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Hey everyone, I have an '03 Maxima AT and I'm going to be replacing the front motor mount (OEM) this weekend and I was hoping to get any tips, tricks or advice. I consider myself still a beginner when it comes to working on my car, but I think this is a job I can handle. BTW, I only need to replace the front mount as that's the one that's broken and leaking. I replaced all the other mounts with OEM mounts about 30,000 miles ago so they should be fine.
I've done lots of searching and have a good idea on how to approach this. I will be dropping the front cross member and I'm also replacing the cross member bushings with OEM bushings while I have it down.
This is what I have planned after doing the research on here:
Start by unplugging the electronic sensor (brown clip)
1) Jack up car and put in Jack Stands at their appropriate places.
2) Remove the splash guards from under the car
3) Using the floor jack with a piece of wood I will jack up under the oil pan, slightly, maybe an inch, to take the pressure off the mounts.
4) Use a 17mm socket to loosen the center bolt on the front engine mount.
4a) Use a 17mm socket and a wrench on the nut on the other side to loosen, but not remove, the two bolts on the engine mount bracket that holds it to the cross member.
5) Repeat on the rear engine mount.
(My big concern is getting to the rear mount's center bolt, the one that attaches to the engine bracket. I've seen posts where someone takes a couple feet of socket extensions and reaches through the driver's side wheel well. Is there an easier way to access that bolt?)
6) Using 17mm socket, remove the rear (2) cross member bolts.
7) Repeat on the front (2) cross member bolts.
(Is the cross member heavy? Do I need to worry about it potentially falling on me?)
8) Since I'm only replacing the front mount, I remove the two bottom bolts holding the mount to the cross member. Put on the new OEM mount, put anti-seize on the bolt threads and bolt it back together.
(should I bolt this NOW to torque specs 57-72 ft-lb according to the FSM or should I wait until I have everything back in the car before tightening everything to spec?)
When putting everything back is there a smart way to bolt everything back up so it easier to line up the center bolts? Like, put in the rear mount center bolt first then the front mount, then put in the cross member bolts?
If any of you have any other tips and tricks, I'd love to hear them. Remember, I'm not as knowledgeable as you guys so don't speed through any explanations you might have.
I would recommend getting a cheap set of mounts for the manual transmission version and putting energy suspension mounts into them. I have an 02 6 speed and it would easily go through a set of mounts in less than a year, then I switched to Energy Suspension engine mount bushings, and they last a lot longer.
Thanks for the reply, but I'm not replacing any other than the front mount (at this time) and I'm sticking with an OEM mount. I don't have a 6 speed and I'm a pretty tame driver. I'm looking for advice, tips and tricks with the install process. Since you've done this a few times do you have any insights I should know to make the install go smoothly, well.... as smooth as possible.
I wouldn't worry about jacking up by the oil pan. Matter of fact, I always advise against it because it's possible to create oil leaks doing that. Untorque all bolts first. Put the jack under the crossmember, then remove the bolts that bolt the crossmember to the car, then lower the jack. The engine will sag a bit but its held in by the left and right mounts. Then remove the two bolts holding the mounts to the engine and drop the crossmember. It's not a very heavy piece so no worries about it injuring you. Just lay it on your chest as you remove the last bolt. Install in reverse order, but make sure that the holes are well aligned with the car before you install the bolts or else you risk stripping the threads. You can torque everything down once all the bolts are hand tight. Leave them fairly loose until they're all started, at least, so you have some play to line everything up. It's always a good idea to source new bolts and subframe bushings if that fits into your budget. Also, you could soak the bolts with PB blaster an hour or two ahead of time to help with removal.
Overall it's a very easy job; much easier than most motor mounts I've replaced.
i paid a shop, and they must have freaking done it in a very hard sequence or order. took em roughly 6 hours to replace both, i gave them new mounts with polys pressed in too. mine were also original so almost 19 years old. so maybe they had a hard time getting things loose idk. in hind sight i wish I shared the forum knowledge with them, prolly woulda saved them 4 hours lol
i am kinda glad I didn't do it my self i feel like I would have ran into problems, and i need this as a daily.
