Engine mounts

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I did my engine mounts today

first, everything went well. I started from transmission mount toward the engine mount; I was thinking to begin with most complicated and go to easier ones; I used ramps. jack and jack stand for support; I did all three before I started to tighten the bolts individually. Once I removed one on the passenger side (clearly the bad guy), I wanted to replace belt tensioner because its access; however, still was pain in b*** as space was tight to work on but I managed in the end after prolonged time. That tensioner drove me nuts today; I was frustrated big time at the time;

That affected my work ability on going forward. Once I was able to align mount on the passenger side, main bolt did not go all all the way down; I tried to do it multiple tmes but in vain. The soul was sticking out above the mount bracket and the bracket was not sitting on the mount rubber. The bolt was sticking out. I continued to play with it but I noticed I used too much force to tight it down. Suddenly treads started to spinn inside of mount. Towards the evening, I tight all bolts at the all three starting with again transmission side. If I had known how was going to be I would have started on the passenger side of the car.

So I drove the car tonight on the local road, it is much quieter than yesterday but on occasion it gets jerky and start to vibrate slightly due to still messed up engine mount that is on the car;

I plan to call on Monday Mazda service department to order the new one $120 again but this time with the brand new center bolt as well.

so my question is how to handle next time the one on the passenger side, what I did wrong and what would you do differently please

I Thank You for all your advice!

Some images






 
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The engine mounts in my Rav4 look horrible but I'm afraid to mess with them and I'm not paying anyone to mess with them. Good on you for replacing yours!
 
Originally Posted By: miden851
I did my engine mounts today

what would you do differently please




Don't think you should do what I did differently.

My front one was failing in tension (on Skywing, like MkI/II Charade). Its an awkward dog-leg shape so tricky to substitute bits of tyre etc.

Anyway, I ended up putting superglue on the crack faces as a rather forlorn-hope band-aid.

"Do you expect me to torque?"
"No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die"

When I could'nt keep the crack closed for the glue to stick, I put lots of cable ties around it to keep it in compression, but couldn't keep it aligned properly, so I put a lot more cable ties on and covered them in boot polish (unfortunately I only had white nylon handy) to be a bit less obvious at inspection time.

I doubt the glue is doing anything, but the cable ties havn'y bust yet, and thats about 5 years ago.
 
I thank you guys and great story @ducked!

Anyway I wish that I measured the inner depth of the treads on mount so I have all of right parts. Also I think in my case the main inner bolt got deformed over time, almost melted even the bracket that connects to the engine could be bad after 10 years. I think they both are made of aluminum. Now on Monday I’ll call Mazda service and at least ask for a discount and new screw and bracket. I plan to release other 2 mounts a bit that should give me some wiggle room so i can focus on the hydraulicand most expensive mount first.

Also, I moved the engine somewhat more while on the jack support, while I was replacing the belt tensioner now I wish I didn’t. Oh well, my whishful thinking!
 
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I think your issue was that you did it on ramps, and that the engine torqued itself forward or aft by the car rolling against it in "Park".

Perhaps you could, with it NOT on ramps, park it on a very level surface then rock the car back and forth while wiggling that bolt so it drops in. The powertrain should counter-rotate. Watch your fingers!

They also sell "alignment bars" at harbor freight, $3. Pipefitters use them all the time. A spud wrench would also work.
 
Thank you for pointing that out @eljefino! I useed ramps for an extra space especially for removing a dog-bone mount from the bottom, plus it’s easier on the back. Today I’ll go to a tool store and get me some tools that would eleviate my next job. Also I’ll use spec. For tightening the bolts on mounts but not necessarily for wand that goes to the body of the car.

Original set up



Belt tensioner that didn’t need to be replaced that held well after 10years

 
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You could also set the e-brake and put the trans in neutral. Chock the heck out of the rear wheels while you're at it. One human can supply enough leverage to rotate the engine to line that bolt up.
 
+1 on moving the engine. You need to wiggle the engine forward in neutral till the bolt is in loosely and easy to start the threads by hand. Use a big pry bar, stick it through a frame or control arm behind the mount.
Be careful not to pinch any wires, connectors, hoses or lines. Final tighten all mount bolts with the vehicle level, if its on ramps jack the rear up and support with stands.
 
