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Engine mounts

whitevrboi

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So i took my car in for something completly unrelated and the mechanic said that my engine mounts were cracked/sagging. How hard is this to fix and how much should i pay? I was told it'd be a couple of hours labour so i reckon i'll take it in and get the meechanic to do it. any help would be great.
 

GTP 85

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Mounts are approx $50 each and you need two (obviously)

put labour on top of that and you get an idea of how much a mechanic is charging you.

It's pretty easy to do yourself if you have a quality socket set, hydraulic jack, a mate to help, plenty of booze and even more patience.
 

DannyboyDS

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I say have a crack at it, but allow about a full saturday and keep sunday free just incase.

drivers side is easy, passenger side can be a bastard but if your msart it can be done in 2 -3 hours with simple tools (first time I did one took me around 3 hours)

My method requires two new extractor gaskets and two mounts :p

remove the negative terminal from the battery
remove the engine cover
unbolt the Y piece from the rest of the exhaust
unbolt the drivers side extractor/manifold whatver you choose to call it, it will not need to be removed completly but unbolting it allows easy access to everything so tie it to the side and out of harms way with something for now.

support the engine from underneath with a jack with a flat piece of wood ontop to protect the sump.

undo the two nuts holding the mount to the K frame, while your there you can undo all four (both sides)

raise the engine with the jack

get back up ontop and unbolt the engine mount from the bracket, it will fall out, replace with the new mount and fully fasten the top nuts (nuts on the bracket)

drop the engine down now, dont be too woried about "finding the hole" you can do that later, I just prefer not to work on an engine only supported by a jack if I can help it.

now the passenger side, remove the plenum pipe firstly then remove the extractor, trust me ont his makes it a hell of a lot easier, once done start unbolting the AC pump, its not as bad as you think, the bolts will be effing tight so a good ring spanner will be needed, one of the bolts will also have a high pressure line right infront of it, so you may need to shave a ring spanner down a little to fit in.

DO NOT UNPLUG ANYTHING FROM THE AC

raise the engine again.

with the AC unbolted you can now push it out of your way as you access the various bolts on the engine mount bracket (engine - engine mount) remove the whole bracket a breaker bar comes in handy here too.

get a foot onto the bracket and unbolt the mount, fit the new mount to the bracket and bolt it all back to the engine.

now you can put your AC compressor back on, lower the engine and get yourself a jimmy bar or something of the like.

as you lower the engine try to get at least one set of engine mount lower bolts in the hole, if you cant dont stress thats what the jimmy bar is for.

the bolts on the bottom are pretty tough and ive never seen a set with stripped threads so use the jimmy bar to lever the bolts into the holes, once both sides are in, bolt her up fromt he bottom and your done the hardest parts. (the jimmy bar may get stuck when the mount/s drop in, just give it a good yank)

put your exhaust back together, replace your engine cover and be happy.

P.S some people use loctite others don't I generally always apply a small dot to every bolt, i've never had issues undoing anything and ive never had anything rattle loose, just dont get super dooper loctite and use half a bottle as your asking for future issues.

if I missed anything can someone please chuck it in.
 

hako

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DannyboyDS - thats a great write-up and it should be moved to the "how-to" section.:thumbsup:
 

DannyboyDS

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DannyboyDS - thats a great write-up and it should be moved to the "how-to" section.:thumbsup:

thanks mate, but without pics and more details on the tools used, locations of bolts and especially more info on removing the AC compressor its more of a rough guide.
 

vxcalais_01

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I did mine on my vx calais 2 months ago, yes it cost me quite a bit, like over $300 but hours work. If they have correct spanners, nothing is removed except the mounts. No need to move anything from the AC if they know how to do it properly. I let them do it as i went to 2 other mechanics who couldnt pick the noise i was getting from the engine. Each mount is around $100. The cheaper mounts are not fluid filled and are crap house.
 

ashbox

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it cost me about 300 to get a mech to do 2 mounts on the vs but that
 

DannyboyDS

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I did mine on my vx calais 2 months ago, yes it cost me quite a bit, like over $300 but hours work. If they have correct spanners, nothing is removed except the mounts. No need to move anything from the AC if they know how to do it properly. I let them do it as i went to 2 other mechanics who couldnt pick the noise i was getting from the engine. Each mount is around $100. The cheaper mounts are not fluid filled and are crap house.

isn't it different on a VX?
 

whitevrboi

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hey DannyboyDS that is a top write up dude, i'll talk ot a mate and see if he will give me a hand. You should defintely add some pics and make it a how to. If my mate cant help me i think i'll just take it to my mechanic to do. Cheers everyone
 
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