Replacing your Engine mounts

Your engine and transmission are the source of a lot of what auto engineers refer to broadly as "NVH" - noise, vibration and harshness. Engines vibrate, transmissions can whine. Engines and transmissions also need to move around naturally. When you rev your engine, it will torque to the side, for example. Not surprisingly, autos have used some kind of rubberized mount for engines and transmissions nearly as far back as you can go. And rubber oxidizes over time, plus it is exposed to heat, chemicals and vibration along with mechanical stress. Bad engine mounts can interfere with more than just noise and vibration, they can contribute to poor shifting as well. For about $25 ea, new engine mounts are a screaming deal if your car is over ~15 years old. It is one of those things than can help make a tired feeling car feel young again.

The job itself is very simple. The tricky part is getting to the bolts so you can get them out.

Materials

1. 19mm socket for big mounting bolt

2. 13mm socket for smaller bolts and 13mm wrench to go on the back side

3. At least one jack and a pad or piece of wood to avoid marring the engine case

4. Patience and luck. And a screwdriver, probably.

Basic Process

1. Put a jack under the engine case with a piece of wood or rubber on it so you don't damage it.

2. I also jacked up the chassis so I would have more control over height.

3. Remove the big bolt in the center using a 19mm socket. It will be tight but be careful so you don't bend the engine mounting bar. If you have any concerns about rust, be sure to soak this bolt ahead of time, from the bottom with your favorite fluid.

4. Once the big center bolt is out, remove the 2 mounting bolts and remove the mount.

5. Install is the reverse. The little bolts can just be tight. The big center bolt that holds the engine to the mount needs to be torqued to 65 ft/lbs.

6. Do one at a time, to ensure the engine does not get out of alignment and also mind the height of the engine vis the body. If you need a little room for access, you can raise the body or lower the engine very carefully.

That of course is 1/3 of the story. What really happens is a bit more involved.

Drivers side

1. I removed the aux heater fan duct to make room to get to the fasteners. This was easy, but I still managed to lose a screw on top of the engine somewhere. I spent 30 min looking for it and fishing with a magnet. Nada. The black hole sucked it up.

2. I only needed a very mild adjustment of the jacks to give me room to get the smaller bolts out.

Pics

I jacked up the engine case along the spine using a rubber lifting block to avoid damage.

I set up the quick jack under the chassis because it offers a finer control over raising and lowering. My floor jacks can be a little finicky and I did not want to suddenly have the engine lower a lot by itself. This was insurance or overkill, depending on how confident you feel.

With the air duct out, now we have room to attack the mount. Getting under it is still a bit cramped. I used the duct tape on finger trick to get the nuts started on when re-assembling things.

All the pieces are out.

Old one is out! Good time to clean.

New vs old. More steel in the new one, perhaps to adjust for differences in the rubber formulation?

New one is in, but the best is yet to come. . .

Passenger Side

The other mount is not going down without a fight. We may need to move the AC compressor out of the way to get to these mounting bolts.