Put the jack on the oil pan with the wheels on the ground to support the engine.
then you can align the mount easily. It looks like you have cross threaded the bolt,
A thread chaser or tap should repair the threads in the mount.
there is a slot on top of the mount that fits in the aluminum piece. When they are aligned and together
you can tighten the bolt.
 
Originally Posted By: Roadkingnc
Put the jack on the oil pan with the wheels on the ground to support the engine.
then you can align the mount easily. It looks like you have cross threaded the bolt,
A thread chaser or tap should repair the threads in the mount.
there is a slot on top of the mount that fits in the aluminum piece. When they are aligned and together
you can tighten the bolt.


It actually aligned but the gap below and above the bracket stayed; as I tried to tighten the main bolt, the bold didn’t go further than half of the treads, sticking out; at this point I had all the other mounts tight; boggling for sure
 
I like the idea of rolling car back and forth and keeping it in neutral while adjusting/aligning mounts!

I Thank for all great advice here!
 
Originally Posted By: edwardh1
is an exhaust pipe near the mount?


I don’t why that matters but the busted mount is about 1’1/2” away from the exhaust branch;

As an update, the dealer won’t warrant anything on mounts they sent to me and the main bolt has been discontinued by Mazda; I’m in the process of ordering the new passenger mount as I look for ways to find appropriate bolt replacement just in case;
Should I say, the car sure feels like a different animal now versus with old mounts, so my work is already paying off.
 
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Can you get the bolt out? This may be repairable from what I see in the other pictures. Finding a hardened flange bolt is no problem Ace hardware has them in metric.
 
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I Thank You for sticking with me on this @Trav

I need a car so I’m not willing to mess with it till the weekend. I did go to Ace Hardware yesterday just to aquire more information on the bolt but it was in the evening after my work so at least I got some guidance on it there. Also I called several of junk yards over the phone and they don’t keep hydraulic mounts as they bust so easily, little less the bolts.

I think I can take it out when needed but I’m aware it won’t be a piece of cake. The engine now sits about an 1” higher on the passenger side then it should as I’ve noticed.
 
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Maybe the rubber has torn, you wont know til you have it apart. You can get 10.9 flange bolts at Ace as I said but if the flange is too small there is no problem putting a hardened washer under it, they have them too.

Post what you find when you get to it.
 
looks like a mazda 2.3. there are a couple walk throughs on the mazda forums. I'm not sure if we can link to other forums here.

working from memory I think you do tighten that one with wheels on the ground and use a jack to support the rear of the engine (using the point near the dogbone mount).

I didn't do that mount, but really destroyed the bolts on the transmission mount (the one on the opposite side). I had to go to the junkyard to get replacements, and install a helicoil. (Mazda doesn't sell the bolts new).

man, good luck.
 
Thank you guys for being with and walk me thru this situation!

My follow up look like this right now: I’m still waiting for the right mount and meanwhile I collected few more parts to get the job done; I ordered the mount from the same dealership even though they did not warrant the part that was screwed up. I ordered it last week but due to inclement weather to the North the dealership was closed for a couple of days so parts wasn’t shipped; I think I’ll be getting it in coming days and I plan for Sunday as it looks right now to tackle the replacements and be done.
 
So I collected all parts and tools necessary to get this job done; this time I’ll be placing, from what I can see thus far, a better quality build OEM mount, the previous was also ordered from the same place, but this time somehow it really feels better build; previous one was not this sturdy I’d say; while I’m waiting or better say looking forward to Sunday, I tested the treads, prepared them prior to installation, and it required really an effort to tight the bolt all the way down; this is where the previous has failed and gave up on me leaving me stranded for two weeks and making all sort of strange sounds in the engine compartment;

I’m confidant this job will be a breeze this time around







 
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Looks like you are good to go, just make sure you start that bolt by hand a few threads before taking a tool to it.
The 10.9 bolt and washer will work perfectly.
 
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