Motor mounts...or no?

fastsc92

Registered User
OK, I was thinking my motor mounts were gone for some time...or going. My oil filter is very very close to the frame...it almost touches. My oil pan it also very close to the k-member. Plus when i really get on it on the road, it goes good, but when i let off the gas i hear this bang. I thought it was always the front shocks, but now i'm thinking its the motor mounts. I got under the car today and took a look. They look fine, I dont really know what to look for when they are busted. I had a friend get in the car and give it gas while braking. The right side of the motor raises about 2-3 inches and comes back down quietly. I'm guessing the right side is busted...or maybe they are suposed to do that. What do you guys think? I was going to get new shocks for the front...but now i think i'll hold off and get motor mounts before anything bad happens. How would i go about changing them? I can barely see them, and dont know how to do it. I know i need to lift the motor a bit, but from where? Where should I attach the hoist? Any help on this is greatly needed. Once again...I can always count on you guys.
 
Its your motor mounts! The one on the drivers side is busted, however replace BOTH with solid mounts. The hydro[liquid filled] mounts rip apart in no time. It is a very difficult job just to replace the motor mounts with the engine in the car. It can be done. My engine is out of the car which makes it very easy to replace them, but I cannot speak from first hand experiance on replacing them with the engine still in the car.
 
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motor mounts

Here is what I did to check to see if mine were gone at 70,000 miles.

Jack and a pied of wood under the oil pan. Jack it up and try to see if the motor mounts have a break in them about mid way. If so they are gone and won't look it because you can't lift the engine high enough to really see the gap in the motor mount.

After i got mine out. They were in two pieces and I couldn't tell that when they were in the car.

hope this helps

Raymond
 
I just got a price on new mounts. I can get hydro ones for about 75 bucks. I heard the solid mounts will give added ribrations. What should I get? I figure if the stock ones lasted 101k these shouldn't be too bad. What do you guys think.....autozone has them in stock and i need to know within an hour whether or not to get them.
 
Well thats pretty high for the mounts. I assure you your hydro mounts did not last that long. Go with solids! you have been warned.
 
Your stock ones have probably been busted for about 20,000 miles now, it has just been getting progressively worse.

Go with the solid ones, much better
 
Go with solids! you have been warned.

that sounds like a threat. LOL j/k. I just didn't know what to buy. I do race the car a few times a month at the track, so i guess the solid ones would be best. Should i get the tranny mount while i'm at it? I dont want to spend 100 on rubber, but i guess i have no choice. Any tips on doing them? Where do i attach the hoist to lift the motor out a bit? How do i even get at the bolts for the mounts? Any help is needed.
 
LOL... I can assure you your OEM engine mounts did not last for 100K miles.. If you drove like granny then they might have made it to 80K. I drove on bad mounts for almost 2 years.. lucky for me, I didn't crack the oil pan, or rupture the power steering hose.
If you replace them with the hydraulic mounts, count on about the same or less. Solids are really a must if you race it regularly. They won't last forever either, but they should last longer. Tradeoff is they aren't as smooth as the hydraulics.
 
should i expect a lot more vibration with the solid ones? I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I dont know which ones to get....i dont want them to break again, but i want it to be smooth.
 
Those who have used ths solids claim that they run just fine. They don't complain about vibration. I think its more a matter of with the hydraulics, you don't even know if the engine's running. I went with hydraulics simply because they were available right away. I already had to replace one after about a year :( :(
It was a Lifetime warranty part, but still the work is not that easy.
Do you still need instructions?
 
solid motor mounts

I need to know how long the solid motor mouts are that sit in between the motor mounts that connects it to the engine and frame. Just the rubber is what measurement I need.

I will make some out of what have not yet figured but thinking a 2x4 and some hard rubber.

Thanks
Raymond
 
ya...i'd still like instructions if you have some. So far i took the downtubes and cats off.....and the top ic tubes and the IC itself. I figured i could get at the mounts from the top...but i cant get the bottom IC tube off. I think i'd need to move the PS pump to get it out. On the left side of the motor...i can get at the bolts from underneath the front of the car and behind it. But on the right side...i dont know what to do. I can get at the back bolts of the mount from underneath the car...but how do i get at the front ones? Should try to get that bottom IC tube off and get at it from the top? Also....i still need to know where to lift the motor from. Any tips and tricks will be helpful on this whole thing. Thanks a lot guys.
 
Okay, here is my standard motor mount response. It's kind of lengthy and it was written a while ago so all parts may not pertain to you.

