Joncadder

All,

My daily driver is up on jack stands in my driveway and I am pulling my hair out trying to fix it.

The problem: I have removed the two old motor mounts and replaced them with new ones. The driver's side new mount does not align with the mount casting on the engine. Both new mounts are part # 951 375 042 04 and were made by Hamburg-Tech. I used the same mount for the left and right.

The old ones I pulled out were different from each other and from the new ones. The passenger side mount was similar to the new ones, but the driver's side had what I think is the original liquid-filled mount that is quite a bit shorter than the new one (maybe 1/4" to 1/2" shorter). The old driver's side mount was leaking fluid from cracks in its rubber, and the passemger side, while not liquid-filled, did seem deformed and compressed.

The passenger side new mount went in fine. But the driver's side mount is WAY off, alignment-wise. It is perhaps 3/4" - 1.0" off. A shorter mount might allow it to swing down lower and align better when I lower the engine. But the parts catalog I am using does not call for different mounts left and right.

I tried using a pry bar to shift the engine over a bit but it went no further than about 1/8".

HELP! Here are some pics of the issue. I really need to get this fixed today if possible, so anyone's help is appreciated.

I will buy a case of beer and a pizza for anyone local who can help fix this while my wife is away from the house today!!!

Jon Ehlen
Yorba Linda, CA

Jon

M758

The mounts don't go in really easy.

Make sure you have the lower bolt loose and wiggle like hell. You may need twist the crossmember some to make them fit.

Joncadder

Thanks! I will try to loosen everything up and shift the crossmember over more instead of trying to shift the engine over. Would it make it easier if I removed the wheels?

M758

YOU STILL HAVE THE WHEELS ON THE CAR?

When doing this job I have always pulled the wheels an front a-arms. Too much crap to move aroud other wise. I have also pull the cross member off the steering rack for the same reason.

Joncadder

Ummmm...(ahem) yes. The wheels are still on the car.

A bit of laziness on my part, I guess - I need to find the key for the wheel locks. Do you remove the entire a-arm or just loosen things up? I loosened up the arms but I was afraid to remove that main pivot bolt for fear that I might not be able to get it back in without a special tool.

xsboost90

REMEMBER- if you loosen the cross member, you will need an alignment!

T Tanner

The mount are not pushed back into the crossmenber, they need to be pushed from the center of the car out. If you look at them you will see a ledge on the outside out the mount towards the wheels. This has to be pushed down and out so it will slide under a flange on the crossmember. Do not put any bolts in untill you get it lined up. Then just put the nut on the bottom stud, go to the other side and get it in, then go back and put the 2 bolts in the top and tighten them up. There a REAL PITA if it's your first time doing them. Best of luck

Joncadder

Thnaks for your help, everyone! I finished it today, and it was a booger of a job. It was not working the traditional way, so I took off the wheels, loosened up everything in the suspension, and lef tthe passenger side mount attached (it was already installed form last week). Then I removed the airbox completely, jacked up the motor as high as it would go, and loosened up the motor mount arm from the block and removed it. I then installed the driver's side mount to the arm, and reinstalled the arm. It took a lot of wiggling to get it in place, but when I dropped the motor it all lined up and dropped in place.

And yes, it now needs an alignment but it is not bad at all - I can definitely drive it for now. It pulls a bit to the left on a fast straightaway. I tried to reinstall the crossmember in the same place but did not get it spot-on.

Thanks again!

Jon

callmethewanderer

i went thru the same thing but finally got them in, the care doesn't shake as much but the engine stil lseems to me to be idling rough, any ideas?i'm ordering a new set of plug wires, i already have a new cap and rotor.

Joncadder

I have also replaced my cap and rotor, fuel and ir filters, as well as changing my plugs from the +4 platinum style to regular copper, per other threads here. Mine still shakes too, but not as much, and only up to 1150 RPM or so, at which point it smooths out completely for the rest of the rev range. I have not changed the plug wires though. Has anyone else seen this? Will changing the wires out help?

Jon