95 maxima front frame beam is rusted out, HELP!

[medjohnson77]

Hello,

I just bought a 95 maxima and after changing the clutch out in it i noticed that the front frame beam is rusted out very bad. It is right in the center of the beam were the front engine mount and center beam run bolts up with the two bolts and runs back to the rear of the engine compartment. Can this beam be taken out with out cutting and welding it back in. It looks like it is welded in palce by the passenger side fender and the driver side fender. Any advice would be helpful. I think the only thing thats holding the engine in is the side engine mounts. I drove the car around 450 miles back home with out the alinement being done. It seemed to handle pretty good, at around 70 mph just a little vibration.

Thank you

[maxhopper]

Are you talking about the cross member that runs under the engine, or the beam under the the radiator?

[medjohnson77]

the main beam running under the rad. from wheel to wheel finder not the one that comes off the back of the engine mount and the front engine mount. that one is easy to fix. It looks to be apart of the frame same color as the car.

[maxhopper]

I took a quick look at mine from above, and it appears to be welded in.

[medjohnson77]

thats what i thought. I need to know if this is something that is going to cost a S##t load of money to fix at a body shop or hopefully it bolts in as one piece. I am very worried because this is probaly putting stress on the other three mounts and that's not good!

[maxhopper]

It shouldn't cost you anything to take it to a body shop and get an estimate.

[medjohnson77]

that is true, just wanting to know if there is anyone here with the knowlegde of weather this is a bolt on piece, that i can fix myself or if it is a welded piece that i will have to have done at a shop. I am hoping i can fix it myself, money is tight and hopefully someone will know and have good news for me.

[RICERMAN]

This is a VERY common problem found on Altimas also. I noticed the altima Im working on now has the same issue. The engine isnt going to fall out dont worry . I have seen where the repair is just to weld or bolt a strong brace( piece of 1/4 flat steel) over the rust weakened area and drill out holes in it for the bolts if they are still secure. This area cant be seen so it doesnt have to look great JUST STRONG

[medjohnson77]

Hey Everybody,

Just did some checking around on the net, and It is a radiator support that is sold in one piece for around 95.00 dollars new with shipping cost. It bolt into place. I believe the bumper will have to come off and should not be to hard to fix myself. Thanks for all the response's everyone.

update: some of the part does bolt in, but i just found out that it is spot welded into place and the spot welds have to be drilled out inorder for it to be removed and then made sure that everything is still squared up and spot welded back into place. I called nissan and they said that if the job would be very expensive, alot of times the fender were the spot welds are, rust out to. Looking at mine it does not appear to be rusted out at the fenders. Maybe I'll get lucky!
Modified by medjohnson77 at 5:30 AM 3/26/2007

[Lovemy97MaximaSE]

Let us know how your repair/replace went. I have a 97 Maxima SE with the same problem. I would like to really understand how complicated it was to replace this piece of the Unibody. I am surprised that Nissan would let a critical part of the unibody be exposed to sand/salt spray so badly that it turns to dust. Who on the Web did you buy the replacement rad support from?BTW I live in the Detroit area, where they do not know how to plow snow, they just drop TONS of rock salt on the roadway and let the traffic take care of the rest.

[medjohnson77]

The part will be in tomorrow and it cost me $90 dollars through a local parts store here in bedford. I am still looking for advice on welding this back in. I am not wanting to pay 1,100 dollars at a shop to have it done. Anyone with advice and has experience with something like this please post. I will decide if I going to do the repair myself tomorrow when i see the new part.

[medjohnson77]

hey everyone,

Part did not get in yesterday. Said it would be here today. I almost have the radiator support out. there are alot of spot welds on this piece. atleast 20 of them in different spot on the support. I am going to try to weld it back in myself with a stick welder i'm going to get a wal-mart. This is not a fun project. the bumper has to be removed and headlights radiator and the power steering lines that run in the front of the radiator must be removed. both fenders have to be removed also along with the splash guards. Hopefully i will have it done today!

[medjohnson77]

got the support welded back in yesterday. cleaned and painted all the welds. Putting it back together today. hopefully every thing will look right.

[medjohnson77]

well i got it all back together, and it looks pretty good. I have not had it alinement done yet, so i know how i really did once it gets done. I have another problem. The clutch is sliping even though i just got it back in. I replaced the rear main because it was leaking. Can a clutch pedel adjustment cause a clutch slave to not work right? The specs in the auto manaul says to adjust the height of the pedal to 6 5/8 to 6 7/8 from the floor to the top of pedal. I can not get the height they list. I got about 5 7/8. Any one Knows how to do this please help me figure this out.

[medjohnson77]

hey everybody,

I re-adjusted the clutch pedal height, i got it almost to 6 1/2. I am still trying to get the free play right. The clutch is no longer slipping! Still haven't got it aligned yet, so i'll post once i do to see if it aligns right or not. I took it out on the highway today and it wants to pull just alittle bit and vibrates alittle too. Not to bad though, about the same as before when i replaced the clutch and before i tore out the support and welded it back in.