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Engine mounts... replacement needed..

Kejtar

PostMaster General
NAXJA Member
Well, my drivers side engine mount seems cooked..... kind of hardened and falling appart. The passenger one is in great condition as well as the tranny one (I saw teh tranny one 3 weeks ago or so as I replaced my crossmember)... is that normal? It's a 98XJ with 115K miles......

Next question... who makes decent mounts? SOmeoen mentioned the Kragen or AutoZone replacements being decent enough a while back I think...

Thanks
Kejtar
P.S. Also any hints for quick and painless replacement?
 
Kejtar,

I replaced mounts in my 88 XJ 3 years ago. I talked to the parts guys at the dealer and they told me if a car is in for service there if one is bad/all 3 get changed out.

I got a mount at advance auto parts and the rubber did not fill the steal banjo housing. I returned it, went to the dealer and picked up a pair of moter mounts, very nice looking!

The next weekend I installed a new transmission mount. I will tell you unless you have a brand new transmission mount a visual will not tell you if it good or not. I thought my rear was good until I put my old one and it side by side on the table. I had lost an inch in height of the transmission mount.

When you change the engine mounts you should do one side at a time. When you jack up the engine put the jack under the bell housing, not the oil pan.

It is also helpful if you jack up the XJ first, pull off the wheels and put the chassis on jack stands. If you don't do this then you will jack up the whole vehicle until the suspension is at the top of it travel then it will begin to lift the engine. If you keep the wheels on you will need a 6 ft step ladder to get into the engine compartment - okay a 4 ft step ladder.

Make sure to get the bolt torques form the factory manual and use a torque wrench. In the early 90s Jeep put out a TSB revising the trough bolt torques. Also make sure the bolts for the mount brackets are tight, there have been posts of them loosening up over time.

HTH

Martin
 
Hey Remi:
I went to AutoZone to get theirs about $21. ea. and thought they were loose & sloppy so I passed & went to the dealer....... theirs also looked loose & sloppy but I went with them at twice the price each. AZ probably would be just fine & I think they have a life time warranty (not sure). Let your wallet be your guide.
I'd replace both sides at least.....& maybe the trans. also.
My motor mounts went at 75k to 80k. & the trans. mount earlier.
See Ya !
Curt (aka Xtreme XJ)
 
I replaced the factory mounts at 85K thinking preventative maintenance. I used the AutoZone mounts. 15k miles later, the drivers side mount is torn in two under the sleeve. I put the original back in until the MORE mounts get here.
You get what you pay for.
 
I've been using either L&S, or Anchor for years with good results. When it comes to the transmisison mount, don't go my just a look - give it a poke with your finger. It should not feel soft at all - if it does, it needs replacing. I say to check that one special since it's the one that gets the worst exposure of the lot. Best bet - if you change one, do all three.

If you go to ploy mounts, be prepared for some extra vibration and road noise - it's the tradeoff you get for the extra endurance. They're good, but there is a tradeoff....

5-90
 
I put a set of the M.O.R.E. motor mounts in last fall. They're expensive, but I'll cheerfully do it again. Much stouter than stock, and can be rebuilt (inserts are Moog K3131 lower control arm bushings!)

Downside is that they are stiffer than stock rubber mounts, but certainly less than poly.

ChiXJeff
 
I agree, all 3 in one swoop is the way to do it. I did all three of mine in the XJ last summer, with Advance Auto rubber parts. They have held up fine...we'll see how this season treats them. MORE mounts look sweet, maybe for one of the other ones :)

I had to pull the oil filter neck off my older model, but your newer HO may offer clearance to get the bolt out. Depending how you plumbed your home brewery/K&N, that may need to be moved. The Renix 4.0 needs the airbox out for access. One mount at a time worked fine for me...I did the tranny mount last.

I did mine while swapping alternators! while I was in there and late for work anyway LOL (threw the battery on the charger, pulled the dead alt, then spied the hagged out mounts) said "Hmmmm... I gots me some of those around here somewhere" then just did it before putting in a replacement alt/belt. That left room to maneuver in front of the RHS mount.

It wasn't a bad job...the oil mess was worst part...good time to do a new filter & fill if you are close to due.
 
What is the exact size of your tires and rims?

I replaced my driver side mount in about ten minutes. I jacked the engine up a bit with my floor jack and used an air wrench with a long extension on my socket to remove the bottom bolt. The top bolt came out easy with a rachet. I was amazed how quickly I changed this engine mount out.
 
well... maybe I will do the tranny mount after all... not sure now, but when I replaced the crossmember it looked good :) :) I'll see....

In any case, the mounts are in (I went with oem) and the drivers one was pretty easy and the passenger one could have been easier: I had a bear of a time getting the bolt through and the mount aligned... but after 10 minutes of cussing and swearing as I banged my knuckles in and it went through :)

Kejtar
 
I can't believe I have'nt heard of anyone changing just one mount to poly. It's an old street racer trick to change the driver side mount to solid and leave the passenger side rubber. The driver side takes almost all the abuse, it's the "lift" side of the motor, tries to pull the mount apart. Yes running this setup will have more vibration than stock, but not as much as running both poly's. To me it's a sweet compromise. I haven't done it yet, but I'll buy the unused "bombproof" type mount from someone if they wanna try it too.
 
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