I replaced my front / rear mounts last year. You sound like me, perhaps a shade tree mechanic, but without any leaves left on the tree. It did require just the right length of extensions, and weaving through the wheel well to get to the center bolt. I live in the South, no rust, so it just took PB blaster and some muscle. BUT, I couldn't imagine having to do the job without an extra pair of hands. For example, for that bolt in question, I held the the extension/socket firmly in place while my partner cranked on the breaker bar two feet away. The same for removing and reattaching the cross bar. It's bulky, awkward, and a little heavy. Having one pair of hands on the front mount and a 2nd pair on the rear mount at the same time made a huge difference. Moral to my story: bribe a friend with Beer, or pizza, or both. You'll be glad you did.
What do you loose if you don't plug in the electronic mount?
Maybe a slight vibration at certain revs, I didn't notice any difference after I disconnected both electronic mounts. It is a known fault in this car along with the IAC valve, if either of the mounts or the IAC valve shorts out, they burn out a chip in the computer and it becomes a nightmare to sort out.
i paid a shop, and they must have freaking done it in a very hard sequence or order. took em roughly 6 hours to replace both, i gave them new mounts with polys pressed in too. mine were also original so almost 19 years old. so maybe they had a hard time getting things loose idk. in hind sight i wish I shared the forum knowledge with them, prolly woulda saved them 4 hours lol
i am kinda glad I didn't do it my self i feel like I would have ran into problems, and i need this as a daily.
WTF? it took them 6 hours or you just left it there for 6 hours? I've done the lower mounts in less than an hour, in my driveway, with no power tools, and not even rushing it.
I can drop my tranny in a little over an hour in my driveway by myself.
best way to do it is drop the beam with the mounts attached and just change both, the only size socket and wrench you will need is 17mm and I think the 4 nuts are 19mm.
be careful on the 4 special bolts that attach the beam to the car, I've had mine off so many times that one of them always feels kind of iffy even though I replaced the 2 rear bolts twice. I recommend a tap to clean the threads m12x1.25...
I actually just had to email Energy Suspension on the lifetime warranty, mine are shot.
WTF? it took them 6 hours or you just left it there for 6 hours? I've done the lower mounts in less than an hour, in my driveway, with no power tools, and not even rushing it.
I can drop my tranny in a little over an hour in my driveway by myself.
yea man i was pretty disappointed once I saw the bill, to defend them , first off its not a normal routine thing, 2nd I am guessing they removed it the completly complex way and not the way the org knows, and 3rd they were original 19 year old parts down there so maybe stuff was hard idk..... but yea it sucked! i forget the cost of it, but I am glad I pressed the polys in mounts in myself and gotta good deal on the mounts from rock auto around 10~20 a piece...
i am super noob with turning wrenches and it's my daily driver so I left it up to them.... still a good shop though, they have figured out super oddball stuff when some shops don't even attempt. they installed ultra racing side lower bars for me with no directions
I have been working on swapping my front/rear motor mounts last few days.
Just when I thought I was done, the rear mount did not align.
The replacement mount frame needed to be expanded to fit the cross member bolt holes. Huge pain.
I might give up and call a mechanic.
10-06-2021, 03:49 PM
It did require just the right length of extensions, and weaving through the wheel well to get to the center bolt. I live in the South, no rust, so it just took PB blaster and some muscle. BUT, I couldn't imagine having to do the job without an extra pair of hands. For example, for that bolt in question, I held the the extension/socket firmly in place while my partner cranked on the breaker bar two feet away. The same for removing and reattaching the cross bar. It's bulky, awkward, and a little heavy. Having one pair of hands on the front mount and a 2nd pair on the rear mount at the same time made a huge difference. Moral to my story: bribe a friend with Beer, or pizza, or both. You'll be glad you did.
