rickb928

This is an account of my experience replacing the front and rear motor mounts on my 2004 Lancer OZ.. For some of you, this will be proof that some people really shouldn't be repairing their own vehicle. For others, a cautionary tale warning you of the challenges. The rest, please don't mock me excessively.

I knew the rear mount was bad, I could see the engine flopping around and the transmission mount plate was banging around in there. Front mount looked solid. I waited a few weeks before tackling this. A mistake, fix mounts quickly. So I bought a part off eBay, form a reputable seller. Another mistake, buy parts based on manufacturer, not seller, reputation.

Looking into the FSM, it showed removing the front roll mount, center member, then rear roll mount. Simple enough, I jacked it up, put in the stands, and started unbolting the rear mount. I thought I could skip the center member. Wrong.

There are four bolts holding the rear mount. The rear two are virtually impossible to get to with the center member in place, so out it cam, crud and all. I find that the front roll mount is ruined also - should have fixed the rear one sooner. I'll pay more for this one locally, but it is in stock. I cleaned up the center member, pretty filthy. I bought this car knowing it had a rocker cover leak, and found later the bolts were terribly loose. No gasket problem, but plenty of oil seepage and it's awful under the engine. Now that the center member is out, off to get the rear mount out of there.

Not so fast. I can get the bolts off the mount, but I can only get one of three off the transmission mount. I finally find a note online that leads me to taking off the battery (too close to the battery with wrenches=sparks), air intake, box, and MAF/etc. I clean up a bit, and find out the bottom latch on the air filter box is broken, which I suspected. I did not fix this yet, but I will later, and post that experience then. Now I can see the tranny mount and it is off like a prom dress. I pull the mount up through that gaping hole.

And I get the new mount in. Three bolts, fine. The forth bolt, left rear, is ahrd to reach, so I loosely fit the other bolts to line things up.

Two hours later, I cannot get that bolt to thread. I try all I can, and give up for the night.

Next afternoon, I go back in, first with a cable tie on the washer to hold the bolt, and cannot get it threaded on. I take off two bolts, try again, nope. Finally I take off the other bolt, get this &*(#$ bolt threaded in, and go for the right rear bolt which is easy to thread on by hand. Nope. It won't thread. What?

I take the new mount out, grab some paper an pencil and make a template of the bolt holes. They do not match the original. Seriously? the left rear bolt is way off, almost 6mm too far inboard. The right rear isn't dead on either. Front bolts are fine relative to each other.

Second lesson - buy quality parts. I bet this was crossed from other Lancers. I will be telling the seller. eBay won't let me change my feedback, which is fine, sort of.

So I first overdrilled and then slotted the mount - a die grinder and small abrasive bit.

What had by now taken me over seven hours to figure out now took me 15 minutes to complete. I should have checked the part in the beginning, and saved myself all that. But it is not quite over yet.

Getting the tranny mount back on (slip in the bolt that goes behind the mount first, and force the engine forward a bit to allow it to go in) wasn't too bad. It was now that I found out that the mount also has another problem - the center axle ( is that the right name for it) that the bolt goes through to connect the mount to the tranny plate was too wide to fit into the plate. Out come both parts, and and I file it down to a snug fit. Back in go the parts, which leads the the third challenge.

As I force the engine down to mate the parts, it binds. I see that the axle is crooked, and lift the engine up. This takes several tries and finding the right point to jack it up and separate the parts - which are stuck pretty good. Finally, got it. More carefully drop the engine, and this time it mates.

Now, before I go further, I reinstall the center member and mate up the front mount, not too bad. It's a bear, however, to rock the engine just right to get the rear mount lined up, but I do. Tighten everything, and it's fine. Put the intake back in, the battery, and drive test is successful.

Total time: 11 hours. Parts cost $125. Worth it - I bet a shop would charge me $800-1000 for this. One skinned finger, some chafes, very sore neck and ribs from wiggling in and out from under, and craning to look at stuff for hours.

Some notes: You need 14mm and 17mm sockets/wrenches for this, 10mm for the air box and battery cables, a breaker bar or whatever to move the engine around. A sic-point combination 17mm is handy for the tranny plate bolt behind the mount, it is tight.

You are not getting a torque wrench on the rear mount bolts any way I can see.

Jackstands are mandatory here, you are moving the engine around and it will fall off a jack if you don't use stands. Please don't die under your car.

Buy from reputable parts manufacturers, and check that they actually will fit.

This was almost beyond my skills. I'm rethinking changing the timing belt myself, but I really just need a tool to hold the crank pulley, and I'll post that if I make one that works.

Automatic 51

iTrader: (2)

I just did my rear mount as well. I took my intake off as well to get to the bolts on the rear of the trans and one of the bolts on the bottom of the mount. Much swearing was done that day. If I have to do it again I know it'll go smoother the second time.