theprf

Ensure the square part of the new motor mount fits in the square recess in the bracket on the engine. It *should* just drop in, though it is a good idea to check.

steam_mill

All good advice on here. I did this over the summer while replacing the coolant tank. A couple of hints:

As others have said, PB blaster is your friend. I soaked mine for a few days with multiple squirts until I did it.

You will need a deep socket, 18mm. This was a gotcha for me. Although I have several different socket sets. Apparently 18mm sockets are not in all sets and I did not have a deep one. Ordered from amzn.

Although I have air and electric impacts, I tend to avoid using them due to fear of braking things and actually making the job longer. I used a breaker bar with a pipe on it to break the nuts loose. I had not supported the motor yet.

I did mine on my 4 post. I know I wouldn't fit under there to crack the bolts. Raising the rear will be very beneficial IMHO.

Each mount has a correct way to go in and a not correct way. It is obvious when you see it, or take a pic before removal so the replacement is positioned properly. I did the first on correctly and made an error on the other side, although before I tightened anything up.

My replacement engine mounts didn't come with any stickers, so my car didn't gain any hp or speed lol.

Ben8jam

Curious how they can go in wrong? I've tightened everything up, but where would it be installed incorrectly?

steam_mill

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure. I hadn't tightened anything up. When I was about to start tightening, it just didn't align or settle properly. I rotated the mount 180 degrees, all was good. Interestingly, the first one was fine, I'm not sure what I missed on the second one.

allcool

If you haven't 'clocked' the mount correctly bolt holes won't line up, it only fits 1 way...

Also seems its relevant to mention the best way is to torque/mount the engine mounts in the engine bay first, before the big nuts from below are tightened at all.
That way you can move the mount slightly around to align holes taking any side pressure off the top bolts. This allows you to screw them in by hand without damage to the threads from the mount being pulled/pushed/or cocked to the side from below if engine isn't jacked up and centered correctly...

Once the top bolts are in correctly and torqued correctly,,, you can man handle the bottom nuts/studs like in a engine swap race track pit stop. They are stout heavy duty fasteners...

jmo

wyovino

On the ground or on jack stands makes no difference, except your jack would have to span a greater height if the car was raised. The engine hangs from the frame, not from the suspension.

Ben8jam

I'm asking this from ignorance, but doesn't the weight of the engine pull down on the suspension? So if the weight of the engine is now free, don't the springs of the suspension push the car up, in which the engine essentially stays in one place?

I'm probably totally wrong in that reasoning, but it's why I had to jack the engine UP into the car after the fact, and I assume the distance between the tire and the wheel well was slowly decreasing as the suspension was absorbing some of that lift from the engine moving upwards...?

I had the engine pretty snuggly propped up on the jack, and there was 2-3" of drop of the engine (or lifting of the frame) when that first bolt came off, and I'm pretty sure the jack height didn't change at all (otherwise that would be a HUGE problem if the jack dropped, and I had it securely tightened).

I'm asking because I'm getting four new 13mm bolts tomorrow so will do this over again and rather not repeat that experience

De Jeeper

Why dont u just take each of those bolts out 1 at a time and replace. No reason to remove the large not that holds the motor.

wyovino

The engine will stay in the same place relative to the engine bay no matter what the load on the suspension is. Completely separate.

Ben8jam

The only reason I'm thinking to start over is because now I'm not sure if the engine is as high up as it needs to be. I had to jack the engine UP into the car because the long main mount bolts were 2 inches from even being close to coming out of the lower frame mount. So I don't know if there is more room to go. I did torque to 63lbs, so if that's all there is to it, then maybe I won't bother. First time gitters...

I feel like I'm totally missing something here having done it on the ground as opposed to jack stands or a lift. I still don't get why the suspension doesn't relax when the weight of the engine is removed. Don't the wheels drop away from the frame when you lift the body? Doesn't that exact same thing happen but in reverse when you remove the weight of the engine, doesn't the frame go UP because the engine could essentially go DOWN if it weren't supported by the jack?

I'm not questioning anyone, my newbie brain, and lack of technical understanding of suspension is to blame (and to think I want to do a 100% suspension refresh next, though maybe I should rethink that )

De Jeeper

U need to stop thinking so hard about this simple repair.

If the nuts r torqued to 63lbs then the motor is where it should be. U can use an inspection mirror or a edoscope camera make sure the square in the mount is seated correctly in the mount but its hard to mess that up with factory parts

Yes if the tires r in the ground and u unbolt both motor mounts u r reducing the weight on the suspension so the car may rise slightly. So the amount of load on the jack will change some as u release or tighten the motor mount bolts.

SoCal911t

Check out this video if you haven't already. Maybe it will clarify things. I did mine 5 years ago so I don't remember if I followed their procedure exactly.

Ben8jam

Yes, I'm def over thinking, but also YES, that's the answer to the question I was asking: the car did rise 2-3" - and thus the engine needs more vertical support to offset the suspension change when doing on ground verse when doing off ground.

Yes, I followed that video - well except for being on the ground and not on stands/lift.

---- I think I'm good. I'm going to get my new bolts tomorrow, and just swap them in one by one. Appreciate everyone's support.

wyovino

You have that backwards. If the tires are off the ground your jack will have to travel higher to unweight the engine from the nuts.

Ben8jam

No what I mean is, the instructions everyone says is: the jack should just support the weight of the engine a few mm's, NOT lift the car. But if you're doing it on the ground, you DO need to lift the car a bit to offset some of the suspension difference from when you remove the weight of the engine (which is pulling the rear down) from the frame. So you need to jack up the engine higher than if you were simply supporting it.