body frame cracking

[rps13det]

On Friday night when I was coming home from dinner. I accidentally hit a manhole cover that was about 5inches below the ground. Afterwards, I started to hear a creaking sound coming from the front left driver's side area. That area was where I hit the manhole cover. On Sunday I got fed up with the sound, and to my surprise part of the frame had cracked. The area is located within the engine bay in the back wall that seperates the interior from the engine. The crack is about roughly 1- 1 1/2 inches going diagonal. Question to everyone out there that has a 240, is it possible to weld that area shut, or should I start looking for a new car?

[TheTimanator]

Your best bet would be to go to a good body shop and get an estimate.  May cost you a little, but they will tell you if its worth fixing.  You should also talk to your insurance company, they might be able to help you out if you have full coverage.

[uiuc240]

I second that.  A unibody steel frame is just thin metal.  This is definitely not a GOOD thing, but welding it back together shouldn't be a problem.  You didn't mess anything else up with a hit that big?  I'd be checking alignment and all the moveable suspension parts too....

Eric

[HKrpS13]

My friends prelude got hit by a manhole lid too. He was stopping at a stop and all of a sudden,"BANG!". Something hit the bottom and the airbag popped.
He went to the city council and he got $6000 to repair the damage.

[adey]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (HKrpS13 @ July 02 2002,2:57)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">My friends prelude got hit by a manhole lid too. He was stopping at a stop and all of a sudden,"BANG!". Something hit the bottom and the airbag popped.
He went to the city council and he got $6000 to repair the damage.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Hahaha... wtf? I've never heard of that... how do they pop up/out?! Blown water main or something? Sorry that's just kind of funny. =) I actually wish something like that'd happen to me. Of course, the amount city council would give me would have to be more than the repair costs though. &nbsp;But I digress.
Sorry I found that quite funny (at least to me) just because I've never heard of it. &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':thumbsup:'>