H frame rotten

95 WS 3.8 w/60000, just got back from my mechanic, oil change,and exhast leak fixed. He told me that the H frame or subframe I'm guessing, that holds the engine up is roted real bad on drivers side and needs to be replaced. What is the Ford part name on this item? I would like to use a salvage part if possible, but can't find that listed on any salvage drop downs. Also are they interchangable between years, or do I have to stick with a 95. Any help will be greatly appreciated as I would like to have this done as soon as possible. Seems like my bargain isn't such a bargain after all:crying:
Tahnks in advance
Steve

"Sub-frame", I believe is the correct term. The sub-frame is attached to the body at four points. It holds the engine, tranny and steering rack ... as well as anchorage for the front wheel suspensions.

You may want to do a bit of inspection yourself underneath the car before proceding with finding a replacement. The sub-frame is made of some pretty thick metal. If it has rusted thru, what shape are the anchor points? It may not be worth the investment if you have a lot of frame rust ... hope this isn't the case. List price for a new sub-frame is approx $400.

Thanks for the responce.
According to my mechanic the frame is quite good. He stated that he has never seen this happen on the drivers side, has seen it happen on the pass. side before. He stated that the pass.side was almost perfect and the attatch points were all good. I looked up on internet and 1 Ford place called it the engine carrage,and they wanted $1700. I only gave $700 for the van.

Since it's only on the driver's side, you might want to check the battery area, since it located on that side of the vehicle. A leaky battery might have been the cause the corrosion.

Boy I'd get somebody to weld that thing up while it hasn't totally lost it's integrity holding things in their right place. If too late, then you won't be able to weld things in the right place and then you may be committed to a new(used) subframe. Hands down, welding would be cheaper. Labor to swap the frames would probably be the greatest expense, but even with a used frame I'd expect replacement to be more expensive.

Yep, the labor could be expensive. I currently have dropped the sub-frame out of my '99 ... but I'm also rebuilding the engine and replacing the tranny. I bought a new sub-frame but have changed my mind about replacing it just now ... think I will wait til later in the year after salt-season.

Later on, I will rig up an overhead support to hold the engine and tranny in-place and drop the sub-frame away ... having seen all that's envolved, I don't expect much trouble.

Good point about battery acid. I once had a new battery that was a leaker. The radiator fan blew the acid all over the engine box on that side. Luckily, I caught it early on.

It turns out I spoke to the original owner today, and as was stated the battery did freeze on it after the dome lights didn't shut down. We got down to -30 and he didn't try to start for 2 weeks. He then saw that the battery had cracked and replaced it. Told my mechanic and he said it could do it. Found a shop nearby that does quality welding and it will be fixed on Tues for $150. Thanks for all the info.Was going to try to get a few pics, but is snowing again and don't want to get under the van
Steve

I recently went through this with my Saturn. (Rusted out on driver side) I discovered it when the jack went through the subframe. I weighed the options of...

A. Welding it up (patching)
B. Cutting out the bad part and grafting in a part from a donor subframe
C. Replacing the subframe

After some research I was told that welding the subframe could strengthen crumple zones and cause safety issues. Plus, I figured the rust was bad enough it would be about the same amount of work as to replace it.

I ended up buying a good subframe from a yard for $50 and replacing it myself. Supported the engine and transaxle from the top while I did it. Wasn't too difficult. While I was down there I replaced ball joints and stuff too.

http://www.doaks.net/temp/saturn/rusthole.jpg