Lower motor mount replacement?

After the dealer got done fixing the A/C compressor and condenser in my
wife's 92 SL1, he suggested that both motor mounts probably ought to get
replaced soon. I won't disagree - the top one (which I replaced 6
or 7 years ago) is visibly collapsed, and I'm willing to admit the bottom
one is too.

It was fairly painless to put the top one on before, and I don't see
any problem with it. But how do I do the bottom mount? To tell you
the truth, I'm not sure I've even seen it, even though I've replaced
a lot of stuff under the hood. Is it under the transaxle, or in the
middle of the car between the cradle and the engine? Is it something
I need a real engine hoist for, or is it just another case of "jack up
the engine"?

If it involves the cradle, I'd like to do it at the same time I fix
the oil pan gasket leak that I've had for the past half year or so.
(But to do that I have to take off the exhaust manifold... I feel like
the "swallowed a fly" song is taking over my car).

Anyone have a suggestion for non-performance non-OEM motormounts?
NAPA, Pep boys, JC Whitney, etc? The dealer wanted $170 for the top
motor mount last time I asked, and that's a lot for a couple of pieces of
steel and rubber. I swear it was like $40 7 or 8 years ago.

Tim.

 

It was fairly painless to put the top one on before, and I don't see

Its not a bad job. You probably haven't seen it since you can't really see it
from under the car(the cradle blocks it). Get access to it by pulling the
passenger tire and the splash shields. Once the splash shields come off its
right there in front of you. Put a jack with a block of wood under the oil pan
to support the engine, and take the 2 bolts out of the mount. You will have to
wriggle it around a little bit to get it out, and it will help to jack the
engine up a little. I just did the job last night on my car actually.

The mount I put on the last time I did the job, I got at NAPA, and it was made
by anchor. Looked like a piece of crap, and performed like a piece of
crap(didn't last very long). So this time I went to AutoZone, and ended up with
the same exact mount made by Anchor that is a piece of crap. I would suggest
trying to get a mount that isn't made by Anchor.

Jamie

 

What a name brand!
It gets its name not because it anchors your engine, it gets its name
because its better as a boat anchor.

 

Oh, OK. I remember seeing something that obviously used to be rubber
there when I did the tensioner, but didn't connect it with the fact that
it's a motor mount :-(.

Seeing as how my oil pan gasket leak is right above it, and the oil can't
be good for the mount, maybe I ought to accelerate the oil pan gasket job
so I can then do the motor mounts.

For some reason I always assumed the lower mount had to be on the driver's
side of the car.

Thanks for the comments about the crappiness of that aftermarket motor
mount... maybe the Saturn ones aren't so bad after all.

Tim.

 

Oh, OK. I remember seeing something that obviously used to be rubber

I wouldn't be too worried about an oil leak hurting the motor mount.......

You might check with Joey over at 6th planet, which is what I should have done
when I just replaced this mount. He'll set you up with a good quality, can't
even tell its been used factory piece for a good price.

 

I bought both upper and lower motor mounts from Saturn yesterday ($90 each!
They were like $40 last time I got one...).

The upper mount was pretty much completely collapsed, and after taking it
off I found that the rubber was pretty much broken off too.

The new upper mount, where the studs from the engine go through it, was
thicker than the previous one. And the previous one was thicker than the
original one (so much so that I had to buy new studs when I did that one).
So maybe they're beefing these up as time goes by.

Because the upper mount was so collapsed, the bottom mount was pretty
much sitting on the cradle, where the oil and associated grunge was
accumulating. The rubber was extremely swollen and distorted, I assume
from being saturated in oil.

Even though I haven't fixed that leak yet, I put a new bottom one in
because with the top mount in, the bottom mount was no longer being
pressed down into the cradle.

It's a world of difference after putting the new ones in. No more
seeing everything in the rear-view mirror shake up and down, no more
clunk when I accelerate as the motor twists around, etc. I had actually
gotten used to that clunk! I was a little confused when I stepped down
on the gas and the car just moved without any clunking!

I might try that... but it'll have to be a lot of savings before I decide
that used mounts are good enough.

I'd really like to see a non-dealer source for good affordable motor mounts
(meaning, say, $30 each). I'll probably go through another couple
in the next fifteen years that we own this car . I figure that somewhere
around the year 2020 it'll be time to get a new car.

Tim.