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  #1  
Old 05-06-2005, 10:09 PM
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Motor/Frame Mounts from a "Creampuff"

These are from my 1986 560, 87.5K, never been in snow, lived in a temperate climate for all but 3 years, hasn't been driven in rain since at least 1992. Wow!

This was a surprisingly nasty job; the engine-side 8mm screw on the LH motor mount took at least 2 hours to remove/replace; I wound up using a cut-down hex key and a piece thereof with a tiny 6MM wrench.

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Motor/Frame Mounts from a "Creampuff"-mm.jpg   Motor/Frame Mounts from a "Creampuff"-frame_m.jpg  
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85 380SL
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  #2  
Old 05-06-2005, 11:41 PM
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PS: An observation: I'm very convinced that the rear subframe mounts deteriorate from oil leaks. The fronts were worn down and a little soft but not collapsed like the rears. The rears were also "gummy". I've since replaced the valve cover gaskets, new copper rings, torqued, etc - no more leaks. The engine is actually worth keeping clean now. Makes it easier to find something wrong, too...
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http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm
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  #3  
Old 05-09-2005, 07:22 PM
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Nice wrench!

Did the replacement make any difference in smoothness, driveability, etc.?
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'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe
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  #4  
Old 05-10-2005, 12:10 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ctaylor738
Nice wrench!

Did the replacement make any difference in smoothness, driveability, etc.?
Yes! The car was a little "squishy" and unsure over bumps. Now it feels tight like a new car, and you can actually feel the springs work over bumps. It doesn't ride like a Mercury Marquis, but hey, it's a sports car (sort of).

While I was in there, I replaced the front brake hoses (19 years old) and the tie rods, the outer ends of both had torn boots, although I think they were still reasonably tight. I got them fairly close to OK, but the car is being aligned tomorrow.

A few interesting points:

1. If you do the subframe, this is a great opportunity to do the motor mounts.

2. I made a useful tool to get the closest-to-engine screw on the LH motor mount - a 3/4" straight piece of an 8mm hex key stuck into a 1/4", 1/4" drive socket. This screw is otherwise very difficult to remove from inside the wheel housing.

3. When removing (any) hex head bolt, and there are a lot of them on this car, I would strongly recommend hitting them with brake cleaner and cleaning them out first with something sharp. There was a lot of crap in all of mine, which wouldn't allow the tool to be inserted all of the way; this invites stripping the head, which can turn a moderately difficult job into a nightmare from Hell.

4. I think everyone is a little leery about explaining exactly how to do this because of liability in the jacking area. There are plenty of ways to crush your hand, lose a finger, or even a leg while doing this. In my day job I have to plan for the worst, and this I think carries over into my hobby. I NEVER put a hydraulic jack alone between metal or the ground and any part of my body. The only exception in this process was that I put a hydraulic jack under the lower control arm to lower the frame, but I had a hydraulic bottle jack with a screw top set a little below that as a backstop. This permitted slow, controlled lowering without fear of lowering too quickly. Having two jacks fail simultaneously would be unlikely even for me.

5. I have an interesting theory on why radiators break at the upper neck (which seems to happen a lot on these cars). I have a reinforcement installed in mine, but it occured to me that the upper hose is really fairly tight with not a lot of slack. If your motor mounts are loose or broken the hose could pull on the neck of the radiator and strain the plastic tank. I drained some fluid and loosened my upper hose before doing this procedure (the motor will move), and then I replaced it with the hose NOT installed tight to the edge of the radiator, but with a little bit of slack.
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  #5  
Old 05-12-2005, 07:26 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2004
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I just did the motor mounts on my 88 560SL for the left side I found it easier to remove the left exahaust manifold and crossover pipe. Since you already have the car and engine jacked up the manifold can be removed in about 1/2 hr.

For this car you need not worry about breaking bolts in the manifold flange since the nut inserts are replaceable. All of my manifold bolts and studs came out easily.

I think in the long run this way was faster and gave me better ability to clean the area and torque in the new mount correctly.

For the right side I just removed the windshield washer reservoir and I was able to get at everything with standard tools.

John Roncallo
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  #6  
Old 05-16-2005, 07:42 AM
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I credit bad motor mounts with breaking the upper rad. neck on my '88 SL. Hose is tight and when engine starts to move around, it puts a lot of strain on the neck. If it is old and brittle like mine was (plus P.O. had used green antifreeze!), then it can break pretty easily. Motor mounts did not have many miles on them when they let go, but did have 10 years.
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  #7  
Old 05-16-2005, 04:36 PM
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mine looked the same,

except my motor mounts were broken in two. I replaced the rear sub frame bushings and the differential mount. That made a bigger difference than the front bushings and mounts. Yeah, I had to cut a couple short 6mm and use a 1/4" socket to get them out. I recall it was quite a pain.
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  #8  
Old 05-16-2005, 07:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Gutman
I replaced the rear sub frame bushings and the differential mount.
How was this job? How did you do it? Did you have or make a tool for reinstalltion? I have the mounts on order and am getting ready to order a 14mm 1.5 pitch threaded rod with which to make a tool.
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  #9  
Old 05-17-2005, 11:27 AM
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My experience...

Do one side at a time to keep the sub frame from moving much out of position.. Regarding pressing the bushings out, I couldn’t get my fat fingers into the area to thread the rod so I stacked washers and put a flat piece of aluminum on top. When I lifted the side it wouldn’t come out so I sprayed PB Blaster and lifted and lowered 3 times and the bushing popped out. Seating them was another matter. I could not use the tool to seat them so I coated the bushing with Silglide, a silicon paste, and tried to seat the bushing. It didn’t seat all the way but I pressed the bolt with a bottle jack and it threaded nicely. When I torque the bolt it seated acceptably but didn’t look bottomed out like the old one. After completing the job I am very happy with the results. When I changed the differential mount I had trouble getting a socket on it (I had to cut one down) because of the spare tire carrier interference. If anyone knows the right tool, please let us know.
If you have any more questions, please ask.

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