Changing Engine mounts ECOTEC V6 (THE EASY WAY)

[Bowen]

G'day Guys hows it going?

So iv just done changed my engine mounts today, as mine were kinda shitty as you can see:

But after reading all the write ups posted on here, i was HORRIFIED.... things like;
degass air con,
remove a/c compressor,
remove P/S pump,
remove Radiator hoses & catch coolant,
remove oil filter and drain fluid, etc

Anyways this scared me... So after a look at the engine bay, and the locations of the mounts i thought #### IT, cant be that hard, and so i went to prove everyone wrong. and i did!!

THIS IS A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE FOR BEGINERS OR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DO THIS THE EASY WAY!!

TOOLS:

decent socket set (cheap ones will strip the bolts / nuts)
ring spanner set
jack
car stands
block of wood
rope

PROCEDURE:

1: Remove serpentine belt (the belt which spins all the pulleys for things like power steering a/c etc)



To do this you will need to put a 15mm socket piece on to the nut of the tensioner pulley and rotate the rachet anti clockwise (left) this will move the entire pulley down towards the ground, relieving the tension. The tensioner pulley is located just below the alternator but slightly to the right. its sort of half hidden behing the radiator hose pictured above!

I also suggest making a shitty diagram on a piece of paper so you know how the belt goes back on like this:



2: Putting asside the A/C compressor (the pulley in the bottom right hand corner, closest to the RHS wheel)

There are 2 nuts and 1 bolt holding the compressor onto the block (DO NOT disconnect the hoses coming off the back / top of the compressor)



there is one (pictured with the rachet attached to it) and another nut below the small pulley next to compressor. The bolt is located on the side facing the RHS wheel and is located just below the exhaust manifold (the group of 3 exhaust pipes that merge into 1 and head to the back of the engine)



This one is an absolute C#$T of a thing to get to, i had to mix and match 2 sockets together to find the right extension piece and a small 14mm socket piece.

Now all you have to do is let it sit on the sway bar, pushed towards the radiator (very front of the car)

3: place the car on stands at a height easy for access under

4: place the jack underneath the sump with your block of timber (prefferably pine as it is a SOFT timber) and just take the weight of the engine



5: On the DRIVERS SIDE undo the 2 nuts holding the engine mount to the subframe. you will need i think it is a 15mm socket with an extension piece



6: now your going to need to remove both the engine cover (4 obvious nuts) and the air box (undo the hose clamp holding the intake pipe to the throttle body)



7: Begin to slowly jack up the engine being very carefal of what the engine is resting against and clearence

8: once the drivers side mounts are visibly out of their holes, undo the the 2 nuts securing the mounts to the bracket and lift out the old mount.



9: now simply place the new mount in and START the nuts on each side of the mount (as in top and bottom) ONLY START this is an important step for later!

10: now you can let the jack down and the engine will simply sit on the new mount, no worries.

11: now for the passenger side. undo the 2 nuts on the bottom of the engine mount (under car into subframe) (same sorta deal as pictured earlier)

12: begin to slowly jack up the engine once again until there is visible clearence between the mount and the frame. START the only nut visible on the top of the engine mount holding it to the bracket.

13: undo the 3 20mm bolts that hold the bracket to the engine (YES you are going to take the whole bracket with the mount still attached to it out)

14: undo the 2 nuts (now you will see the hidden one which is basically unreachable

15: attach the new mount to the bracket ensuring the hidden nut is tightened all the way as you will not be able to tighten this one later and START the other nut.

16: bolt the bracket with the mount back onto the block but once again only START the bolts

17: this is the tricky bit now you have to move the engine and the mounts and the bracket so as the mount lines up with the holes, and slowly release the jack at the same time watching the mounts thread slide into the holes.

