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Post by COMpulse on Dec 12, 2018 10:27:41 GMT -5
It still pulls a little to the left, but I've been too busy to get it fixed. :-\
I ordered a new lower motor mount. I'm sorta feeling like I think I know how to do this, but I'd love to hear some tips / suggestions.
Put car on jack stands, remove passenger wheel and splash shield. Remove the upper mounts (dog bones), unbolt the lower motor mount. So far so good. Attach the engine hoist. ..?.. Not sure if I need to disconnect air intake, coolant lines, detach AC compressor. Obviously I'd rather not tear everything apart. Not sure if I need to unbolt the trans mount. Lift engine a few inches to remove old mount, then insert new mount. Lower the engine. Put things back together. Test-drive.
If I ever replace an engine again, I swear I will be more thorough about the little things while the engine is out of the car. Mounts, plugs and cables, gaskets, etc.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Dec 12, 2018 10:48:25 GMT -5
Yeah, disassemble as little as possible to get the clear space to remove and reinstall. The Honda ones I've seen use bolts through them and not studs. That means when you remove the bolts, and maybe use a pry bar to move the motor a little to slide it out. Sometimes you need to think creatively to flip and rotate the mount a certain way to get it out. Generally the hoses and lines going to the engine have a little slack. Engines move in their mounts when under torque, changing RPM's, etc. Mounts have rubber bushings to allow such movement and dampen it out. The Acura I did had an active mount. It had a vacuum line attached to it. As long as you have a clear path to get it out, generally it not too bad. Just have patience, and think in 3D. You might have to turn the mount upside down after you remove the bolts to get it out.
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Post by COMpulse on Dec 12, 2018 11:51:05 GMT -5
A picture of the mount is here: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CRGZ5K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1It looks like I will only need to lift a couple inches to get over the studs. I know engines move around a bit and everything should have a little slack. I figure the hoist will be better than the jack, since the hoist will allow the engine to move where it wants to with things still attached. I'll disconnect the air intake since that's pretty easy and has very little slack. What about the trans mount? I feel like it should be okay if the engine is only moving a few inches. Here's another thought.. What if I remove the engine cradle and mount together? I think I would only have to hoist the engine a tiny bit to transfer the weight of the engine to the hoist. The cradle bolts to the sides of the engine block. It's always good to have a backup plan..
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Post by revheadkev on Dec 12, 2018 17:30:57 GMT -5
That's what I did on my Xtrail when I had to replace the front and rear engine mounts. For the front mount I used a jack to lift the weight off the front mount and removed it with the sub-brace, replaced the mount and then put it back in with the sub-brace attached. For the rear mount I had to unbolt one side of the steering rack to allow enough room to pivot the rear mount over its mounting studs and slide it out. Different car I know and different mounts but maybe you could look to see if there are similar ways for you to do yours without removing too much. The less you disturb, the less there is to worry about later.
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Post by COMpulse on Dec 12, 2018 19:11:33 GMT -5
Awesome.
I probably shouldn't call that piece the cradle. It's not. I think the mounts rest on the cradle. "Sub-brace" sounds believable. Or even generic "mounting bracket".
I think I will eye-ball removing the mount and the bracket together. In theory, I should just have to unbolt the mount from the bottom, lift the engine a hair, unbolt the bracket, and then I should be able to slide the two up enough to get the clearance needed. Replace the mount on the bracket, reattach to the block, and lower the engine. We'll see this weekend.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Dec 12, 2018 20:33:34 GMT -5
Yeah, here is what I had to deal with on the Acura. Part Number 3 is the mount. It bolts to bracket Part Number 10, which bolts to the engine. You can see bolts (Part 34) go down through the mount into the sub-brace of the car. So, take the nut off the top of the mount, take 4 bolts out of the mount, and 3 bolts out of the bracket bolted to the engine. I think then the two separated enough to get them out. I think the one in the rear was a little tougher, but not bad. Yeah, from that sketch, it looks as if the cradle is loose from the engine, the mount is loose from the cradle, and the mount was loose from the sub brace, that whole assembly would kind of fold and separate. You might have to lift the engine less than you think. While you have it lifted, check any other mounts for cracks. Make sure to take note of all the bolts you remove. They might not all be the same length. Make sure the right bolt goes back in the right hole. Nothing sucks more than one bolt being a 1/4" longer than another, and you try to put it in the wrong hole and it bottoms out. Then you tend to apply more force and snap it off or strip it. Also be careful as Engine Hoists, aka Cherry Pickers, don't lift in a straight line. Harbor Freight sells a 1000 Lb capacity Engine Support Bar for $75 that might help you. It's the long red bar on the shelf in the upper right corner of the pic below. I bought it to hold up the engine of my Accord while I changed the transmission. Or you need one of these: The Yellow Gantry crane in the back picks stuff up in a straight line. But that's probably a bit extreme for your situation. It made short work of changing the fuel filler hose on my friends Ranger. Six big bolts hold the bed on. Take out the front four, loosen the back two. Lift the front of the bed. Sit on my little rolling stool and change the hose, no problem. I did brace a couple 2x4's to the floor under the bed before I put my head under it. NEVER put your body, or any part thereof, under a suspended load.
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Post by COMpulse on Dec 17, 2018 9:23:49 GMT -5
So I picked up an Engine Support Bar. Sweet.
Got under the car only to realize that the bracket I was expecting to see was from the old engine, and the new engine has a different bracket. I thought I had swapped them before installing the engine. Anyway, the bracket that is on the engine bolts to the bottom of the block instead of the sides, and I couldn't access the bolts well enough to get them to turn. The bracket didn't look great either. So after mucking with it for a couple hours I put everything back together. The motor mount bolts were loose so I tightened them up.
Noticed I've got some wiggle in some of my lug nut studs.
I think I'll just give the shop some more money.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Dec 17, 2018 12:31:45 GMT -5
Well, that sucks.
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Post by COMpulse on Oct 7, 2019 11:43:34 GMT -5
I gave the old engine block to a scrapper today.
I think that brings this story to an end.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Oct 7, 2019 13:08:47 GMT -5
It's not really done until you sell the car, is it?
I assume you didn't have a way to haul the old engine to the metal scrapper place? Or just no desire?
I'm always collecting metal. I keep a pile in the garage until it bothers me, then I take it down the road to the recycler. I then also take all my aluminium cans and steel cans in one trip.
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Post by COMpulse on Nov 28, 2022 15:55:38 GMT -5
I sold the GTP last year (or maybe the year before) for $2000. A friend bought it and gave it to his girlfriend to drive. She loves it. He and his brothers have had numerous Grand Prix and other 3800 cars, and they work on cars too. And I still get to see it on occasion.
So this story did finally end.
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