Replacing engine mounts

[thefranks5]

Re: Replacing Engine Mounts

I have two Gen. 2 Camrys - My 1990, with 4-cylinder, manual - needs at least a couple engine mounts and I am looking at replacing them myself. I'm an occasional weekend mechanic, but this is a new adventure.

The mechanic has quoted $770 for 5 mounts. Needless to say, although the car runs like a champ, it is still old, and isn't worth the investment. Plus between college tuition for kids and Uncle Sammy, who has any money left?

I'm hoping someone can give me an idea on the degree of difficulty in doing this job.

I'm not sure how many of the mounts are bad, but my mechanic has suggested replacing the two larger mounts on the bottom to start with. About $280 in parts from Toyota.

The mechanic also suggested using Toyota parts, rather than an after-market brand, to avoid problems, but the price difference is significant!

Any and all insights would be helpful.

I'm guessing I need to put the car up on jack stands in the front, then jack up the engine a tad to do the work? Yes, no?

Thanks in advance for anything anyone can share regarding both suggested steps, and reliability of aftermarket brand motor mounts... NAPA, O'Reilly/Schucks, or suggested brand, etc.

[blu_91_cam]

Sorry I can't help you on the ease of installation I had my mechanic install mine but i did get them relatively cheap from rockauto.com which is worth a look. I think the mounts came out really well.

[Doctor J]

As your car has a stick shift, I would suggest to replace the Mount near timing belt and the so called center mount. Unless the 'front and rear mounts" are "crashed" they could be left as is.
Go to my profile, find the thread about timing bealt replacement, and get some information how to repalce the "timing belt" front right mount.
to remove the center mount you need to have good under car access and possibly remove the rear crossmember.
I will suggest Back Arnley as the best aftermarket mounts.

[thefranks5]

Thanks for the reply. I'm starting it now. Ended up with NAPA parts, as they were the only ones with them in stock. Looks like two of the motor mounts should be fairly straight forward. Not so sure about the third one and the transmission mount.

Not sure whether to jack up one side of the car and get under or try to find ramps to drive it up on for the transmission mount.

I'll know when I get there, I guess. Well here we go... never tried this one before. A newbee adventure.

Thanks for the insights, Dr. J!

Ontheroad777

[Doctor J]

Front right mount can be done with jacking only one side of the car, but make sure to use "alignment bolt" to bring aluminum mounting bracket to the bracket on the block.

[thefranks5]

Well, it's been a bit frustrating so far. On the right side, one of the hired mechanics from the past, it seems rounded off the corners on one of the 14 mm bolts. Now I can't get a good enough bite on it ti loosen it up. Oh joy. Plenty of Liquid Wrench preceeding any attempts.

So I moved to the left side, until I can recruit some help with the rounded bolt.

Question there. I've got the engine jacked up slightly under the oil pan, which is on the right side. What does one do with the left side. Leave the jack under the oil pan, or move it to the Transmission side?

Alldata's instructions are far from complete on these steps... non existent actually. It's just unbolt this, unbolt that, no secondary steps.

If you have any suggestions on the extracting the bolt with the rounded head, fire away. I'm sure that reveals my level of non-expertise... but there it is.

[AlmightyCamry777]

Rounded bolt head - what a meatball mechanic the guy was - you don't go there anymore do you?...i've done the stripped fastener thing lots of times so i know there are a couple of approaches to try.

-vice grips almost never seem to work so don't make it worse by using those unless you think there's a chance. If you have room for a hammer and a chisel at an angle sometimes you can chisel a shelf or two on the head and beat it off that way.

-easy out, if you can get a drill in there (the narrow angled kind of power drill) you can possibly make a hole enough to get one of these tools in there.

-if all else fails, just grind it off or destroy the head with an air chisel if there's no clearance. Get the bolt head weak enough to be knocked off with a chisel and remove the rest of it with the vice grips after the engine mount is off.

-if you can get the other bolts off, and they are bolts not studs, and there is room to pivot the mount side to side on the stripped bolt, you may be able to wiggle the mount back and forth several times, enough to loosen the bolt.

-If the mounts are held on by studs not bolts, you can remove the studs by using two nuts on each stud. To do this you tighten one nut against the other one (and then the two nuts will not turn while you loosen the stud because they act exactly like a bolt head.)

[Doctor J]

What is the exact location of the rounded bolt?
Use the picture from my timing belt thread.
If timing belt side mount is no longer supporting the weight of the power train, it is not a good idea for novice to do tranny mount (I usually do them one at the time)

[thefranks5]

Got the front passenger side, the center front and the center transmission mounts in on Saturday, Sunday. The passenger side mount was the biggegst booger, it took about 4 hours of jockeying the engine height and manuevering to get. Needless to stay, the mount was not manufactured to precise standards. arrrrrrgh. But alas, it is in.

All were toast.

Now I have the rear mount, under a T-bar support and the driver side front mount. Took the later one out and had to put it back, as the one issued by parts store was not correct... and no other stores seem to have it. So, went online and found it in a few minutes from Rock______ (something) supplies. An Anchor brand mount. Now waiting for it's arrival.

