Need to change all three engine mounts, the mechanic wants to charge around $300 to install all three, is this something I can do with no problem, I can see two of then which seem easy, where is the other one? Should I just do it myself?

 

For $300 to install all three, I would let him do it. You could do the front and the side, but I would let him do the rear since he's charging very little for such a frustrating job.

 

lol I was just about to say the EXACT same thing: For $300, I'd let him do it.

I literally just got finish doing my front mount yesterday, and my side mount today. I'm contemplating taking it somewhere to just replace the rear one...I don't really feel like being bothered.

 

Thanks for the response guys, I was thinking of doing the front and espeically the side myself and just paying to get the back done, from what I see, the front and side seem way to simple to pay for someone to do, the back mount looks like a pain...

 

ALL are easy and nothing special is needed to do it other than a couple extensions and the correct sockets.

 

Based on the FSM, the 99-01 rear looks EASIER (vs. 02-03), but I'm not quite sure of how "easy" it is.

I wouldn't say it's hard, but it's definitely more tedious than the front/side.

 

Thanks guys, from what I hear, isnt the rear mount connected to some sort of vaccum hose?

Also, how much should I be paying for each?

 

There is a DIY for the front and side mounts, but I haven't found one for the rear. Is the rear mount removed from under the car or from the top of the engine bay?

 

Don't listen to him. His scale of difficulty is so skewed beyond the rest of us, I can't imagine what he considers to be difficult.

 

I did the front and side. Was pretty easy since I have tools and extentions to get to the lower front mount. After 4 hours of frustration working on the rear mount, I took it to a local mechanic and paid him $100 to replace the rear mount. It's a pain especially with my big hands.

 

there is no difference in years. The only thing that makes the rear more difficult on any of them is the strut bar.

 

Both the front and rear have a vacuum line. Nothing difficult about disconnecting the vacuum line.

 

If you know how to use a socket wrench and arent afraid to try there is nothing really difficult about anything. Key is you have to be willing to try.

 

lol That was my thought when I read his post

I mean, based on the rear bracket differences, it looks easier. I had a hell of a time jacking the engine and getting the rear bolts out of the bracket...but back then it was my first time attacking it + pressured to finish since it's my DD.

Once I got the bolts off, for some reason I couldn't get the bracket out/off, so I gave up. I'll try it again once I get my replacement DC Sports headers...

 

hohohohoho My First attempt at Rear Mount took me almost 16 hours, Includes the Header Installation...

I hope the Rear Mount never ever EVER gets Damaged or Im going to have to pay somebody to replace it...

 

I should know, I did it. Was not as simple as trying, that bracket was a PITA.

Though if I had to do it again, it wouldn't be bad at all. I certainly wouldn't pay anyone to do it.

 

How long did it take you?
Can you give us any tips/details on how you got that bracket out? Is it just a matter of removing the bracket to get the rear mount out?

 

There's a DIY somewhere on here. Just a wall of text with no pictures though.

The best advice I can give is to get the right tools. You will need a breaker bar. You will need a (14mm?) socket that goes DIRECTLY onto the breaker bar. If you have any converters (1/2" to 3/8"), it won't work. Converters add free play in the socket, and you're barely going to get a couple inches of movement out of the ratchet. Get a set of U-joints (Those are pretty cheap). You will need them.



When taking out the 4 bolts that attach the mount to the frame of the car, there are a couple tricks. 2 of them will come out easily, but the other two are hard to get to. It is kind of hard to angle the extension with the socket through all the shit in the way.

What I did was have one person from under hold the socket onto the bolt. (Connect a U-joint too). Then slide the extension through to the other end of the U joint. Connect the two ends by proper positioning, and pushing.
You won't be able to squeeze the extension down there if the socket is already on. It's just too tight.

When you are loosening/tightening the bracket bolts, it might get tough. It will be hard, then easy, then hard again. Just lift the engine with a jack a little bit, or drop it a bit, and it will continue. Jack up the engine under the bell housing where the engine meets the tranny, and keep a piece of wood between the jack and the engine.

 

Don't bother trying to lift the engine, so you can slide the mount under the bracket. The engine will start pulling the entire frame up with it, and you still wont have clearance for the mount to get out. I ripped both tranny mounts clear in half doing this.

I made 2 attempts. The first attempt: I change front and side, then tackled the rear. It just got really late (6AM), so I called it.

Second attempt, I had already figured out most of it from the failed first attempt. Still, it took me about 5 hours. Most of that was idle time just trying to get fitment.

It's an easy job, just tight and frustrating. If you've been at it for a while (5+ hours) just come back tomorrow. You'll start making stupid mistakes, and get more frustrated.

Whatever you do, don't strip a bolt on the engine block or frame.

 

I just finished replacing my headers with a warranty replacement set, so I went ahead and tackled the rear Excelerate mount that I'd been sitting on. For the DC sports headers, you HAVE to remove/loosen the rear bracket, so I might as well had installed the mount. It's also so much shit you gotta loosen and remove to even get to stuff, that's what makes it tedious, and all the damn hoses and tubes in the way.

Karanx7's advice on the U-Joint is SPOT ON! It would have been damn near impossible for me to get it done without them. Luckily I had a set already. I had to use 2 12" extensions + U-Joint to loosen/tighten the mount-to-frame bolts.

It took me 11 hours BY MYSELF. The longest part was the rear mount bracket. I had to make sure I wasn't stripping the bolt/bolt threads. That involved a lot of getting on the ground, sliding underneath the car, then sliding back from under the car, getting up, and leaning over the engine....tedious and tiring, but I got it done. Also, I didn't have much clearance for the 2 lower recessed mount bracket bolts...so I had to tighten and loosen those SLOWLY...like 1/4 turns

Just like Karanx7 said: After doing it once, I wouldn't pay anyone to do it for me in the near future if I had to.

 

^THIS^

for $300, let them do it, I did all 3 myself and even though they are easy to do (the word easy is subjective here based on knowledge & ease of working with the car, availability of tools and time)

this job requires time & patience, I think the rear bottom one was the hardest to get to.

Top is easy, bottom front is harder and the bottom rear was the hardest for me to get to.

You will have to raise the car and put something under the engine and then drop the car a bit to get them out easily and get the new ones in easily, that was my experience, your experience may vary

 

The side engine mount is easily beefy up before it went south. Unfortunately, i didnt take a picutre of it. the side mount itself has a big opening there, all you need to do is to tightly fill up that opening. I use an old kid shoe sole and bottom. Pull the filling across the opening, cut it flush nicely with hacksaw, put it back, immediately feel nice and tight engine start.