Leaking Motor Mount - Important?

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Eurythmian

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The dealership tells me I have a leaking motor mount. I got to look under the car and yes the motor mount on the passenger side of the engin is leaking what looks like hydraulic fluid. It's running back and splattering on the CAT.

They said the cost for this would be $315.00. How important is it that I get this repair done and how soon?
I see I can buy one with a life time warranty from OReily Auto Parts for $97.99.
Should I scout around and see if I can find some place to do the work cheaper?
 
I didn't know an engine mount could leak....

how important is it, typically with cars it goes make the repair now for xxx amount of dollars or make two repairs for xxx times 2 dollars
 
I don't know about the mount. I can tell you that some of the suspension bushing are fluid filled too. I had the fluid to leak out of one of mine a couple of years ago and it still seems to be working just fine.
 
wow...so the engine mounts are hydraulic?

I find new stuff out about this car everyday.
 
Every other oil change I am spending an extra 500.00 to 1200.00 on repairs of plastic parts which keep breaking or wearing out. FORD really dropped the ball on using quality parts for these cars.
 
Eurythmian said:
How important is it that I get this repair done and how soon?
Click to expand...

You should plan to replace it sooner then later. The mount may not be completely broke/busted yet, but if it is leaking it is not going to last very long.

There are 2 mounts on the engine. When those break, it's like unbolting that side of the engine from the chassis. This causes the engine to rock around under the hood, potentially damaging things that are a LOT more expensive to fix. Plus when one breaks, it generates a LOT more stress on the other, causing it to fail faster as well.

The passengers side mount is the one that lifts when you torque the engine. The drivers side one compresses. So it makes sense that the passenger's side is what is leaking. That mount literally gets pulled apart under engine load, like you are trying to stretch it. It could be fixed by re-engineering the mount, but that's a lot of time and effort and they are good enough for last through the warranty.

On a lot of trucks and high-performance vehicles they use solid mounts. These don't have the same design issues as hydraulics do on getting torn apart.

Used to have a '88 3.8L Merc Cougar that would eat those craptacular hydraulic mushroom mounts for breakfast. Finally built a boxed mount and all my problems went away.
 
I did mine (was leaking also). Pop the hood and look just south of the exhaust manifold. There is a black boot looking thing just under a bolt and brace.

It's not ridiculously hard to do though a little nerve wracking as you are jacking the engine and such to get it up. I actually had to loosen the other motor mount to enable me to jack it up high enough. Also remove that cross brace that goes across the top of the engine near the fire wall.

Good luck...
 
On the other hand, it's pretty cool to rev the engine with a broken motor mount and the hood up. It dances!
 
Scheduled to take it in - in the morning. FORD has already ordered the part.

Thanks for everyones advise.
 
Thanks! I have that saved somewhere on the computer in my office but I'm never there when I have time to look! Hope they get you're ride done quickly ( and correctly !)
 
After getting the motor mount replaced I took a look under the hood and realized the engine had actually been sitting about 1" lower on the right side because part of the intake had been sitting on the front plastic cowl and has rubbed and left marks showing it was touching.

With the mount replaced, this part of the intake has been raised 1" and actually looks correct now. And yes... I do notice a difference in the way the car accelerated and even seems to shift smother.
 
Did this on my Benz earlier this summer. Placed a large 2X4 on top of my hydraulic jack then placed it under my oil pan. Loosened both motor mount bolts a few turns, then jacked up the jack so that the engine lifted about 2 inches. Loosened the broken mount bolt the rest of the way and pulled it out. Inserted new mount, tightened both bolts half way..let the jack down..tightened the bolts the rest of the way.
Job done
 
I bought our 06 Lincoln LS in In October. Found the engine mounts were leaking. Yes, they are an oil filled mount. Had the local Ford dealer replace them. But I didn't even get out of the dealers lot and noticed my steering was heavy. I took it back to them, they checked it out and said it was a tight knuckle in the steering column.
I took it home and got the column off the steering rack and proved it wasn't the knuckle. Took the car back to them the next day. Now they are telling me it's the steering rack. $1700.00 to repair if using a new Ford rack.
I'm wondering what the hell they did to it when they changed the mounts? The steering prior to the mount change was beautiful and flauless.
Anyone else have the same experiance?
 