The rear mount under the T-bar support has me a bit scared. I'm not sure that I want to disconnect the lateral, side-to-side connecting bar while I'm under the car. However, it looks like it just is more of a stabilizing structure to the frame. It doesnt'appear to support the engine. If that is corret, it's probably safe.

It's the p-r-o-b-a-b-l-y part that has me nervous.

Any insights on that one from someone who has been there? Thanks in advance for anything you can share.

Part 2:
For those coming after, here's a hint: a good pair of vice grips is helpful in pushing the center transmission mount in place while you bolt it in, same thing with the left/driver's side front mount.

Also, money isn't a big deal, get the OEM parts from Toyota. But, caution, they're about 4X the cost.

I was pretty intimidated going into this project, having never done it before. It's not rocket science, but it does tak a load of time and patience.
If you're like me, you'll also end up with a few new hand tools in your tool box when you're done.

Thanks in advance for any insights on the lateral T-bar support and the back motor mount.

[The Camry Man]

Another reason to hir this one out

but...Engine supported by passenger (engine mount)and drivers (tranny mount) if installed.
but ALWAYS USE SAFETY STANDS if the engine falls because you forgot something "It will only happen once" Ouch!

I removed both crossmember supports and replaced both of my center mounts while engine was hanging on the right engine mount)and left (tranny) mounts.

[thefranks5]

3 out of 5 and still plugging along on the motor mounts. Could use some insights here, if there are those who have gone ahead of me. (Passenger, front and center mounts done.)

Engine rumble has been reduced by about 50%, but still fairly noisy.

I'm now trying to replace the "rear" motor mount, which is conveniently located "under" the two supporting arms behind the engine.

When I tried to unbolt the supporting arms (one left to right, apparently providing rigidity to the car frame; and a second running front to back under the engine) the bolts are on there so tight they don't want to budge, even with a 1/2 breaker bar and a 3 foot extension.

Question: I'm a little hesitant to heat the bolt with a torch, for obvious reasons. So, my alternative is to buy a good air impact wrench.

Has anyone taken these supporting arms off before and replaced the rear motor mount? If so, any and all insights would be helpful.

I only get to attack this puppy a few hours every couple weeks, due to horrendous work commute. whaaa whaaa.

If you take off the supporting arm that runs side to side, can you get the rear motor mount out then, without taking out the front to back mount?

Thanks in advance for all your insights.

Bob

BTW: for all coming after, when you go to buy the driver side tranmission motor mount, there are a multitude of different ones for the gen. 2 camry. Make sure you specify every nuance of your car... dx, all trac, 4 cylinder, 4 or 5 speed, manual or automatic, etc. I've been down this road several times, and the one I have has become a mystery to even the suppliers.

[white90dx]

You need to remove that east-west crossmember (two 19mm bolts/nuts on each side and one or two 14mm in the middle) and only the rear bolts of the north-south crossmember. You might need a few special sockets/wrenches to get in there to the mount comfortably.

Just get somewhere good to brace yourself with that 3' extension on the breaker bar and the outer bolts should break loose. They are torqued somehwer near 200ft-lbs, but are obviously tighter now after some years. You don't need to support the engine or anything else for this operation (other than the car itself, of course!).

-Charlie

[thefranks5]

Originally Posted by white90dx

You need to remove that east-west crossmember (two 19mm bolts/nuts on each side and one or two 14mm in the middle) and only the rear bolts of the north-south crossmember. You might need a few special sockets/wrenches to get in there to the mount comfortably.

Just get somewhere good to brace yourself with that 3' extension on the breaker bar and the outer bolts should break loose. They are torqued somehwer near 200ft-lbs, but are obviously tighter now after some years. You don't need to support the engine or anything else for this operation (other than the car itself, of course!).

-Charlie

Charlie

Thanks greatly for your insights. 200 ft lb. crap on a cracker. I better get a 10 foot cheater bar.

Thanks again. Have a great Easter Sunday, He has risen.

thefranks5

[Jimnist]

Originally Posted by Doctor J

As your car has a stick shift, I would suggest to replace the Mount near timing belt and the so called center mount. Unless the 'front and rear mounts" are "crashed" they could be left as is.

Are these usually the ones that go first on a manual? I've noticed some slight 'loose-ness' when moving off sometimes and can hear it too. Does that mean my mounts need to be replaced?

By crashed you mean broken, right?

[thefranks5]

Jiminist:

You'll want to hear from the pros on this, but I've replaced the passenger side mount, front, and center transmission... it only cut the noise by about 1/2 and my "guess" is that if your replace the front mount, you should also replace the back mount, so they are both strong and balance each other out.

With only the front replaced (the easiest) it's kind of like putting the new wine in the old wine skin, and it bursts, as the Lord said. (I know He wasn't referring to motor mounts, but it applies.)

That's why I'm working fervently to get the back one in as well... it's just a bit of a booger, compared to the others, in that it needs the 200 lb torque wrench or apparently a longer cheater bar or more muscle than I have.

In short, if you do one, do the other, otherwise the first may be very short lived.

OK everyone, feel free to throw cold water on that theory.