Hi all-

My Lumina is in desperate need of new engine mounts. I had my power steering return line break, and I was going to have a shop repair it. They called me back and said I needed to come down and have a look at my car. I know the owner of this shop, so he lets me come in and have a peek if I want... One of the benefits of living in a smaller town I guess-

Anyway, my engine mounts and trans mounts are shot. The engine moves about 6 inches in any direction with the persuasion of a big pry bar. The front mount is not only broken, the rubber is gone too.

I haven't had a lot of experience with the FWD stuff, as far as this type of maintenance is concerned. I assume the process of actually changing the mount is not any more difficult than a RWD application, just that in this case its what you have to remove- Has anyone done this before, and if so, how hard was it? My FSM tells me it is a major PITA.

Engine is a 3.1-

Anybody have experience with this?

Andrew

My front engine/tranny mount needed to be replaced when I bought the car. I had the shop do it because it is the mount for both the tranny and the engine. It had a shock built into it and was not that easy to get at.

i dont know how the wbody mounts are up front for the 3.1's but the same applies get the car up on jack stands us a jack with a piece of wood under the trans/and/or oil pan to take the weight off the mount. bring plenty of pb blaster- a hammer/and or breaker bar to help you unbolt the factory mount. have fun if you can get it lined up loosen the dog bones on top so you can "rock" the engine into the proper position

From another thread-





My inquiry was nothing more than to see how much of a bitch it was going to be. That why if you read the damned original post I say-



Any person can say loosen the bolts and replace the mount. I was looking for someone who had done it before, to see what problems they encountered. Your addition was another BS reply.

Can't say I've actually done it, but if I were to do it...I would use one of these:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... _200309403

As far as your FSM saying it's a pain in the ass, it doesn't look too bad from here...

ENGINE MOUNT
1. Disconnect battery ground cable.
2. Remove mount retaining nuts from below cradle mounting bracket, Fig. 1.
3. Raise engine enough to provide clearance, then remove mount to engine bracket attaching nuts and the mount.
4. Reverse procedure to install, torquing nuts and bolts to specifications.



TRANSAXLE MOUNT
1. Disconnect battery ground cable.
2. Support transaxle with suitable jack.
3. Remove crossmember to mount attaching nuts, Fig. 2.
4. Remove bracket to transaxle attaching bolts.
5. Remove mount and bracket assembly.
6. Separate mount from bracket.
7. Reverse procedure to install, torquing nuts and bolts to specifications.



TOC Admin
Brando

andrew...so re-read what i posted
1.jack the car up
2.rest it on jack stands
3. spray the bolts with PB blaster wait 10minutes
4.more than likeley youll need a breaker bar
5.Loosen all the neccesary bolts
5. jack the trans pan upwith a block of wood on top of a jack
6. take the bolt out of the dog bones if you need anymore clearnce
7. grab a beer and thank the poeple on this thread for giving advice.
8. go back finish up reattach the mount and everything else
9.go have fun

... I know what the fucking process is, you are still missing the point.

Thanks for the ALLDATA breakdown brando- That is quite a bit better than my Chilton manual.

Update for those that are interested-

What a PITA. There is more wrong than I had originally thought. My power steering had been leaking more than I thought, and that was the primary cause of the deteriorated mounts. It actually deteriorated some of the bushings that the cradle bolts go through, so it's a good thing I had already planned on lowering the cradle. Its funny though, my CV boots on that side are like new, since they have been in an oil bath...

Anyway, the engine mounts are a major pain. Flat rate is 4 hours for the back one, and another 2 for the front, IIRC. Also found that I have an electrical problem in the steering column, and it is actually easier to replace the column than try to repair it.

Now that it is up on the lift, it was easy to see what I need to fix. Engine is getting resealed, new input seal on the transmission, possibly a new torque converter, because it had been feeling odd in the last couple months that I had been driving it, and I don't want to take it apart again, new bushings, new mounts, new power steering pump and hoses, replacing the oil sending unit, new steering column... it should be good as new after this!

Compression was good all around, and at 168000 miles, I was rather impressed. Readings were all in the 168-171psi range, which should be fine.

Will update again once I get it done, which should hopefully be tomorrow night-

Andrew