Eagle eyed readers may recall me changing the nearside engine mount last week - it was split in half, an easy job and a great improvement for £6.
The transmission mount arrived with the postie today, the weather was nice and I had nothing else to do, so I decided to fit the offside engine mount and while I had the RB in the air change the transmission mount as well.
First the offside engine mount: it looked fiendishly difficult to access, so the same as previously: disconnect the battery, put the car on ramps and fit my lovely home re-purposed engine brace:
... this proved to be really useful, at one point the engine slipped off the jack under the sump, which would have been chaos if not for the brace - it could only fall perhaps 5mm, so all was well.
I took the weight of the motor with my bike hoist under the sump via a block of wood, then tightened up the brace to suit.
The 3 nuts (17mm) onto the captive studs on the lower bracket come off easily. The 3 bolts fixing the upper bracket to the block were another matter. The first came out easily from underneath the car. The second needed the oil filter removed, but was not too difficult. The final one (lower, front) would have been impossible without removing the alternator. It came off with a 12mm ring spanner - a quarter of a turn at a time. Eventually we got there and the mount plus two brackets could be pulled out. This bit took ages and involved lots of swearing.
The old and the new:
whilst still complete, the old rubber had the consistency of a bungee cord, was shortened and distorted - the new one was a thing of beauty in comparison.
Here is the cleaned up (20 minutes in a bucket of Screwfix degreaser and hot water plus a good scrub) re-assembled mounting - ready to be fitted:
... and here is the offending bolt that was so difficult to remove - it is captive once the rubber bit is fitted:
... I can't imagine why Volvo made that bit so difficult.
Another 20 minutes got all the threads started and everything back into place - not so difficult. Once the alternator and oil filter were re-fitted everything could be jacked down. What an improvement - the motor sits about an inch higher than previously - there is now good clearance between the sump and the cross-member.
The transmission mount was much easier. I took the weight of the auto box with my bike lift, then removed the 17mm nut holding the back of the mounting with a long socket through the hole Mr Volvo has thoughtfully provided, and loosened the other end with a 17mm ring spanner 1/3 of a turn at a time (very Saabesque - not a compliment). The old rubber block was complete but a bit worse for 40 years of wear:
The cross member came off easily enough (4 x 14mm screws i think) and I took the opportunity to give it a clean and brush up before re-assembly:
... a second jack was useful to raise the cross member up into place, but other than that there was nothing unusual to report.
This lot ended up taking half as day (punctuated by some tea breaks, Bob's second walk and chatting with the postie), nearly all of which was in getting access to the lower bracket on the offside engine mount. I hope I don't have to do that job again soon.
Then the test drive: it was evident even before I got the RB off the ramps that everything was much better - engine shake was greatly reduced and the whole car seemed better. On the road the result was remarkable: no more lump slopping around whenever it felt like it, better gear changes and generally everything felt much tighter.
This was a really good £19 spent (the engine mounts were £6 each and the transmission mount was £7). I'm pleased with the outcome.
Alan