Motor Mounts

Screwy Rabbit · Post by **Screwy Rabbit** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:16 pm

Hi. I've got a 1982 Diesel Rabbit, N/A, and the passenger side motor mount broke last night. Is this something that can be fixed without exceeding what the car is worth, or is it all over for the Screwy Rabbit? ThANKS.

bscutt · Post by **bscutt** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:05 pm

I have never changed one but they are probably the hardest to do. I would never call it quits on a diesel Rabbit for a bad motor mount, even if you can't do it yourself it's worth the money to get it fixed, assuming the rest of the car is in relatively good condition.

Changing involves removing the timing cover and possibly the belt (if I recall correctly) and supporting the engine, etc., surely someone on here has done it and can add to this post.

VanagonMark · Post by **VanagonMark** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:33 pm

price a new one at (competitor removed by moderator) out of Washington State, they have been good to me and the parts always were good quality

Techtonics (Google Techtonics VW) builds a strong racing version but they are expensive

Those motor mounts on the old bunnies and trucks take a beating, and are not that hard to change, they do need to be pressed in.

tylernt · Post by **tylernt** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:16 pm

The passenger motor mount is a real witch. Timing belt has to come off, injection pump has to come out, bracket has to come out, and then you get to remove the old mount from the bracket. You can do this with a hacksaw and a lot of sweat, or if you're really lucky your machine shop has two mandrels the correct size to press out the old one.

To hacksaw out the old mount, you pass the saw blade through the middle of the donut and then saw from the inside out through exactly one layer of metal. Go too far and you weaken the bracket. I went most of the way with a Sawzall and then finished up with a hacksaw.

Then you need to press in the new mount using a hydraulic press, taking care to orient it correctly. (I had one installed rotated maybe 5 or 10 degrees off center, guess what it broke less than 1,000 miles later.) I seem to recall it takes about 6 tons to press the mount into the bracket so it takes some force. In the installed position, the mount looks like a guy standing on his head.

Finally, the pump has to be retimed any time it is removed from the car or the timing belt is replaced. In fact, you might as well replace the timing belt, tensioner, and water pump while you have everything apart. Maybe the cam, intermediate, and crankshaft oil seals as well, if you're feeling adventurous.

If you turn up the idle speed a bit and can stand the vibration, you don't even have to fix it. Just be prepared for various bolts and things to rattle off from time to time.

Your shifter may need some adjustment too.

I wish some entrepreneurial VW guy (Jack you listening?

) would sell pre-pressed mounts. All you need is a press frame, a big bottle jack, two mandrels, and a couple of spare brackets. Just sell a pre-pressed mount in a bracket, then get the core back so you can pre-press it for the next customer.

CoolAirVw · Post by **CoolAirVw** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:31 am

tylernt wrote:I wish some entrepreneurial VW guy (Jack you listening? ) would sell pre-pressed mounts. All you need is a press frame, a big bottle jack, two mandrels, and a couple of spare brackets. Just sell a pre-pressed mount in a bracket, then get the core back so you can pre-press it for the next customer.

Are you volenteering?? Hmmmm, I have a press but no cores....

FineFrank · Post by **FineFrank** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:29 am

Maybe I'm missing something. I used a vise to press the passenger side MM together on my 81 gasser. It was easy. Is a diesel different?

VanagonMark · Post by **VanagonMark** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:40 am

FineFrank wrote:Maybe I'm missing something. I used a vise to press the passenger side MM together on my 81 gasser. It was easy. Is a diesel different?

You did it right
Lucky for the A-2 owners, VW changed that design

Now only the front 1/2 of the car shakes like a Starbuck mixer, rather than the whole car....

makes a difference

tylernt · Post by **tylernt** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:33 am

Maybe I'm missing something. I used a vise to press the passenger side MM together on my 81 gasser. It was easy. Is a diesel different?

Maybe you have a bigger and better vice than I do. Mine only got 1/4" before I could go no further.

VanagonMark · Post by **VanagonMark** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:51 am

Take the mount to your friendly local shop, for probably 10 bucks you can get them to press that rubber mount in....

hand them the 10 spot and tallyho home....

Krank · Post by **Krank** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 4:46 pm

I changed both sides when I did mine. I ended up taking it to a local shop to press out the passenger side (after doing the Bently thing to relieve the stress like mentioned before), at which point the pressed in the new one. It was a real chore, but they ended up only charging me a couple of Cokes.
The other one I gave to a freind who did it at work for me. Apparently, they throw the new mount into a freezer for a few hours, then they remove the old mount from it's bracket, heat the bracket up as hot as they can in an oven, and quickly combine the two. The shrinking of the outer diameter of the mount, combined with the expansion of the inner diameter of the bracket makes for a much easier fit and can be done by almost anyone with a bench vise. Give it a shot and let me know if it's as easy as they told me it was!

tylernt · Post by **tylernt** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 6:56 pm

Apparently, they throw the new mount into a freezer for a few hours, then they remove the old mount from it's bracket, heat the bracket up as hot as they can in an oven, and quickly combine the two.

That's what I tried. The cold mount was quickly warmed by the hot bracket and the hot bracket was quickly cooled by the frozen mount. Maybe if you had a big vice and worked really fast...

VanagonMark · Post by **VanagonMark** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:31 pm

I watched my man use his press on that head/passenger mount. He just sprayed a bunch of lube in, pumped the press and bingo

like a spring time virgin, slipped on and handed it to me....told me next time
to bring beer with me...

Post by **Fatmobile** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 2:32 am

I remove the old bushing and take it to the shop to have it pressed in by Gene.
Usually $5 because he has the proper pieces all painted the same color and has done it several times.
I have him trained.
While you have this out and the injection pump off, it would also be a great time to change the injection pump seals. Hate to put it all back together and have to pull it all apart down the road because of injection pump leaks.

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:53 pm

Sorry to resirect an old thread.

I'm working on my motor mounts now. I'm wondering on the drivers side, which way the mount goes. The new mount bolt hole is offset two ways. The new mount bolt hole can either go towards the top, or towards the bottom AND, the bolt hole can be placed so that it's either towards the drivers side of the car, or towards the passenger side of the car (I wish I had a digital camera). The bolt hole is not centered with the rubber around the bolt hole. If the bolt hole was to be installed towards the bottom of the mount, it looks like it would be the correct installation position due to more rubber being above the bolt hole. But, does the bolt hole install towards drivers or passengers side?

Anyone know? The old mounts have arrows but the new mounts don't.

tylernt · Post by **tylernt** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:57 pm

If the mount has 5 rubber "lugs", it looks like a guy standing on his head in the installed orientation.