Bothell Crocs: February 2015

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

OT: Tales of the nitrile glove - MINI motor mount

The passenger motor mount on the MINI decided to puke out its oil a while back.

I had been keeping an eye on it - watching for signs that the inner rubber was collapsing. I hadn't seen any evidence, but with the car 500 miles away from 100K, I decided not to tempt fate any longer and ordered a new mount from Pelican Parts.

First step was to get the car off the ground and onto jack stands. Someday I will have a lift...

Next step was to disconnect the ground strap and a few other hoses and clips. The bottom of the mount is held on with a TORX E10 torque to yield bolt that is one time use. I thought I might be able to remove it with just a 10mm socket, but no joy so it was off to McKlendon's then O'rielly's for the special socket. The second stop had it, but I had to buy a set and expand my tool collection. Once I was sure I could losen that bolt I removed the top engine mount after supporting the engine with a trolley jack and a 2x4.

Here's the grubby old mount with dried oil running down the side. Under it is the funky E10 bolt.

Assembly was the reverse of dis-assembly as they say.

The E10 torque to yield TORX bolt was interesting. You torqued it to 41.5 ft-lbs and then tightened it an additional 90 degrees.

I'd like to say that the car doesn't vibrate as much (it wasn't vibrating to begin with) and shifting feel has improved (no shift issues before either), but I can't. It wasn't a hard job or time consuming (except for the two store stop to find the TORX socket). Hopefully it's good for anther 100K miles.