Uhhh... what's wrong with my Evo? What is this part?
 

So I took off my bumper the other day to clean it out and stuff, and this is what it looked like:

http://www.people.virginia.edu/~acl5...nm/squish1.jpg

See anything wrong? Look closer.

http://www.people.virginia.edu/~acl5...nm/squish2.jpg

Yeah that's right. What the heck? How in the world did that get crushed like that?

http://www.people.virginia.edu/~acl5...nm/squish3.jpg

I've never been in a fender bender, nor has bumper/fender even been crushed. I don't see how this could happen.

Can someone help me out? What exactly is that (cooler of some sort)? And is the fact that it's crushed have a negative effect on reliability? (and performance, but reliability 1st). Anybody have the part # or cost on that that piece?

thats the oil cooler right?

1) i think its the oil cooler

2) id imagine you would know if you had an oil temp gauge. . . but im not quite sure. . .

3) id guess it would be more than $200.

That is the oil cooler.. about 500 bucks.. Sorry bro..

Damn, that's pricey... doesn't the MR have a new oil cooler? Maybe I'll just wait until then and buy the MR's cooler...

Maybe someone backed into your car slowly. Not enough to cause a lot of paint damage, but enough to put pressure there.

definetly the oil cooler, you probably damaged it when putting the bumper back in it's place

It was like that when I took it off - plus I don't see anything on the bumper that could cause that kind of damage. This sucks!

Can any vendors source the MR oil cooler? If I'm going to spend $500 bucks on that, I might as well spend a little more and get something better...

Dude, it looks like somebody took a sledgehammer to your oil cooler while you were sleeping. That SUCKS. Seriously though, has it been in for service? It looks like it got run over with a golf cart. Whoever installed or reinstalled that has some moral deficiency. :(

This is the first time I've ever seen it. I took off my bumper, and this is what I saw. I couldn't believe it myself. I just don't see how something like this could happen??

Seriously, if you've never had your bumper off, and there are clearly no marks or appearance of being resprayed on you bumper, take it in for warranty. Thats simply not possible unless it was hit, or someone has done work to your front end.

The bumper is clean, especially in the area next to the oil cooler. I think I will give the dealership a call and see what they say.

You took the bumper off to clean....thats dedication

Any rate, take your car to a trusted auto repair facility, or better yet Carmax. Have them look to see if there are signs of front end damage repair. If there are, Im sure you have quite a good case against your dealer on your hands. (I say Carmax because they have to be some of the best trained eyes as far as telling if a car has been in a collision)

Probably happened in the factory before it was even installed on the car and some jackass decided to use it anyway. Id take it to the dealer and ask them to replace it. It has to be blocking oil flow from the looks of it.

To be honest I have had one part of my front end replaced - but it was the very lower portion lip, and I installed it myself (just had it painted at a shop). I had it replaced because I was coming down a steep hill, and the lip scratched against the ground and the plastic clips holding it snapped (so it looked like it was falling off).

But that sort of scratching could NOT cause the damage seen in the pictures. It just strikes me as completely bizarre.