Sheared off motor mount...but cracked part of block....pics

[Blaine B.]

What were you doing at the time of this breakage?

 

[RickyN29]

What were you doing at the time of this breakage?

Just driving normally. And I drive like a grandpa. Haven't wheeled it in almost a year.

But for the record, I have an incredibly stiff suspension and the jeep has seen it's fair share of long distance offroading...so I am sure it was just weakened from over the years.

 

[RickyN29]

you could try welding a nut to it or you may be able to cut it out with a torch. I heard that you can cut broken off header bolts from cylinder heads with a torch cause it will not cut through the cast steel. it works on cylinder heads, but not sure about a engine block, maybe somebody else will chime in.

Like melt it out??? That sounds scary

 

[Blaine B.]

Just driving normally. And I drive like a grandpa. Haven't wheeled it in almost a year.

But for the record, I have an incredibly stiff suspension and the jeep has seen it's fair share of long distance offroading...so I am sure it was just weakened from over the years.

Wierd, although this is more rare I am interested to see what each was doing at the time of the breakage. I know my friend broke a motor mount when he got yanked out of the mud by a semi.

 

[RickyN29]

Wierd, although this is more rare I am interested to see what each was doing at the time of the breakage. I know my friend broke a motor mount when he got yanked out of the mud by a semi.

Well, when it happened, I was like 'wtf?? never heard of this before!' However, after searching this board and JeepForum, I have found that it is actually surprisingly common. There was even a thread 'Who hasn't sheared off their motor mount'

It was news to me

 

[WrenchMonkey]

I think a lot of em are due to long-neglected motor mount bushings.

Not saying yours was. But I'm sure mine was...

Robert

 

[Blaine B.]

So does it appear that the real weakness is the mount itself or the bolts that hold the mount to the block?

 

[RickyN29]

So does it appear that the real weakness is the mount itself or the bolts that hold the mount to the block?

I would say it is the design altogether. The shape of the bracket is like a lever and all the force is applied to three weak bolts. More mounting points over a larger surface area (like the aftermarket ones) are the real solution.

And in my case, the motor mounts weren't to blame. I changed them out as routine maint about a year ago. The ones I took out were fine, just old and I was working in the area so figured I might as well.

 

[WrenchMonkey]

Brown Dog shows theirs to be 87-01.
http://browndogindustries.com/cherokee-xj-1987-2000-40l.aspx

That does look like a viable last-resort.

Not cheap, but cheaper and easier than swapping out the block.

Just the drivers side mount is $140. The full kit is $330.

Something to think about, if you just can't get the some of the bots out...

Robert