oil back in and now I parked it in the driveway on level surface. The car was sitting for 2 days, and the oil leak seems to have slowed down in a big way. When the car was parked on the street next to the curb, it's slightly angled toward the curb, so passenger side tilted down. I wonder (this is just a hypothesis) if that angle was enough to speed up the leak because the oil is slightly pushed by gravity towards the seals.

Can someone confirm if the 93 FSM contains errors here:

REF. EM-17

It says to do the Camshaft Oil Seal, to REMOVE the camshaft. Is this and error? I re-called you guys just prying the seal off with a pick & hook or something.
Secondly, for the Front Main Oil Seal (Crankshaft) it says to "Remove Oil Pump Assembly" which means I have to remove the Pan to get the pump out? Again, I re-called you guys just prying that out too without removing the pump.

Let me know if I can ignore these steps in the manual.

 

do you mean going to Arizona (i think this is where you are talking about... barren desert) with another 3rd gen that you buy later? or with your current one? either way, no matter where you move, your car is risky to drive. even if you move to Arizona with it and it stays exactly as is... you'd be better off finding a t-belted VG max and just toss your engine in it from your Rustima.

 

That was it - Arizona. Thanks. Actually, an easier thing to do would be to just fly to Arizona, and have the pre-arranged deal set up, pay in cash, drive back to Canada.

I'm not too woried about the safety of driving this one. Loads of cars on the road up here are rusted just as much as this underneath - you just don't see it. Some you do see - I see extreme rust buckets like Toyota's that are being held together by chicken wire. In fact, from the outside my Rustima doesn't look rusted really. Looks can be deceiving though.

I definately want to do that Arizona thing one day.

 

Atlanta is below the rust belt..

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/cto/940172279.html

 

a running $800 VE? even tho it says GXE it's got every visual element of the SE...... not bad. and you wouldn't have to worry about the tranny either cuz that is the RE4F04V so you're good to go on that.

 

the problem is the cars (at least that I looked at) were significantly higher priced because they know rust isn't an issue, but rotting rubber and dried out plastics are.

 

Guys New Mexico is almost as dry as Arizona, but it looks like a closer drive to Ontario:

http://www.betweenwaters.com/etc/usrain.html

 

Thanks for the link to craigslist. Is there any other large online used car data bases in the US? In canada our biggest is AUTOTRADER.CA

 

www.autotrader.com haha

 

Dealers...

 

Even better

http://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/939361006.html

 

'Nice' trunk vistas on page 2 http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....223&highlight=

 

can i has for x-mas?
plz? I been a goodsboy!

 

"no title"

 

no title - 24 hrs of LeMons car!

 

parts car..

Or a trip to vermont

 

no title, no problem!
wouldn't be the first time I've gotten a car like that. shame it's a stick

 

thats how I bought my max and registered with no title

 

huh? i have never ever heard of this before....... far as i knew, no title = you're screwed

 

And that's as far as it goes here..