How to change engine mounts for OEM mounts

[pixelplay]

I have finally fitted all the new engine mounts and thought I better share how it went.
I began by ordering new aftermarket bushes for the two top engine mounts and also a new bush for the lower front mount. The front base mount was an upgraded solid rubber one (evo mount) that was to replace the older style insert.


The aftermarket bushes for the top cost $65au each and the newer evo style front roll stopper bush was $71.50au and it’s a race spec insert.
For the rear bottom transmission mount I had to order a bracket with the bush already in it, as there was no aftermarket alternative available. The genuine rear roll stopper bracket was $110au

I began the job by removing the bush from one of the top mounts and it was not very hard to remove using a hammer and an old metal punch I had in my tool box. Once it was moving it came out easy enough. Others have also done this job on the forum here and had good advice on how to remove the old bushes.

I managed to fit one of the aftermarket inserts into the top bracket after removing the old one but I pressed it in the wrong way around and I simply could not get enough pressure onto the insert.

oldMounts.jpg

It was a total prick of a job to get the new bush into the housing even though I had heated the housing and frozen the insert. I got it about half way and then simply could not get it in any further.

My stupid method involved using a mallet to smack the bush into the hole and it was a total screw-up to say the least. After losing the battle at the half way mark, I gave up, got on my pushbike and rode to my storage shed to get my puny but useful vice.

The vice made forcing the bush into the housing a lot more simple but my vice was a little small for the job and I had already ruined the bush by hammering it. I also made the dick of the week mistake and pressed it in in the wrong direction. Duh

The short of the story is that the housing needs to be heated really hot (A handheld blow touch does the job nicely) and the insert still requires lots of pressure to get it pressed in. You can do it with a big vice, my vice was simply too small to do the job effectively.

I had by this point decided that a shop should be able to press the parts for me and rang a number of engine places to see if I could find a place willing to do the job, they all either didn’t respond to my requests or were clueless over the phone or simply wanted too much to do the job. After this I gave up and ordered the OEM brackets with inserts from Egars Mitsubishi. It was worth it and made the rest of the job a lot simpler. The top mounts cost me $520au for the left and right upper mounts.

I guess your now asking yourself why I bothered with OEM mounts instead of Nolathane or some other type of mount, believe me I was at this point asking myself the same questions. The simple answer is that I want comfort in the cabin when driving without loads of road noise. I was concerned I would not get this if I went down the Nolathane route.

The two top mounts were simple enough to fit once I had the OEM ones however I did have to use a jack under the engine to make things line up. With a bit of messing around I managed to get the bolts aligned and fitted to the new brackets.

newUpperEngineMount.jpg newUpperTransmissionMount.jpg

I then unbolted the center bracket that sits under the car and removed it so I could get at the front roll stopper. I was shocked to fit the bolt that goes through the center of the roll stopper bush was much smaller than the diameter of the bush center hole. Not just by a little bit but by a lot. I even though maybe the bracket was wrong because of all of this. But its normal.

incorect.jpg

It seemed to me a crappy design as it can move around inside the insert and sort of defeats the purpose of being a roll stopper. Mitsi must have come to this conclusion also as the newer evo insert does not have this issue but it is more challenging to fit.

The center of the rubber bush was totally sheared off and loose inside the housing. I cut the rest of the insert out with a hacksaw and after that it just fell out quite nicely. It was not as easy as the first one I removed on the upper bracket that’s why I cut it out.

I heated the housing and then pressed the new insert into the bracket using my vice. I had to work my way around it a little at a time slowly pressing it in. I also used wd40 on the inner ring and this also helped. The new insert is a little wider than the old one and you will notice it if you go down this route also.

newEvoMount.jpg

The rear roll stopper was next on my list and it a total cock of an item to get at. You end up having the remove lots of hose and pluming to get at it and even after that you will find the bottom bolts not the most easy to see or get to. Expect multiple trips under and over the car when removing and fitting the bracket.

newRearMount.jpg

To get the center bolt to line up you will need to use a jack and raise the box or engine until it all lines up correctly.

You will now find that getting the new front roll stopper fitted also becomes a bit of a mission as it also does not line up correctly. To make it all line up I had to partly fit the rear bolts but not tighten them, and then with no bolts in the front and just the rubbers under the front bar jack it all until I finally managed to make it all line up.

frontEvoMount.jpg

For me it was a difficult job and took a lot of time to line all this up. Once the center bolt was in the front roll stopper I was then able to fit the front bolts and tighten everything.

Some of the bolts require the car to be off the jack and on its wheel before you correctly tighten them so be aware of this.
All up it was a reasonably time consuming job but kinda satisfying once completed.

I will let you all know how it drives once the engine has been desludged.

These are the removed collapsed mounts for your viewing amusement.

rearMount.jpg transmissionMount.jpg

[daneosaur]

Great write up pixelplay, I have installed both OEM and polyurethane but only the tranny, driver side and front roll stopper. I though I could get away with not replacing the rear mount with the polyurethane mount but now it has a terrible shudder under load which was not there previous to installing the polyurethane mounts. How long did it take you to get the rear out?

[MarkSanne]

For future search references: this how-to I wrote a couple of years ago might help too with some more pictures of the actual process:
http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthr...t-for-urethane

[pixelplay]

They really all need to be changed together and also need to be of the same type not some rubber and some poly ones. They wear fast and cause other issues if they are not all the same. The rubber oem ones are quieter but the feedback from the polyurethane mounts is better and they offer less roll. The rear is a pain to get to and by far the worst mount because two of the bolts seem to require some sort of multi-atachment on your wrist that none of us are born with. I ended up using long sockets and had to do it by feel when remounting it. The steering rack is the think that gets in the way and makes the job more difficult. You have to work mostly from under the car the get all the lower bolts out and then from on top to get the main mount bolt out and back in. You should allow a good half day as you will need plenty of breaks during this frustrating job and also it requires quite a bit of turbo plumbing removal if you work from on top.

