DIY - Motor Mount Installation

[RobertK]

I figured it was past time to make a contribution to the community. I've been doing alot of work to my project car and decided to do what I could to put together a tutorial. Enjoy!

Motor Mount Installation

Step #1; Round Up Your Tools Yo!

* The first two tools pictured are not required but makes this job and alot of other jobs MUCH easier.







OR




Step: #2: Locate your old motor mounts.






Step #2.5 (Optional): Spray all nuts with PB Blaster or Penetrating Oil




Step #3: Using either the impact wrench or a ratchet remove the nuts from underneath the car on each side.




Step #4: Using either the impact wrench or a ratchet remove the nuts from the top of each mount on each side of the car.




IMPORTANT!
Step #5: Locate any hose, wire, or anything else that might be attached to the engine that might get stretched or strained while jacking the engine up and disconnect it.

Step #6: (Optional) If jacking the engine up far enough becomes difficult you can unbolt the transmission brace that holds the mounts to allow more upward angle though it has not always been required in my experience.

Step #7: Cut some blocks of wood and use them to jack the engine up evenly.





Step #8: Carefully remove the old mounts and install the new mounts

Step #9: SLOWLY lower you jack making sure the bolt stems for each mount are lined up evenly. (This may take a few trys and is easier to do with a friend helping you.)

Step #10: Install the new nuts onto the bolt stem of each new motor mount (in the engine bay and under the car) and tighten to spec.

Step #11: Reconnect any hoses or wires you disconnected to jack the engine up.
YOUR DONE... YAY!

[jajou318]

Yyou make it seem so easy. and i congratulate you

[RobertK]

I will say it seemed much easier at the time I wrote this due to the fact that I had my transmission completely removed.

[Axxe]

It's not hard at all, just a bit PITA with the transmission in (can't lift the front of the motor enough). I found that unbolting one side of the subframe and wedging a 2x4 in for clearance made the operation much easier. The IE mounts I put in have longer studs sticking out of them, so I need the added clearance.

[tommyboy]

I didn't have any problem with the clearance of IE mounts, lucky I guess.

The urethane tranny mounts added a TON of driveline noise, hardly sounds like an m20 anymore.

[turnofftheradio]

way to go on the write up. I think we need more!

[Jand3rson]

You jacked up your car on the oil pan? :crazy:

[Jarvis]

You jacked up your car on the oil pan? :crazy:

The car is already on jackstands. To get the engine high enough to get the motor mounts in/out, people generally just jack up the engine via the oil pan using a block of wood. It seems like common practice to me.

[RobertK]

You jacked up your car on the oil pan? :crazy:

No no, we did that just to move the engine but of course as you can tell we eventually had to find a way to jack the engine up evenly.

It's not hard at all, just a bit PITA with the transmission in (can't lift the front of the motor enough). I found that unbolting one side of the subframe and wedging a 2x4 in for clearance made the operation much easier.

True, though the last time I messed with unbolting a subframe in a BMW it took an ungodly amount of torq to break the bolts loose. Around 130lbs

way to go on the write up. I think we need more!

I'm workin' on it.

[benDASHDASH]

good write-up.

[Dave]

I am doing this tonight - I was going to drop the subframe and support the engine with the jack rather than jack the engine up. Any reason NOT to do it this way?

[arsevader]

I am doing this tonight - I was going to drop the subframe and support the engine with the jack rather than jack the engine up. Any reason NOT to do it this way?

More bolts to line up.

I did it by jacking the engine up. As long as you're careful it's a pretty easy job.

[Dave]

More bolts to line up.

I did it by jacking the engine up. As long as you're careful it's a pretty easy job.

Just by the oil pan or did you construct a Rube Goldberg looking thing like Ritalin Kid here?

[delatlanta1281]

I found it rather easy to jack the engine up with a 2x4 in between the jack and the pan. I then replaced my tranny mounts the same way.

[KenC]

I used a chunk of a 2x12 on the pan and just jacked it up. When you cover the whole pan, it distriubutes the weight evenly enough that it's safe to jack up. I think this is the easiest method.