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Motor mount bolts broken off in the block...

WrenchMonkey

WrenchMonkey

NAXJA Member #771
NAXJA Member
Location
East of Cincinnati
So how do I fix this?

All three of my driver side motor mount bolts have broken off inside the block. One is sticking out about 1/4", the other two broke flush.

As-is, there's no way I can hammer and punch to em, much less a drill.

Does anyone know if I can pull the intake and exhaust manifolds, and swing the engine up enough to get at the bolts?

Or am I looking at pulling the engine? :bawl:

Robert
 
find a skilled welder, have them weld a nut to the one's broke off flush. Work it back and forth till it screws out. CAUTION, this might take a few tries.
 
I can't imagine you'd get a welder in there, either.

I can barely snake my hand in there...

:dunno:

Robert
 
I barely got a small 90degree drill in mine for the top bolt. I used a cherry picker with the motor mount out and no intake, exhaust, front end or tranny. Now I was redoing my whole jeep at the time so I already had everything out. It was still a bitch. I hate to tell you but I think you are pulling the motor. It will probably be your best chance of not damaging the treads in the block.
 
I broke my right side mount off 2 summers ago. Fortunately for me a friend works on helicopters for a living and he had some low profile 90 degree pneumatic drills. We managed to get the bolts drilled and used extractors to remove the broken bolts. Without the drill it would have been impossible without removing something.

http://www.yardstore.com/browse.cfm/4,4033.html
 
I used an angle drill & still had to pull the A/C comp and had to lift the motor untill the bell housing hit the firewall. The bad news is the passenger side is the easy one. At the very least you'll have to pull the manifolds. M.O.R.E. has a repair kit for this problem. There was a thread about 3 months ago, try an advanced search.
 
squirrel80 said:
I hate to tell you but I think you are pulling the motor.
Click to expand...
Jeepsloth said:
Without the $250 (used!) drill it would have been impossible
Click to expand...
cherokee chuck said:
Bad news...
Click to expand...

You guys are not making me feel any better about my predicament. :(

Old guy at work (who's been wrenching on old cars longer than I've been eating solid food) says the bolts may not be that tight in the block. That I may be able to cut a slot in each one with a wizzit, and just back em out like slotted screws.

So I hosed em down with some Yield tonight, and plan to try that in the morning. I'll report back when it doesn't work...

Thanks...
Robert

(All I could find from MORE were their replacement frame-side motor mounts. I can't imagine what they could offer for the block side that wouldn't need the same bolt holes I'm working on... Thanks anyway!)
 
same thing happend to me troy ( yellaheep) helped me out on this he used a dremel with a cutting wheel then used a screwdriver to unscrew them out.

since the bolts are not torqued down anymore they shouldn't be hard to break loose

good luck hope this helps

EDIT: didn't see that it was the driver side mine was the pass side but that worked for me
 
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MORE I believe has a repair kit that uses different holes than the factory originals and it makes them a heck of a lot stronger as well. I'll see if I can't dig them up, I know a guy that had to do it on a TJ 4.0.
Edit: If all other options fail, here ya go...BBXJ9101
http://www.mountainoffroad.com/Catalog/BombProof MM/XJmounts.html
 
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I bought a right angler drill attachment at a local Harbor Freight. I was able to drop the engine low enough to get a bit of bite from below. They came right out. I have a great set of easy outs. If you use the cheapie ones, you'll certainly be pulling the motor when you snap one off.

Also make sure you find and use a "center drill" to start the hole. They will not flex and allow you to get the hole started.
 
In think the MORE item being referred to are their motor side brackets with extra tabs to cover some of the other bolt holes that exist in the block but are not normally used. On the right on this page:

http://www.mountainoffroad.com/Catalog/BombProof%20MM/XJmounts.html

Someone here did this themselves by welding & gusseting sections of angle to the stock brackets in a way that covered the additional holes.

I think 5-90 pointed out once that it's important that the replacement bolts don't bottom out in the block holes, either due to crud in the holes or too long a bolt, and prevent the proper amount of torque from being applied.
 
OUCH! $240 for the Bombproof brackets, no wonder I fixed mine the hard way. I also used the HF angle drill adapter & one of the three stubs was loose enough to get out without drilling. I still think it'll be simpler if you pull the manifolds. On the rt side I had to lift the motor to access one hole because of the frame rail, I assume the drivers side will be the same. The actual drilling & extracting wasn't that bad, It was figuring out how to get at them & the trial & error. It took less than an hour to get the broken stubs out. This was before I was a forum user, I probably would have saved a half a day without all the fumbling around.
 
Robert 771 said:
Old guy at work...
Click to expand...

Thank GOD for old hillbillies! (And Crimzon, too, thanks!)

Worked like a damn charm!

I was out there for about a half an hour. I spent ten minutes getting the motor mount unbolted and out of the way, ten minutes staring at it wishing I had some rosary beads, and then ten minutes cutting the slots and unscrewing the bolts.

The new breaks did back right out. The one that's been broken a while took a little torque to break loose, but it wasn't too bad either...

God, what a relief...

Thanks for all the advice, guys!

Robert

(Should I got to the dealer for new bolts?)
 
Crimzon316 said:
i would say just go to the junk yard a grab a few off 3 differen't ones
Click to expand...
I wouldn't. At least find out what the spec is on the original bolts and use new ones.
 
Crimzon316 said:
i would say just go to the junk yard a grab a few off 3 differen't ones
Click to expand...

That sounds like a really really bad idea... :banghead: :D

I just went to lowes on my luch break. (6) Grade 8, 3/8-16x1 1/4" bolts, for about $3.25 total...

They don't have the cool flared head like the factory, but with a 5/16 washer, I think they'll be fine...

Thanks again!
Robert
 
WrenchMonkey said:
Thank GOD for old hillbillies! (And Crimzon, too, thanks!)

Worked like a damn charm!

I was out there for about a half an hour. I spent ten minutes getting the motor mount unbolted and out of the way, ten minutes staring at it wishing I had some rosary beads, and then ten minutes cutting the slots and unscrewing the bolts.

The new breaks did back right out. The one that's been broken a while took a little torque to break loose, but it wasn't too bad either...

God, what a relief...

Thanks for all the advice, guys!

Robert

(Should I got to the dealer for new bolts?)
Click to expand...

Excellant.. Man thats old school!! I guess thats better than center punching them out.

Nick
 
I've been down this route before. Replaced the bolts, once I got the broken ones out, with grades 8 as well. After the grade 8s broke, and I got those out, I replaced the mounts with MORE Bombproofs and the bolts with Unbrakos. So far so good.
 
I'm not too worried.

I'm sure the top bolt broke some time ago, before I replaced my motor mount bushings. After that, it was only a matter of time (and abuse) til the other two went.

Besides, I have to believe those were the factory bolts. If these last as long, 20 years and 193,000 miles, I'll happily change em again.

And even if they don't last that long, I got em slickered in antisieze, and now that I know how to get em out, it should be easy...

Robert
 
Bringing up a old trhead here but Last sun i was out on a trail and had my drivers side mount fail all 3 bolts sheard rite off at the face of the block... didnt crack the block thank god! so i sat there pondering to my self and then i got the idea of getting my die grinder and notching them for a flat head and bingo out no problem at all. came on here and searched and here is this thread! dam shoulda looked first! luckly i have a good size of lift and installing new hardware will be easy since i can get a socket up in there! wooohooo i thought i was F'ed:laugh3:
 
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