Broken Motor Mounts

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a4edwin

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Dealer I bought mine from changed all three mount right after I bought it. Lucky me.
 

Denaliz

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125k on the clock and I’m just now having issues. I broke 3 of them in last 12 months.(one was Firestone’s fault) Horrible to drive as I thought maybe it was my front end suspension at first.
 

OR VietVet

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Just ordered up 2x H3 mounts, not overly looking forward to changing them!

07 Denali XL. Original mounts seem to be completely shot.
If you can do them without removing the exhaust manifolds, great but have heard it is impossible unless you can bend in many directions. I did mine on my rig and took both manifolds off for access and then had 3 end bolts of the exhaust manifolds that broke and I used the Dorman exhaust clamp kits and they worked great. It's either that or attempt to drill out and remove/tap or pull heads.
 

tgui

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If you can do them without removing the exhaust manifolds, great but have heard it is impossible unless you can bend in many directions. I did mine on my rig and took both manifolds off for access and then had 3 end bolts of the exhaust manifolds that broke and I used the Dorman exhaust clamp kits and they worked great. It's either that or attempt to drill out and remove/tap or pull heads.

I used new engine mounts as an excuse to install long tube headers, trans lines, oil pan gasket, oil pickup oring, starter, custom dip stick and so forth. I have another car so just did everything that bothered me.

+1 for the dorman kits.
 

iamdub

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If you can do them without removing the exhaust manifolds, great but have heard it is impossible unless you can bend in many directions. I did mine on my rig and took both manifolds off for access and then had 3 end bolts of the exhaust manifolds that broke and I used the Dorman exhaust clamp kits and they worked great. It's either that or attempt to drill out and remove/tap or pull heads.


It's been a few years, but I replaced both of mine without removing the manifolds. Driver side is easy. Passenger side is the PITA, but not impossible. With the front up on jack stands and tires removed, I first unbolted the trans mount (it was getting replaced at the same time, anyway). Working from the top and through the fender well, I unbolted the driver side mount. I jacked up the engine as far as I could go before anything was crushed under the cowl. Leaving the passenger side mount bolted made the engine tilt away from the driver side as it went up, providing a few more millimeters of clearance. I unbolted and separated the steering shaft and swapped the mount from the top. I hear it's easier to go from the bottom, but I'm stubborn and lazy and I didn't want crud falling into my eyes. After bolting in the new driver side mount, I raised the passenger side and did the same. It's a lot tighter due to the starter. The key is rotating and spinning the old mount a bunch of directions to find the magical combination that lets it come out. I'm pretty sure I bent the heat shield on the manifold for more clearance, too. The new mount went in the same way, using that magical combination of twists and turns, but in reverse order. It could be separated into two pieces so that really helped.

Oh, this was on a 2WD. Supposedly, the 4WD is more difficult. But I don't see the difference unless you're working from the bottom.
 
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I used new engine mounts as an excuse to install long tube headers, trans lines, oil pan gasket, oil pickup oring, starter, custom dip stick and so forth. I have another car so just did everything that bothered me.

+1 for the dorman kits.
More info on this custom dip stick
 

Bill 1960

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I just had the driver’s side done, tech did it from the underside on a lift. 90 minutes max.

I do expect the 4x4 is more difficult because the front diff is in the way. However mine is lifted so the diff drop creates a lot of extra room.
 

iamdub

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I just had the driver’s side done, tech did it from the underside on a lift. 90 minutes max.

I do expect the 4x4 is more difficult because the front diff is in the way. However mine is lifted so the diff drop creates a lot of extra room.


I have a lift in my shop now, but I've never paid attention to accessing the mounts from underneath. I have long tube headers now so it's irrelevant. But, this is good for those with a 4WD to know that it isn't so bad working from underneath.

How did he raise and support the engine?
 
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tgui

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More info on this custom dip stick

Nothing fancy but I used this. My oem dipstick rusted and cracked when I tried to bend it around my kook's headers. This part is nice but a tad short so careful when checking oil level on a hot engine. I'll get an installed pic in a bit.

 

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