Engine Mounts Change Out, Tips And Tricks

[Spoony]

Engine vibes are getting annoying, with near 200k on them newbies are going in this weekend (I hope)

Turbo side looks like a right *beep*. Any tips?

I've read no need to remove turbo, just jack up the engine. Is this with both mounts undone or one at a time?

I looks like the bottom mount bracket has to come out.with the mount? Swapped out of the car then back in?

To get all this out seems the engine will have to go up pretty high. Issues here?

Anything else I should know?

[Spoony]

We'll I worked it out on my own but will offer some tips to others looking to undertake this task.

Firstly the Turbo vs Non Turbo Mounts (as a few others have said) appear to be the same bar straps. My guess is a 3rd part makes the mounts, Fraud put some plastic clips and shoe lace on it and 2.5x the price thankyou very much. The numbers design, feel and weight are identical otherwise. Given the car is riddled with Mackay hoses and components, my guess is they are the Mackay mounts with a Ford logo.

So you can reuse your straps, but just check their condition first (some have made their own). It really only matters on the passenger mount though, as torque loading pulls at this one and compresses the engine one.

The passenger mount in my was still in pretty decent shape, the drivers pretty ratty, squished and perished heaps at the top.

The Job:

We'll it sux!!! The passenger mount isn't too hard but drivers is a pain. A few hints.

Pre-soak all bolts with WD or similar using a flex hose to get in there

If you don't have a hoist I'd recommend using ramps over stands. The amount the car lifts jacking the engine is very surprising and I'm not sure how stable the car would be on stands at this point.

Remove all intercooler hoses.

Remove all turbo/manifold, steering heat shields and brackets

The Passenger mount heat shield has a barbed clip holding it down. It's a *beep* to get too but working with a short flat blade from under the car you can get it to rotate then once loose and lubed off with your fingers (you'll swear heaps but). You'll also deform and mess this up a little bit getting it out.

To get the nut undone under this you'll need a short 18mm or 19mm socket. Don't as me which, each side of mine had a different type of nut and size. (go Fraud lol). But a normal length the engine bay will get in the way. You could cut one down I guess. It's likely super tight, I had to do some levering off the crossmember to get it going.

I'd undo the bottom nut but leave the bolt in. For me the drivers mount top shaft got stuck in the engine bracket, took hours of up and down to get it to come out. Perhaps jacking first with the bottom still attached 'may' help.

I ended up having both mounts undone at once in the end. Passenger came free and out pretty easy. It's tricky to get to the top bolt still, again short spanner unless you have long extensions and uni joint(s) where it can be done from the top.

The engine has to come up heaps, so chock you jack up plenty so there is lots of lift. I ran out of lift with no engine mounts and did a shoddy scissor jack chock re-jig of the hydralic jack to get it up higher. On the sump with timber just in front of the crossmember seems fine.

I would say both mounts its at least 5-6 hour job on the floor, took me another 2 hours due to getting stuck on a few bits.

I didn't take the turbo out. It would make getting that top nut a bit easier, but I think it would add time to the job in the end.

New mounts are way better, so smooth on idle now, so very satisfied with the result.

I'm going to look at trying to stuff another later of heat shielding in above the factory stuff as looking at left vs right the turbo heat I think cuts it's life in half. 194,000kms (07) in mine, I think without the heat the mounts would do 350,000.

Edited 28/04/13 11:36 PM by Spoony

[_Velocity_]

Good write up Spoony. What does a job like this roughly cost in labour?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Mounts can be change in 1 to 2 hrs. In my experience most of the items that Spoony has listed don't need to be removed.

I have an 18mm offset ring spanner which I have shortened and welded a 3/8" drive extension onto. This allows me to get onto the drivers side top mount without removing heat shields etc (intake pipe may need to be removed on cars with stock intake pipes) I also have a small pry bar that I have notched to use to remove the star clip from the heat shield.

Passenger side mount I use a two 12" 3/8" drive extensions and insert them down through the intake manifold runners to release the top nut. It's a bit of a fiddle on car with a stock engine oil cooler but it can be done (ZF cooler may get in the way but I can't confirm this)

I would recommend (as Spoony mentioned) removing the top nut on each side then jacking the motor to release the mounts from the engine brackets as they can be tight.

[Spoony]

1-2 hours would be very quick, I'd say unlikely, but then again doing something multiple times and having customised tools for the specific job makes a huge difference than doing it the first time blind with hickups. I'd say next time I could maybe do it 3 hours or so perhaps.

As for 'labour charges' allow for the mechanic to service 3 other cars inbetween breaks on yours etc. I'm guessing $500 + your mounts based on my experience.

[bionicxr6t05]

I did both in 20min lol, something wrong with use... I did have a hoist though haha

[SuckSqueezeBangBlow]

sweet, you'll do them for a carton then Bionic??

just kidding, mine are sweet (75,000km)

Edited 29/04/13 07:16 AM by SuckSqueezeBangBlow

[Peteos13]

Awesome write up.

[bionicxr6t05]

  On 29/04/2013 at 7:15 AM, SuckSqueezeBangBlow said:

sweet, you'll do them for a carton then Bionic??

just kidding, mine are sweet (75,000km)

not on the bloody ground lol