Motor Mount DISASTER -- Neep opinions please!

OK, well last night I went to install a new trans mount and new motor mounts on my 1994.

Trans mount went perfect, exactly as expected and was done in about 25 minutes.

So I left the T-case drop out to make the motor mounts go in easier, and had both old mounts out and new ones in in another hour or so. Took a break and declared victory because all I had left to do was torque everything down.

While tightening the driver's side mount, I got the nut about halfway tight (probably 1/16" to 1/8" left to go before it would start actually getting tight), and the damn stud in the brand new motor mount starts spinning. Knowing that that mount was now trash, I tried to remove the nut. No luck, the stud is still spinning. I figured getting the old ones out was going to be the hard part, I can't beleive that I couldn't even tighten the new ones wihtout the studs spinning.

I tried every method I could think of to get some pressure on the stud to stop it from turning, jacking the engine back up a bit, prying under the mount with my favorite huge screwdriver nicknamed "big ugly", impacting the nut back off -- nothing.

Now I'm stuck with a motor mount that is only half tight, and no way to tighten it or loosen it. I gave up for the night at that point.

Any ideas? I am thinking that if I jack the engine up then MAYBE I can just barely get a sawzall blade underneath the mount to cut the stud. Short of that, maybe I can get a grinder in from underneath the engine to grind the nut completely off the stud? After that, all I can think of is to take out the crossbolt, and jack the engine up as high as I can and literally attack the whole freaking POS mount with an angle grinder.

Anyone have any other thoughs?

And why the heck did this happen in the first place? I mean the mounts were cheap parts store mounts but this is rediculous. Is there any chance the studs were threaded with metric when the nuts were SAE, or vice versa?

I'm going back to try and attack it tonight, anyone have any good ideas for me or have this happen to them before? I need the XJ up and running ASAP of course....please help.

TIA for any ideas...

Is there enuff room to get vise grips on the stud? If so hold the stud while turning the nut. If not got a welder? If there is room maybe you can temp tack the stud in place.

mcnamaag said:

Is there enuff room to get vise grips on the stud? If so hold the stud while turning the nut. If not got a welder? If there is room maybe you can temp tack the stud in place.

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Unfortunately, there would not even be enough room to get needle nose vice grips on the stud under the mount....a single sawzall blade is about the room l have underneath it (1/16" or so)....which at least leaves me better off than if it were fully tight...I wonder if there is enough room next to the intake and exhaust manifolds for me to even fit a sawzall in the bay with the blade under the mount.

I do have a welder. Unfortunately, with the amount of space I have, all that getting in there with a welder is going to do is tack the mount itself to the frame rail....I won't be able to get in there far enough to reach the stud....

What about holding the stud from the top and using a wrench. Only downside is you have to be carefull not to damage the threads.

mcnamaag said:

What about holding the stud from the top and using a wrench. Only downside is you have to be carefull not to damage the threads.

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The stud, fom the top, is INSIDE the rubber on the motor mount I think....only way that's happenning is by cutting the whole rest of the mount away...which I may or may not be able to do because of the spacial restrictions and the size of a 4" angle grinder....

do have access to an impact gun? you should be able to spin the nut faster than the stud will spin, no problem.

tomcat said:

do have access to an impact gun? you should be able to spin the nut faster than the stud will spin, no problem.

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Did that, the stud just spun.

It's now so loose I can rock the whole thing (the stud itself) back and forth...I tried to jack the whole motor up to get it to finally just pop out but no such luck...

Can you get a nut splitter in there?

Most motor factors will stock them if you don't have one.


I have a set, but they get very little use, Murphy's law clearly states that when you need it, you won't have room...

If you could jam the stud against the hole in the part of the unibody the mount attaches to that might slow the spinning down enough to get the nut off. Maybe loosen the passenger side mount and jack or attempt to force the engine to the drivers side a bit (might help to loosen the transmission mount) to force the stud against the hole.

