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Originally Posted by dirtysocks
gmercoleza:What did you use to hold the motor up while changing the mount? Did you use a spring jack? I desperately need to change mine, but I only have access to a hydraulic jack, which I know continually go down as they support weight (well mine does anyway). This does happen quite slowly on my jack, but I am just nervous about the engine falling to far and damaging something. How long would it take me to replace BOTH the mounts? (with the car up on ramps and limited movement). Is it easier to approach them from the top, i.e. under hood? Anyone else have a suggestion for making this project easier for someone with a hydraulic jack?
Thanks for your time.
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I can only tell you it took me about 20 or 30 minutes to do the passenger side mount. I can't comment on the driver's side, but from what I've read that one can take you an hour by itself because it's quite hard to get to. Personally, I don't think replacing the driver's side is necessary (keep reading to find out why I think this way). You will need to get at the mount both from under the hood and from underneath the car, but trust me - it's quite easy.
I used a hydraulic jack from underneath, with a 2 x 4 used to spread the load evenly across the front of the oilpan (I jacked at the front to minimize fulcrum effect). I know the debate over whether or not to use a piece of wood rages on, but my jack has an irregular shaped cradle which has 4 raised turrets. Rather than allow force to be concentrated on 1 or 2 of these turrets, I used a piece of wood.
If your jack lowers slowly, there is a problem. It shouldn't leak at all, if you have the valve mechanism properly and completely closed. If the valve is closed tight all the way, and the jack still lowers (even if very slowly), there is a leak somewhere in the hydraulic system and the jack is unsafe. That leak could suddenly give way, injuring or killing you. Discard of it immediately; nothing's worth risking death or injury.
With that said, there is NO DANGER AT ALL of the engine "falling through" so to speak. Pop your hood and you'll see what I mean - the engine mounting arm actually sits on top of the motor mount. If your jack gives way, the engine just falls back on the mount. If the mount is removed and the jack gives way, the engine just falls on the crossmember below.
I won't be held responsible for anyone's accidents (DISCLAIMER!), but in my opinion you could just as easily use a scissor jack or a bottle jack - you are only lifting the engine for a minute or less, just enough to slip the old mount out and swap in the new mount. And you're not lifting much weight - even though I used a jack on mine, I was still able to "lift" or nudge the engine up another few millimeters just using my bare hand (so you may be able to use your leaky jack and supplement the lifting force with your own hands). Of course, this means that you remove the top and bottom mounting bolts before performing the swap. You will need a 17 mm combo wrench on the top bolt, and a hex key on the bottom bolt (I don't remember what size, but it might be 3/16). My bolts were incredibly loose - I barely used any pressure to remove them (YIKES!). I wonder how they stayed in there like that. Anyway, when replacing the bolts I didn't torque or anything, just tightened as much as I could humanly do (which was way tighter than they were to begin with). For peace of mind, I used a hammer on the 17 mm combo wrench to tighten the top bolt.
You'll first need to set the parking brake, then chock the rear wheels and jack the car up enough for you to crawl under and loosen that hex bolt - for safety's sake, be sure to use a jack stand while you're under there. Or you mentioned putting it up on ramps - that's probably the best option. I didn't use ramps because my hood would hit the ceiling of my garage if extended in the fully upright position. But ramps would definitely provide the most working room.
See my above description of the torque effect the clockwise-rotating crankshaft has on the mounts and you will understand why the idle is especially rough with the trans in D. What happens is the passenger side mount gets further compressed, and if it's actually collapsed like mine was, with all the vibration damping oil leaked out, the metal housing will actually make contact with the cross member below. The result is that vibrations are transmitted directly from the engine through the metal motor mount housing and onto the crossmember (the chassis), and you end up feeling the vibrations clearly in your seat and on the floor, etc. With that said, replacing just the passenger side mount will clear up the problem - I'm fairly confident you won't need a pair of motor mounts, just one. The driver's side mount gets "pulled" rather than pushed.
Again, if anyone wants, I will sell my spare motor mount for $40 shipped to the 48 states - PayPal only. Or you can order from Fastlane; I think they were $60 + shipping the last time I checked. I am told that Fastlane is a great way to get parts (though I haven't used it yet), and the prices really are great (check with your dealer or local parts supplier first if you don't believe me).