Rear Crossmember

R

ronsno

Member
Location
Oregon
I discovered a leak this morning from the rear differential area of my 2004 Infiniti FX35. The Nissan shop found that the leak is coming from a mount bushing from the rear crossmember. Any experience with this. They want $1,200 ($600 part, $600 labor) to fix it.
 
Sorry to hear of your troubles, but never heard of the rear differential leaking before. I would suggest at least getting some other quotes on the job.
 
Just got off the line with an independent shop. He says Infiniti has only sold 2 crossmembers in the NW and they were to body shops (as in accidents). According to him and Infiniti this hasn't happened before. He says the numbers say it is a $1,400 repair.
 
It happens on the G and Z guys often. The bushing is not sold separately from the rear subframe. And to press the bushing in and out the subframe needs to come down as well. mine leaked, I replaced with solid bushings for differential.
 
rookie said:
It happens on the G and Z guys often. The bushing is not sold separately from the rear subframe. And to press the bushing in and out the subframe needs to come down as well. mine leaked, I replaced with solid bushings for differential.
Click to expand...

Can you attach the solid bushing to the existing cross member? The cross member is a nearly $700 part.
 
this is a mount for the rear dif, it is liquid filled & similar to a liquid filled motor mount... the mount is not available seperately & is part of the whole rear subframe. part of the reason is that once the rear crossmember assy is all welded togeather it would be very difficult to try & press this mount in & out so it is not serviced seperately.

there have been a few cases of this problem popping up, think the first one I seen was viets but I'm sure he broke his with all the twin turbo launches & beating it hard drifting & stuff. I'm not too sure how bad it will feel when it ruptures & the fluid comes out. most likely it will transfer some vibration to the subframe but then the subframe is also mounted with isolation bushings so it may not even be so obvious, may feel a little looseness in the drivetrain as it allows the rear diff to move a little more than it should... I wouldn't think it to be detrimental to continue to drive with this mount ruptured & I really don't havew a better alternative to replacing the subfame yet as I haven't broken mine yet but I'm sure it's only a matter of time...

when I do break mine I'm sure I will not replace the whole subframe as this is going to be a weak point anyway if you really abuse your car... a better alternative may be to make a urethane mount instead, can't really say all that much as to what would be involved to actually do this yet as I haven't done it but ~$1,400 is a pretty big budget to come up with a better alternative I'd think...


EDIT: I now see viets response. do you know if they make anything other than a solid aluminum mount? I know I did a 350z with solid mounts & it really is much harsher with totally solid mount...
 
I think I will live with it for a while. As of yet, I can't tell any difference in handling and haven't heard any clunks. By the way I've never abused my car.

---------- Post added at 02:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:43 PM ----------
rookie said:
Yes you can put the solid bushings into the existing sub frame. But you have to do the front bushings of the rear diff as well.

This transmits more gear noise into the cabin. The oem bushings are designed to keep the noise down.

Here's a rear subframe on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/rear...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
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Is this the whole assembly? I can buy it for $279, the shops want over $600.
 
That is the 600 part, this is used so cheaper than new. You probably won't feel the fact that the bushing is leaking. It will eventually leak out most the the fluid. It will look like this.
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the rubber alone probably does a decent job without the add'l liquid bladder filled? still looks like a good amount of rubber there... I could see filling the voids in the rubber with urethane or something to tighten it up but still keep isolation
 
Even with no fluid the metal sleeve doesn't sag much. It just freaks some people out when their bushing is blown. I bought a new subframe and chromed it so doing the swap wasn't too far out of my plans. :)
 
So in looking at the pictures and the feedback it may be that I can just live with this. As I said earlier I can't feel any difference or hear anything yet.
 
Searched and found this, good information! The bushing on my rear subframe is leaking as well. I may just do a urethane fill.

Do they make replacement parts for this? It sounds like it's the same as the G35, and there's a lot of aftermarket support there.
 
Good news... there is one and a half resonable solutions out there...

1) SLP has a solid aluminum kit for under $200 which is rumored to fit...
2) Erergy Suspension has a polyurethane kit that just cam out last week that is rumored to fit for around $80.

Both were made for the 350Z but it looks like they are the same size. I think I found a used FX35 subframe as a warranty replacement part which should be a freebie... my local PErformance Z shop will test fit the kit on the real FX35 subframe for me once I get it... just in case it does not fit... I would hate to try it on my car and find out it is not quite the same size and then have to pay $1400 to replace the who crossmember... I will let everyone know how it goes once I get it all together...
 
first year fx said:
Good news... there is one and a half resonable solutions out there...

1) SLP has a solid aluminum kit for under $200 which is rumored to fit...
2) Erergy Suspension has a polyurethane kit that just cam out last week that is rumored to fit for around $80.

Both were made for the 350Z but it looks like they are the same size. I think I found a used FX35 subframe as a warranty replacement part which should be a freebie... my local PErformance Z shop will test fit the kit on the real FX35 subframe for me once I get it... just in case it does not fit... I would hate to try it on my car and find out it is not quite the same size and then have to pay $1400 to replace the who crossmember... I will let everyone know how it goes once I get it all together...
Click to expand...

do you know when you will find out if it fits? Just came back from the dealer and mines leaking too
 
Will just told me he has this issue now. Said it's covered under warranty.

I have seen this bushing replaced with a solid mount, and it was a huge pain to remove the OEM one. The guys used a metal cylinder to pound of the mount and then had to cut into the sleeve to get it to come out also, before putting in the solid mount.
 
those are the mounts at the front of the diff your talking about I think, one on either side of the diff. the rear one is the one on the subframe itself & can't be changed far as I know... unless they finally made something for the z & it happens to fit ours?... no report back from first year fx ?
 
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