18: once thats all in START the nuts on the bottom of the engine mount and jack the engine back up enough to bolt the bracket back onto the block

19: tighten the bracket bolts all the way then lower the engine again so that the engine is once again just sitting on the mounts

20: tighten all the nuts on top and bottom of the mounts, remove jack completely, and re-tighten (with all the extra weight they can sometimes compress the mounts therefore needing extra tightening)

21: take the car off the stands and your basically done

22: re install the compressor

23: re install the serpentine belt and airbox

24: put engine cover back on and BAMMMM your done!!

25: the final step. ROAD TEST. through quick acceleration followed by hard braking test to see if the engine feels like its secured properly. (if your anal like me, re tighten the nuts just incase.)

FIRST POST HOPE U ENJOY.

[Drawnnite]

nice guide.

i love how you say to make a diagram before you do it.
i wonder how many forget that.

oh and regarding that i had a few mechanics suggest to me.
if its dusty enough draw it in the dust (on like the radiator, or bonnet roof etc)
thats if you dont have a pen and paper handy =P

[caulfield6]

Yeh, i forgot the diagram when i did mine... worst ever.

Also only starting to do up the nuts make it so much less difficult to guide back in... Spent the best part of an hour trying to fit them in when i did mine.

Good guide though.

[VYMAD]

Thanks for the nice How-To! I'll use this when I come to do mine.

[m1lky]

Very nice guide, well written.

I forgot the serpentine diagram on my ecotec, 30 odd min later I worked out the right combination.

[Bowen]

cheers guys! thanks for the replies, i just thought basically that there was no easy way of doing it.... until i did.... then i was like WTF so to save poor jimmy running around in his commodore with the engine moving around in his engine bay nearly dying at every corner at traffic light holding off changing his mounts cause he thinks he has to take a part the whole engine!!! so i wrote a much easier method than any i could find.... but on a seperate note u do need like decent quality tools to do this... makes it 700 times easier!

[SavVYute]

Changing Engine mounts ECOTEC V6 (THE EASY WAY)

That's a really good helpful write up. Thank you Bowen for taking the time and effort.

I'd add one thing to your list, (something I noticed when doing my engine mounts).... watch out for an electrical wire that originates from the passenger side oxygen sensor from memory... it runs along the engine where bracket for the mount attaches to the motor and can easily be crushed under it when you're doing the bolts up. I'd imagine it cauld cause a few problems later if you accidently squashed it eh?

[Dr HaxZaw]

If you forget to make a diagram it really isnt that much of a big deal... smooth pulley the back of the belt sits on it, ribbed pulley and the ribbed side of the belt has to sit against it

[HarmlessMuffinMan]

Thanks mate. Just saved me a butt load of money

[seans VL Calais]

i do these at work all the time, I use a hoist so it is a little easier but i do it without removing anything like aircon etc. i imagine it would be harder to do it on the ground this way but just letting everyone know it is possible to do and not hard once youve done them a few times, without removing the belt, aircon, engine cover, airbox and all that. i also use a stumpy spanner to undo the nuts from underneith using a pry bar to crack them undone, against the sump or k frame, what ever works best. its abit fiddly but like i said once youve done one or 2 sets youll be able to do it in half the time

[kazthecalais]

thank you so much for this write up much appreciated

[DavoF]

Great write-up. Just one note, if you have extractors you may have to unbolt the drivers side from the engine. I spent half a day trying to lift the engine high enough to get the old mount out only to finally work out that the cats were jammed against the body.

[noblenirvana]

Brilliant "how to" saved me over $350. When followed to the letter it makes changing engine mounts simple. Thanks 4 the guide.

[SP00KSTER]

i also found this to be a great guide, although i did a couple of things differently this helped me alot.

[vn nut]

Very helpful thanks heaps
everything went swimmingly
just wish there was a bit more room in those vts
but all done
cheers

[edals]

Well I found the Passenger Side easy, Changed that mount in under 1 Hour, But failed to do the driver side, the nuts on the mount are so tight and there is just no room to get a power bar in there to crack it inside the engine bay. Even moved the PS pump to the side but still not enough. So at least im only paying for one mount to be installed. Thanks for the guide !

Heres the passenger side mount !