[Davezj]

i second this great write up and link to the polly mounts you need to buy to do the job.

there is also a thread here
http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthr...t=polly+mounts
dicsussing the merits of polly mount inserts at great length.

[swinks]

Rear one mount can be accessed from top of the engine bay. Remove intake (airbox, throttle body and intake plenum) and you will get pretty fair access, long and flexi extensions will do a job.
Rear poly mount has 6 supporting holes for some reason (Mitsi Eclipse owners may know ). Those should be filled with alluminium bars (13mm diameter, 45mm ish long, not sure what exact length). If polybush insert fitted with empty holes (as factory), then within 1-2 years mount will collapse.

[Davezj]

i just thought i would point out that this is a bit of a sweeping statement,
i think you may be the only person that has experienced this issue, personally i have not heard of anyone else having the same issue as you with the rear gear box mount. but i could be worng.
in all honesty, it could just be the power you were running, twisting the engine backwards and forwards. you were running more than most.
there are a few members local to me that have had them fitted in standard form for many years with no issues. but we are only running 300-320bhp.

[scott.mohekey]

A few guys in aussie have experienced it too. I think its due to the heat back there, being right next to the rear turbo.

[swinks]

IIRC peter thomson repoted this issue as well. You won't notice damage to insert itself till you remove mount from bracket, so maybe few more people still driving with misshaped mount not knowing that.

[Humpty's Revenge]

Rear one mount can be accessed from top of the engine bay. Remove intake (airbox, throttle body and intake plenum) and you will get pretty fair access, long and flexi extensions will do a job.
Rear poly mount has 6 supporting holes for some reason (Mitsi Eclipse owners may know ). Those should be filled with alluminium bars (13mm diameter, 45mm ish long, not sure what exact length). If polybush insert fitted with empty holes (as factory), then within 1-2 years mount will collapse.

i just thought i would point out that this is a bit of a sweeping statement,
i think you may be the only person that has experienced this issue, personally i have not heard of anyone else having the same issue as you with the rear gear box mount. but i could be worng.
in all honesty, it could just be the power you were running, twisting the engine backwards and forwards. you were running more than most.
there are a few members local to me that have had them fitted in standard form for many years with no issues. but we are only running 300-320bhp.

I think it's a very valid point made by Tomasz !!

What harm will it make just to fit the bars before fitting ?

[Davezj]

I think it's a very valid point made by Tomasz !!

What harm will it make just to fit the bars before fitting ?

it will stiffen the mount up more than intended, what effect this will have i don't know i have never done it. but i would imagine it would transmit more vibration through to the cabin of the car, i don't know this for a fact just an assumption as you are removing the intended compliance from the mount. maybe one the affected could enlighten us as to the before and after effects of this change in compliance.

however the simplest thing to do is buy a solid mount in the first place if you are concerned. there must be one available through energy suspension they seem to have most mounts in most sizes, you just have to look at there universal range of polly inserts it is massive.
you have to remember though energysuspension.com is not the same place as energysuspensionparts.com, energysuspension.com is a supplier and energysuspensionparts.com is distributer.

[Davezj]

A few guys in aussie have experienced it too. I think its due to the heat back there, being right next to the rear turbo.

That is interesting, as i say, i had not heard of any other issues, but it nice to know for future reference.

[Davezj]

IIRC peter thomson repoted this issue as well. You won't notice damage to insert itself till you remove mount from bracket, so maybe few more people still driving with misshaped mount not knowing that.

i have always used this view
http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthr...l=1#post687603
from the wheel arch to see my rear mount, and from this angle you can see any deformation. due to the fact that if one side collapses the other side must stretch.

[swinks]

it will stiffen the mount up more than intended, what effect this will have i don't know i have never done it. but i would imagine it would transmit more vibration through to the cabin of the car, i don't know this for a fact just an assumption as you are removing the intended compliance from the mount. maybe one the affected could enlighten us as to the before and after effects of this change in compliance.

No, nope and no... Wrong assumptions Dave.
No difference "before" and "after". If you running the hardest polybush compound then doing as I described it's a must. Mine insert collapsed after 3 years of use, where other 3 inserts remained in as-new condition, but I was running the hardest possible mixture. Further 2 years I done with alloy bar modification, and no difference noticed and mount remained intact.
IMO, those hollow inserts make sense if used with soft polybush inserts (closest to a stock rubber hardness). That if we want to retain some engine movement. With hard stiff setting (rally or fast track use) this doesn't make sense because no engine movement is desired for best gear feedback and response. That if we are talking about manual gearbox with sharp short shifting.

[Davezj]

I don't believe there was any hardness selection for the polly bushes purchased from energy suspension. Only a colour selection. Black or red.

So I don't know what compound they are.

So I am not sure what anyone else has been buying.

From what I can remember the polly bushes were not that hard.

Thomasz, are you saying you did not buy the energy suspension polly bushes that were linked to in the other thread and boght a different compound of polly insert from the majority of us. eg not the polly mounts that are linked to in the threads above. if so this could be the difference, as you say you went for the super hard compound. i don't think this is what the rest of us have. so this might be the reason, in you case. i am not gneralising about any others.