"Oh, boy let's see if I can remeber everything. I got mine from mn12performance, but shop around for the best price AND QUALITY. There are a couple of poser solid rubber mounts out there. I couldn't find the real deal at any local parts stores so I ordered mine on line. The tip off was when they only cost like $20 for a pair at the store (I can't remember the brand name, but AutoZone and Advance carried them). Installation, well, I started by raising the car very high and supporting it with jackstands. Drop the front part of the exhaust (off of the manifolds) and get it out of the way. You will also want to disconnect the steering shaft just past the rag joint (mark the two shaft's relationship to each other so you can properly reinstall it). You can push the steering gear back into the passenger compartment quite a ways. I did not remove, but I did loosen both plastic windshield cowls. It would probably save some trouble to take them off, but it looked like too much of a bother to me at the time. As for the mounts. On the driver's side there are three bolts from the mount into the block, one mount through bolt, and three (I believe somebody correct me if I'm wrong) bolts from the mount into the crossmember. I used a bottle jack with a piece of 2X4 under the oil pan to lift and lower the engine. It takes up less space and it's easier to actuate, but if you don't have one a floor jack will do the same job. Raise up the engine slightly before you start removing the mount bolts. There is one rear bolt from the mount to the block which will be easily accessible. Also from what I recall all of the mount to crossmember bolts were easy to access as well. The buggers are the front two mount to block bolts and to a lesser degree the thru bolt. Note that I did not take anything off of the front of the engine. This would probably help on those three, but again I didn't want to bother. You will have to use a creative assortment of extensions and u-joints to get the front two mount to block bolts out. I got the thru bolt out with a long extension on a ratchet. The difficult part was getting the extension up in to where I needed it. After you get all of the bolts out you are ready to remove the mount. I'm guessing yours will come out in two pieces (upper and lower) as most do. I did not have much trouble getting the old mount out or the new assembled mount back in. It looks like it will never fit back in there, but keep wrestling with it and twisting it and it will go in. You may have to jack the engine up fairly high to get it in. Keep a very close eye on your windshield cowls if you did not remove them! The inlet plenum gets very close and if you're not careful you can break them. I loosely installed all of the bolts before torquing them down, otherwise you will have trouble getting them to all line up. I suggest starting with the front mount to block bolts as they are the most difficult to access. Button it back up and reinstall the steering shaft and you're good to go on that side. I know some people say take both out at the same time so you do not tear the new mount when you jack the engine up to do the otherside, but I did mine one at a time and did not have any such problems. The passenger side is easier and harder. The front two mount to block bolts are amazingly easy to access compared to the driver's side. The other bolts are fairly easy too (I think there are only two mount to crossmember bolts on this side). The difficult part on the pass. side is the knock sensor shield. It is right in the way when you go to take the old mount out and put the new one in. I CAREFULLY bent my shield down out of the way (you don't want to break the sensor!!) to gain access. I suppose you could also remove the knock sensor, but I think it is tapped into a water jacket in the block so all of the coolant would drain out of your block when you do. Putting the new mount in took the most time on this side. Just be patient and step away from the car if you start getting hot. I was on the verge of throwing wrenches several times and swore the new mount would never go back in but it did. Again keep an eye on the cowls when you are jacking the engine up. Bolt the new mount back in and you should be all set. Remeber to hook up any ground wires (some have them on both, my '94 had one on both sides while my '89 only had it on the pass. side) . Check ALL of the bolts and then put the exhaust back on and let it down. The first time you do it you will think it is the worst job in the world, but hang in there and take a break if you start getting ticked off when things aren't going well. Overall it is a very doable job. I would budget one day if you have never done this before. Good luck!"
 
ok man thanks a lot. Is it safe to jack the motor up from the oil pan? I thought i should use a hoist. I dont want to put the jack right through the pan. Let me know what to do..thanks.
 
I usually use a bottle jack (takes up less space) and a piece of 2x4 underneath the oil pan to distribute the load. It won't break the oil pan don't worry.
 
Here's the annotated way I did it sometime back, not last weekend like it states:

TbirdSCFan:

Whew. Just did mine last weekend.. what a JOB! I found no way around this, but basically I took eveything off the Driver side: wiper arms and driver side cowling [I'll explain later], washer reservoir, upper IC tube, IC, pwr steering pump pulley, coil pack, alternator, psp bracket, lower IC tube. Then went to work on the 5 bolts. I wasn't able to get enough leverage without getting parts out of the way. The through bolt was really tight (almost broke a 13mm 3/8 socket on it). Probably around 120 lbs or so. If you use a swivel, extensions, and breaker bar, you can get the back bolt off from behind the subframe without having to remove the steering rag joint. The wheel needs to come off to get enough room to get to it.