Camlachie06LS said:
I bought our 06 Lincoln LS in In October. Found the engine mounts were leaking. Yes, they are an oil filled mount. Had the local Ford dealer replace them. But I didn't even get out of the dealers lot and noticed my steering was heavy. I took it back to them, they checked it out and said it was a tight knuckle in the steering column.
I took it home and got the column off the steering rack and proved it wasn't the knuckle. Took the car back to them the next day. Now they are telling me it's the steering rack. $1700.00 to repair if using a new Ford rack.
I'm wondering what the hell they did to it when they changed the mounts? The steering prior to the mount change was beautiful and flauless.
Anyone else have the same experiance?
Click to expand...

I would crawl under and look for any damage... bent rods etc.. Not sure what procedure they use to change them, but ive heard its as easy as lifting up on the block and swaping... could be they lifted from the wrong point and did damage... take it to another dealer and have them check it out( have them tell you exactly whats wrong). It might cost you a bit, but you clearly cant trust your dealer...
 
Engine mount/ steering rack

G-RELL said:
I would crawl under and look for any damage... bent rods etc.. Not sure what procedure they use to change them, but ive heard its as easy as lifting up on the block and swaping... could be they lifted from the wrong point and did damage... take it to another dealer and have them check it out( have them tell you exactly whats wrong). It might cost you a bit, but you clearly cant trust your dealer...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have done this. I did take it to another Ford dealer. At least this new mechanic followed the "Pin Point" procedure in the Lincoln manual and came up with the conclusion that it's the rack, the pump is good. I thought that it might have been a damaged VAPS sensor because it just seem like I have lost the Variable Assist Power Steering but there were no codes at all.
I also had a look for any possible damage... pinched lines, wires or damaged VAPS and oil pressure sensors. I cannot see anything obvious. I don't know how the mechanic actually got the drive side mount out without disconnecting any of the lines.
I find it strange that they say it's the rack when I have no issues with the steering other that the heavyness at slow speed. I'm thinking that perhaps the solinoid valve may have a blockage and my next step would be to remove the rack myself get it on the bench and toughly flush it and the solinoid valve. Also clean the pump, reservoir tank and lines. What have got to loose? I'll take pictures and keep you posted.
 
Engine mount/ steering rack

G-RELL said:
I would crawl under and look for any damage... bent rods etc.. Not sure what procedure they use to change them, but ive heard its as easy as lifting up on the block and swaping... could be they lifted from the wrong point and did damage... take it to another dealer and have them check it out( have them tell you exactly whats wrong). It might cost you a bit, but you clearly cant trust your dealer...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have done this. I did take it to another Ford dealer. At least this new mechanic followed the "Pin Point" procedure in the Lincoln manual and came up with the conclusion that it's the rack, the pump is good. I thought that it might have been a damaged VAPS sensor because it just seem like I have lost the Variable Assist Power Steering but there were no codes at all.
I also had a look for any possible damage... pinched lines, wires or damaged VAPS and oil pressure sensors. I cannot see anything obvious. I don't know how the mechanic actually got the drive side mount out without disconnecting any of the lines.
I find it strange that they say it's the rack when I have no issues with the steering other that the heavyness at slow speed. I'm thinking that perhaps the solinoid valve may have a blockage and my next step would be to remove the rack myself get it on the bench and toughly flush it and the solinoid valve. Also clean the pump, reservoir tank and lines. What have got to loose? I'll take pictures and keep you posted.
 
fluid filled mounts...wow. I'm going to assume no one makes a solid or something not filled with fluid
 
I did mine a year ago on a V6. Got a great price from rock auto. Like $55 for one mount.

In order to do this job, the crossmember that the steering rack mounts to has to be nearly removed, IIRC. By that I mean, loosen the bolts and drop it down as much as possible, because the engine mounts are sitting on that structure. All this is done while also pushing up on the engine from underneath.

When I removed the old mount, inverting it made oil pour out of it.

On my car, the driver's side mount was broken apart and allowed the engine to lift on that side while applying forward motion to the drive train.

One other thing about the hard steering, I would check out the universal joint on the steering shaft from the wheel to the rack. Mine went bad and the wheel was very difficult to turn at low speed. It also failed to return to center on its own when coming out of a turn. Much cheaper than a new rack.
 
Jval1283 said:
fluid filled mounts...wow. I'm going to assume no one makes a solid or something not filled with fluid
Click to expand...

Why, because you want more noise and vibration from the engine to transfer to the rest of the the car?
 
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