My experience installing poly engine mounts
06-13-2011, 08:32 PM
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My experience installing poly engine mounts Switching to poly engine mounts was a great decision, I love the way the car drives and feels. BUT – it was a major pain in the *** without car lift or an engine lift. If you have never done this before and do not have either of those, be prepared to spend the majority of a day or more. Now that I have done it, I could do it in less than half the time so am including what I did to assist anyone thinking about it.
Need the following tools:
3/8 ratchet, short and medium length extender
Regular sockets: 10mm, 13mm, 14mm, 15mm, 18mm
Wrenches: 10mm, 13mm, 14mm, 15mm, 18mm
Deep sockets: 13mm (a must), 15mm (optional but helpful)
Pry bar?
Jack and jack stands
Passenger side:
Jack up the front of the car as high as possible and support it with jack stands.
Disconnect the battery.
Remove the serpentine belt.
Remove the AC belt.
Unbolt the AC compressor and bracket, 4 bolts on top, 2 bolts on the bottom. Move it to the front of the car as far as possible.
Remove the starter, 2 bolts to hold it and 2 wires held with nuts.
Support the engine with a jack. I used a 2x4 to protect the pan and distribute the weight. Jack everything up about 1”, enough to take the weight off the mounts.
Remove the nut from the large bolt holding the bottom (frame side) and top half (engine side) of the engine mount together.
Remove the 4 bolts on the bottom half of the mount and 4 bolts on the top half. The order does not matter. It’s a bitch but not as bad as the passenger side. Use the jack as needed to move the engine up and down to get access to the bolts.
Remove the large bolt holding the two halves together.
Work the top half of the mount out of the car and replace the rubber/poly.
Put the top half back in place and inset the large bolt to hold the halves together.
Install all 8 engine mount bolts but leave them all as loose as possible to avoid alignment issues. Tighten each one about ¼ of the way repeating until they are all tight.
Install the nut on the bolt that holds the halves together.
Reinstall the starter.
Reinstall the AC compressor and do not tighten any bolts until all 6 are threaded.
Reinstall the AC belt.
Driver side:
Remove the alternator and bracket, 3 bolts in front, 1 bolt in back. Be careful not to pull the small wire out of the electrical plug like I did, it’s easy to miss. Remove the plug and the main wire.
Move the alternator out of the way.
Remove the nut from the large bolt holding the bottom (frame side) and top half (engine side) of the engine mount together.
Start in on the bolts, they’re worse to get out than the passenger side. There is a heat shield on the top two bolts of the upper half of the mount to remove as well.
The bolts on the upper side are dual shaft meaning there is a small bolt on the top to mount the heat shield – makes them even worse to get out.
Remove the large bolt holding the two halves together.
Work the top half of the mount out of the car and replace the rubber/poly.
Put the top half back in place and inset the large bolt to hold the halves together.
Install all 8 engine mount bolts but leave them all as loose as possible to avoid alignment issues. Tighten each one about ¼ of the way repeating until they are all tight. Alignment on this side was what took me the most time – it did NOT want to line up without a lot of prying, muscle, blood and sweat.
Install the nut on the bolt that holds the halves together.
Install the heat shield.
Install the alternator, again be careful of the small red wire. Do not tighten any bolts until they are all lined up and threaded.
Reinstall the serpentine belt.
Connect the battery.
The transmission mount is a piece of cake, takes about 10 minutes.
When you’re finished, pull all the tools out of the wall that you threw while trying to line up the driver’s side mounts and drink a beer or two. I have read where people had to remove their strut braces to lift the engine, but I didn’t need to. If you have an engine lift I would strongly recommend using it to make moving the engine around easier. Trying to move it around on a jack on the floor under the car is no fun. You WILL spend the majority of your time lining up bolts even if you follow the "do not tighten until everything is threaded" rule. Just be patient and keep working at it.
Hope this helps someone.
Need the following tools:
3/8 ratchet, short and medium length extender
Regular sockets: 10mm, 13mm, 14mm, 15mm, 18mm
Wrenches: 10mm, 13mm, 14mm, 15mm, 18mm
Deep sockets: 13mm (a must), 15mm (optional but helpful)
Pry bar?
Jack and jack stands
Passenger side:
Jack up the front of the car as high as possible and support it with jack stands.
Disconnect the battery.
Remove the serpentine belt.
