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Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

I'm headed over to bondocougar's place tomorrow (if the weather holds up) to see if we can't figure out how to swap out both motor mounts, which are currently soaked in PB blaster. I'm looking for any recommendations/advice/corrections that will make this process faster and avoid breaking anything!  :yuck:  Thanks in advance for everyone's help!  :bowdown:

Car: 1988 Cougar XR7, 5.0 L engine

Replacement Mounts: NAPA Solid Motor Mounts, # 6121649. I chose solid because (according to the board) they are far more reliable than hydraulic mounts. However, they might negatively affect ride quality.  :hick:

- NAPA sent me two different looking motor mounts, but they both have the same part number and equivalent attachment points.
*** BUT, one is higher than the other (see attached pictures). Is this a concern? And can someone confirm that these motor mounts are what I need?

The Plan: (a combination of Haynes and Joe's knowledge)
1. Drive front end up on ramps, disconnect battery cables, block wheels, etc.
2. Loosen tranny mount.
3. Remove fan shroud.
4. Disconnect floor shift linkage from tranny.
5. Remove through bolts (running through crossmember).
6. Use jack (with piece of wood) under oil pan to raise entire engine. (We were thinking of using an engine hoist instead).
7. Unbolt mount from engine block (the stud and bolt at weird angles).
8. Transfer brackets to new mounts.
*** Any tips on how to preserve the original alignment? The new mounts don't have any fixed position.
9. Reverse the procedure.

Am I missing anything? Again, thanks for everyone's help! :banana:
1984 Cougar Convertible
1988 Cougar XR-7

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #1 –
Must be mounts from a different vendor, they should be the same height.. It ain't really necessary to disconnect everything you listed. I've swapped mounts by just loosening the fan shroud and jacking up the engine.

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #2 –
The one you have on the left is what i have new on my car.
i agree with tom,, aint no way in heck all that needs to be done.
mounts arent gonna take no time man.

can you do me a favor? and tom you or anyone else may already know............
when i took out my mounts,, the pass side has a metal tube that the long bolt goes through.
this tube is not present on the pass side.
I might be mixing up which side is what way but i know for a fact that on my car, the actual hardware is different on each side.

look into that for me if you dont mind 4thqtr :bowdown:

im talking about the long bolt you have to remove.

---------
oh,, and by the way, have fun tightening the nut,, i think its like 22mm or what ever.  I just know that you gotta be patient.,, unless you have wratchet wrenches in a stubby series.

---
and another thing,, when you add your new mount to the u bracket assy, notice that your tiny little 12 or 10mm hex head bolts are the only thing keeping your motor from busting off the bracket.  Sure there is that big bolt/nut on the top but how about the little buggers that hold the mount to the bracket?
make you really think the next time your floor the gas

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #3 –
Lemme help make this easier for ya. In the pic below I highlighted around the only 3 bolts (per mount) you're gonna have to worry about in order to change the mounts out. The lowest one obviously goes to the lower mount bracket and is a through bolt, don't remember what size. That bolt runs through the mount, through the k-member, and screws into the threaded bung (right word?) on the back of the mount. The upper 2 bolts I highlighted (one is hiding behind the wire) bolt through the upper bracket and into the engine. The easiest way to do this is going to be by
1) Jack the engine up slightly, either by the balancer, or front of the oil pan. Only do this till you get "some" resistance. You only need it to keep the engine from moving down.
2) Unbolt the 2 bolts going in to the bottom of the engine block. This way you'll know if the engine want to come down, and can counter by jacking it up more.
3) Unbolt the through bolt connecting the lower mount bracket to the k-member.
4) This should give you enough play to slide the mounts and brackets out. They should go either direction, but will prolly move to the outside easier than teh inside. If not you can jack the engine up little by little till they slide out.

 Installation is reverse of removal obviously, and I suggest doing one side at a time. Just to keep on the safe side in case the engine slips or an earthquake hits or something! That should cover it, good luck!
(btw: guess where I got my pic from! :giggle: )
Temporarily Foxless? Ride the Bull...

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #4 –
The good news is the motor mounts are replaced!  But it didn't seem easy:

1) The motor mounts in the picture "look" different because it turned out the parts shop gave him one solid, and one liquid filled.  :mad:

2) Didn't seem like a good idea having one of each type in the car, so to get the job done in the day, we ended up putting two liquid filled ones in.  :disappoin

3) The darn passenger side bracket that bolts to the block, had one bolt holding it in, the other had the bolt head was cracked off by someone else in the past, with the remainder of the bolt flush in the block and impossible to drill out.  Of course it has to be the rear bolt that does not have clear access to work on.  :mad:

4) A closer look at this top bracket also revealed it had a crack, but we got it welded-up  in about an hour  :grinno:

jcassity, on 4thqtr's 88 XR7, both sides have the tube the long bolt goes thru, and both long bolts were identical.