For the passenger side, It was tricky, but same basic thing. Took the A/C compressor bracket off. Here's the trick: DON'T take the SC belt off until AFTER you remove the 2 bracket bolts to the right of the tensioner pulley. Then remove both belts and the idler pulley, unbolt and tie off the compressor, move the coolant reservoir out of the way. Oh yeah take the air cleaner and intake tube off. Then take the bracket off. Now, you'll have enough room to get to all the mount bolts on the front side. I DID break the 13mm socket on the through bolt on that side. Damm but those were tight. The rear bolt was just like the driver side. It wasn't necessary to remove the starter.

You'll need to jack up the engine to get the motor mount pieces out and the new ones back in. This is why you need to remove the cowling. Be sure to place a 2x4 between the jack and the oil pan so you don't crack it.
Thats about it. Getting the IC tubes back on requires finesse. One hint on the IC tubes.. Don't tighten any bolts/nuts securely until its almost reassembled. Leave some wiggle room.
I'm in the process of writing up exactly how I did the job.

As for you super mechanics who can do the job without taking parts off, I salute you. It wouldn't have been possible for me to get enough leverage to remove the bolts otherwise.
Some of those bolts were very tight.


TbirdSCFan:

From the comments I've heard about the knock sensor, and the starter it leads me to believe that the passenger side has some different things from the various years. On the 90 model, the passenger side is a breeze and you won't need to bend or remove really anything. The starter is way back away from the mount, and the shield is not in the way at all.

In retrospect, I really think it is doable on the passenger side without removing the compressor bracket. I found out when I regreased my plug boots the other day and crammed my arm way up to reach the #1 boot (my arm was sore from it), but the 3 front bolts (2 on the block and the 1 through bolt) are accessible. Its a blind shot though and no way without extensions and swivels.

Also for me, it wasn't really a waste of time, I was replacing the plugs, tightening the valve covers, and doing some cleanup. And with the stuff out of the way, getting the bolts back in wasn't a hard task because you could see them.

When you remove the mount from the bracket, you'll need a vise or what I used was a Black-n-Decker Workmate as the big nut is on there pretty good.

Here's one other note about the 2 through bolts.. TBKHomeworld managed to round off one of them and I think it upset him such that he gave up on the job. Be SURE you get a solid bite on that bolt with a 6 pt 1/2" drive 13mm socket seated completely. You will need leverage. This is easier with the tubes and stuff out of the way, but it adds considerable time to the job.
 
Ok...here's my progress so far. I have the IC, upper IC tube, downtubes....wipers, and cowling off. I jacked up the motor and the drivers side mount is in two peices...the passenger side is just holding together. The passenger side bolts should be a breeze....i can get at all of them. I think there is 1 through bolt...and 3 block bolts. On the drivers side i can get at one block bolt and some of the through bolt as well at the small bolt that goes to the k-member. How do i get at the other block bolts on the drivers side. I cant get my lower IC tube out....any tips? I think if i get it out...i'll be able to get at some more bolts. I cant get at the heads of the bolts from under the front of the car either....the power steering stuff is in the way. This job doesn't look so bad.....yet. At night when i cant sleep....and before school..i'm out there working on it. Now thats a true SC fan. HAHAHA...J/K. Anyways...how can i get at the drivers side front bolts?
 
Well, I haven't ever removed the lower IC tube to do the job. If you get creative with extensions and u-joints you can get to them without removing it. I imagine it would be loads easier if it was out of the way though. The lower IC tube connects to the return plenum (or whatever the hell you want to call it) with two bolts similar to how it bolts to the IC. I can't remember if there is a support bolt holding it to the alt. bracket or not (memory is failing me). It is pretty easy to get out.
 
Lower tube hidden bolts.

There is 1 (15mm I think) bolt and 1 13mm nut/stud which holds the lower tube bracket to the block. You'll need to feel around some with your hand to locate them. It is also easier to pull the pwr steering pump bracket forward.. of course this may mean you need to remove the IC and the pump pulley.. Otherwise, with a set of 3/8" (better yet 1/2") drive extension/swivel, you can reach the 2 other bolts (again 1 bolt, 1 nut/stud) holding the pwr steering pump bracket on. I think there is another nut/stud on the lower IC tube similar to the nut/stud holding the upper tube to the bracket.

When I did mine, I pulled the IC, then the pump pulley off, then the plate, then the bracket.. It was just a lot easier for me.

With this out of the way, you should be able to maneuver the lower ic tube out with its bracket attached. Once youve done this, its a clear shot to the 2 bolts (1 bolt, 1 nut/stud) at the front of the mount, the through bolt, and the frame bolt. The rear bolt can be reached with extensions and a swivel; its tight, but doable with the wheel off. be sure you get a solid bite on the bolts with a 6pt socket. You round off these and you're gonna have a very hard time.
hope this helps.
 
Well the lower IC tubes it just hanging there..the PS pump is in the way but i was wondering if I lift the motor, can get it out? If not i'll just work around it i guess. Thanks for the help guys.....you've been great as always.:D
 
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