Remove the AC belt.
Unbolt the AC compressor and bracket, 4 bolts on top, 2 bolts on the bottom. Move it to the front of the car as far as possible.
Remove the starter, 2 bolts to hold it and 2 wires held with nuts.
Support the engine with a jack. I used a 2x4 to protect the pan and distribute the weight. Jack everything up about 1”, enough to take the weight off the mounts.
Remove the nut from the large bolt holding the bottom (frame side) and top half (engine side) of the engine mount together.
Remove the 4 bolts on the bottom half of the mount and 4 bolts on the top half. The order does not matter. It’s a bitch but not as bad as the passenger side. Use the jack as needed to move the engine up and down to get access to the bolts.
Remove the large bolt holding the two halves together.
Work the top half of the mount out of the car and replace the rubber/poly.
Put the top half back in place and inset the large bolt to hold the halves together.
Install all 8 engine mount bolts but leave them all as loose as possible to avoid alignment issues. Tighten each one about ¼ of the way repeating until they are all tight.
Install the nut on the bolt that holds the halves together.
Reinstall the starter.
Reinstall the AC compressor and do not tighten any bolts until all 6 are threaded.
Reinstall the AC belt.
Driver side:
Remove the alternator and bracket, 3 bolts in front, 1 bolt in back. Be careful not to pull the small wire out of the electrical plug like I did, it’s easy to miss. Remove the plug and the main wire.
Move the alternator out of the way.
Remove the nut from the large bolt holding the bottom (frame side) and top half (engine side) of the engine mount together.
Start in on the bolts, they’re worse to get out than the passenger side. There is a heat shield on the top two bolts of the upper half of the mount to remove as well.
The bolts on the upper side are dual shaft meaning there is a small bolt on the top to mount the heat shield – makes them even worse to get out.
Remove the large bolt holding the two halves together.
Work the top half of the mount out of the car and replace the rubber/poly.
Put the top half back in place and inset the large bolt to hold the halves together.
Install all 8 engine mount bolts but leave them all as loose as possible to avoid alignment issues. Tighten each one about ¼ of the way repeating until they are all tight. Alignment on this side was what took me the most time – it did NOT want to line up without a lot of prying, muscle, blood and sweat.
Install the nut on the bolt that holds the halves together.
Install the heat shield.
Install the alternator, again be careful of the small red wire. Do not tighten any bolts until they are all lined up and threaded.
Reinstall the serpentine belt.
Connect the battery.
The transmission mount is a piece of cake, takes about 10 minutes.
When you’re finished, pull all the tools out of the wall that you threw while trying to line up the driver’s side mounts and drink a beer or two. I have read where people had to remove their strut braces to lift the engine, but I didn’t need to. If you have an engine lift I would strongly recommend using it to make moving the engine around easier. Trying to move it around on a jack on the floor under the car is no fun. You WILL spend the majority of your time lining up bolts even if you follow the "do not tighten until everything is threaded" rule. Just be patient and keep working at it.
Hope this helps someone.
06-13-2011, 08:49 PM
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Launching!
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thats about the jist of it..
i however, left the ac on while i did the passenger side. this side was very easy. i bolted everything down tight and then..
the drivers side i did remove the alt. this side was a major PITA. with the help of a friend i finally got everything together after a couple days and a few curse words.
i think it goes a little differently for everyone, main thing to know is IT CAN be done. it's just a bitch.
i however, left the ac on while i did the passenger side. this side was very easy. i bolted everything down tight and then..
the drivers side i did remove the alt. this side was a major PITA. with the help of a friend i finally got everything together after a couple days and a few curse words.
i think it goes a little differently for everyone, main thing to know is IT CAN be done. it's just a bitch.
06-14-2011, 07:20 AM
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Teching In
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Yes, I could have left the AC on, but I think taking it off was well worth it. Removal and installation was about 15 minutes total, and it probably saved me lots of time and busted knuckles. There are times when I wish my hands were smaller...
Moving to poly mounts will quicly uncover anything that is unbalanced in the driveline. I couldn't tell until now but my u-joints are in dire need of replacement, at least that's what I hope the vibration is.
Moving to poly mounts will quicly uncover anything that is unbalanced in the driveline. I couldn't tell until now but my u-joints are in dire need of replacement, at least that's what I hope the vibration is.
06-14-2011, 07:53 AM
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