Wouldn't been able to do the job as quickly without all your help, Thanks!  :bowdown:


V6->V8HO 88 LS
5.0L V8 87 XR7

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #5 –
Well, thanks to bondocougar's help (and transportation!) everything turned out fine. The tips posted came out really useful, even though we're still baffled at how you guys make everything sound so easy!  :crazy: . The bolts were a pain, but probably the hardest part was getting the mounts and brackets back in. We had to use the engine hoist to lift up the engine on the side we were aiming for, cause the jack just wasn't cooperating, and cram them in there around the exhaust manifolds.

We also figured out that the mount to the right is actually hydraulic - it was twisting like crazy when the mounts were being bolted back on. It was also briefly supporting the engine and got squished to the same height as the solid mount (the one on the left)  :giggle:  - pretty weak! If anyone else is replacing mounts, make sure yours don't have "layers" in the rubber part if you want the solid one. Apparently NAPA screwed up my order. I ended up using a set bondocougar had in his shed, which were also hydraulic but much stiffer than that py NAPA one.

Jcassity, to answer your question, both of the long bolts went through tubes. I don't know if the 5.0 vs. 3.8 K-members are any different, but comparing at least the bottom motor mount brackets side by side they are the same, so I'd think you should have two tubes as well? The only thing that differs is between the different sides of the brackets. One is a little bit wider than the other.

Taking the motor mounts off, both of them were obliterated (I'll have to post a pic). One of the bolts going into the block also sheared off, and part of the top mount was actually cracking. As Jcassity mentioned, the bottom part really is held on by only two smallish bolts. Combined with weak motor mounts, this REALLY does make you think twice before flooring the car or driving crazy...

Thanks again for the help guys.

EDIT: Oops, Joe beat me to it!
1984 Cougar Convertible
1988 Cougar XR-7

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #6 –
Good to hear things went well! With the exceptions of the minor hang-ups, but those are to be expected. Those tubes you're speaking of should be standard on all 5.0's, and i'm gonna say 3.8's as well. Pretty sure the k-member is identical between them. I'll look in my book tomorrow. The only thing i'd suggest is trying to find a way to get that bolt outta the block. I would not trust that the way it is, being as if you torque the engine enough you may risk breaking the other. Then again it may not. But I know what you mean by that bolt being hard to get to. Anywho glad we could help!
Temporarily Foxless? Ride the Bull...

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #7 –
Well I threw the idea out there that maybe I should've welded the other side to the block itself. I thought it was crazy, but the guy who fixed the crack also mentioned using a spot weld there. So I gave myself a pat on the back  :D

But I decided not to do it, since I just need to get this car past inspection and don't want to draw attention unnecessarily. I'm hoping the inspector doesn't see the missing bolt, and just sees that a new mount is in there.

For the long run, I really only drive the car on weekends and to Cat Jam  :giggle:  so I think I can hold out (say...4-5 years) until I just swap out the whole  engine.
1984 Cougar Convertible
1988 Cougar XR-7

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #8 –
and this tube i mention,,,,,,,, it is removable  ,on your car as well?

if so, that tells me im missing a part.

im still not sure what was hard.  remove top nut,
jack engine up
remove long bolt
rotate motor mount with bracket towards the wheel
remove whole assy.

maybe your car shrunk on ya

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #9 –
We didn't really play around with the tubing much, but it didn't appear removable. Seemed to be part of one piece.
1984 Cougar Convertible
1988 Cougar XR-7

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #10 –
How bad would the car ride/feel with the Solid type mounts instead of the hydro's?

    Is NAPA the only one's who carry the Solid rubber ones?


    Both of my mounts are shot, and I'm putting in Carb'ed 5 speed in my XR...so the solid ones are looking really good right now.

  The last T bird I had ,I changed the K member to a Mustang and had no trouble finding mounts...Don't want to do this again If I don't have too.
 

Re: Changing Motor Mounts - Need Tips

Reply #11 –
Quote from: revnkvn
How bad would the car ride/feel with the Solid type mounts instead of the hydro's?

    Is NAPA the only one's who carry the Solid rubber ones?


    Both of my mounts are shot, and I'm putting in Carb'ed 5 speed in my XR...so the solid ones are looking really good right now.

  The last T bird I had ,I changed the K member to a Mustang and had no trouble finding mounts...Don't want to do this again If I don't have too.


mounts wont effect your ride feel

many places carry the mounts, i knew what the problem what off the bat with his mounts here,, im not sure why i did not mention one was solid and the other was hydo.