Remove the nuts / bolts on both sides and jack the engine up enough to create a space between the motor mount and the unibody mount point to get a vice grip on it. Or unbolt the driver side bracket from the block so you can try the same thing - make a space btwn the motor mount & unibody mount point. Removing the driver side bracket completely if you can could give you enough room to get a sawzall or even a section of hacksaw blade in there (or something with a 2 or 3 inch cutting wheel on it or whatever it takes to reach the stud - dremmel? air tool? drill?) Don't forget to support the engine with a stand or blocks or something.

Try jamming a chisel or similar between the tube that holds the rubber bushing and the top of the stud to keep the stud from turning.

Who is the manufacturer of the motor mount?

It won't help you get it off but may save someone else by allowing them to check threads on stud before installation.

Boatwrench said:

Who is the manufacturer of the motor mount?

It won't help you get it off but may save someone else by allowing them to check threads on stud before installation.

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Mail ordered a couple months ago. I beleive they were partsamerica/autozone.

For what it's worth, I will NEVER EVER EVER order parts from them again.
Advance and Autozone stock crap.

For what it's worth, it's ohbvious to me now that they had SAE threads on them instead of metric. Either that, or they were so rough that they needed to have a die run over them before installation, which is lame as hell.

The Napa (Balkamp) ones I picked up last night worked GREAT.

sjkimmel99 said:

Remove the nuts / bolts on both sides and jack the engine up enough to create a space between the motor mount and the unibody mount point to get a vice grip on it. Or unbolt the driver side bracket from the block so you can try the same thing - make a space btwn the motor mount & unibody mount point. Removing the driver side bracket completely if you can could give you enough room to get a sawzall or even a section of hacksaw blade in there (or something with a 2 or 3 inch cutting wheel on it or whatever it takes to reach the stud - dremmel? air tool? drill?) Don't forget to support the engine with a stand or blocks or something.

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Pretty much what I eneded up doing, excpet there was not enough room for even needle nose vice grips.

Removed the other two bolts....and jacked the engine up as far as I could.

I was then able to spin the motor mount about 30-40* (with the side furthest toward the driver side going to the rear).

Bent the motor mount up with "big ugly".

Removed the ECU/PCM from the driver's side fender.

Was able to get a sawzall in there.

5 minutes later, the mount was out. But of course the nut rolled somewhere that I couldn't find it.

They are M10X1.5, for the search engine.

The new Napa/Balkamp mounts went in great, tightened up great. Everything is done. I'm happy

Thanks SO much to all for the help, I'm really glad that my plan #1 worked out OK. Hopefully this thread helps someone out, by steering them away from BS POS motherfawker Vatozone motor mounts. I have never seen such garbage. I would have gone with MORE torsion rubber, but have done them in several XJ's and I really really don't like the vibes they give off in a daily driver.

Thanks again!

I just noticed this as I need to replace my Vatozone Motor Mount that I installed about 6 months back... didn't have to problems you had, but they're obviously cr@p w/a capitol "C"!!!

So are the Napa Motor Mounts a pretty good part, comparable to the Jeep OE part? I noticed when I replaced the OE mounts w/the Vatozone parts the first time, the rubber looked much less 'beefy' or thick and I was a bit concerned, but they went on and (now looking back) temporarily fixed my worn mount problem.

I'm tempted to get the MORE or Daystar mounts, but really don't want any more vibrations to this XJ if possible so I'm really temped to get rubber mounts again. Plus the price difference at this point is also a huge concern.

The pics on everyones website (Vatozone, Advance & Napa) all look like the same pic... however I know that doesn't mean they're the same.

Do you still have the Napa Part# and can you tell me if the part looked any diff w/the Vato part? I know they worked better, but someones experience and opinion is always appreciated.

Thx!!!

Get the MORE mounts....the daystar ones vibrate like crazy...the MORE ones arent nearly as bad.

Thats the way the bolt goes. If it went on the other way you would have to take a lot more stuff apart. Use this time to replace your Oil filter o rings.

I just picked up some Crown motor mounts but haven't put them in yet. How are they for quality? Cheap stuff too?

Oh definately I bought some o-rings from the local jeep dealer and replaced them. Your not going to see me rig anything. Thats why I could never sell my jeep. I wouldnt get close to what I got into it, outta of it if I sold it.