How to check engine mounts, which indicates wear and condition assessment

The car engine vibrates during operation. If this phenomenon is not eliminated, it will create significant discomfort for the driver and passengers. But the most important thing is that this negatively affects the car itself. Special cushions dampen vibration. They can wear out and fail. Therefore, it is worth knowing when and how to replace engine mounts.

We also recommend reading the article about why engine vibration is transmitted to the body or is felt at idle. From this article you will learn about various reasons why vibration from the internal combustion engine may increase at idle speed.

When is the engine mount replaced?

The main reason for replacing engine mounts is the natural wear and tear of the rubber part. This process is irreversible and any rubber product is susceptible to it. However, there are a number of cases when replacing a support may be necessary ahead of schedule - this is an accident or any other accidental damage.

Symptoms of faulty supports include the following:

Various knocks that appear when you suddenly start moving or braking. Sometimes it can occur when changing gears.
Vibrations that are transmitted from the engine to the body. If the level of vibrations in the cabin has increased, then it’s time to assess the condition of the supports.
It may happen that when replacing the timing belt, the mechanism cover will not be so easy to remove due to the fact that the engine tilts towards the mudguard. This phenomenon is associated with subsidence of the rubber part of the support.
Due to a sagging engine, the geometry of the CV joints is disrupted. Therefore, if you notice too rapid wear of the grenades, you need to carefully check the engine mounts.
Shifting the gearbox may be accompanied by a certain metal grinding noise. This suggests that due to the sagging engine, the wings have dropped lower. Accordingly, when switching, they touch other parts of the car.
There are cracks and other defects on the rubber parts of the support.

If you delay replacement until a later date, the engine may collapse and then repairs will become much more expensive. That is why, try to change the supports immediately after detecting malfunctions.

Additional Information

Competent ZAZ Lanos drivers will not wait for the engine to start shaking from side to side. It is best to prevent this symptom . For this reason, at the mileage mark of 50,000 (km), from the last replacement of the pillows, it is best to carry out a comprehensive replacement of the power unit mounts.

Many craftsmen are looking for a reason to replace pillows. Most often, attention is paid to traces of mechanical wear (cuts, cracks, etc.). But at the same time, many craftsmen forget that rubber softens over time . Even with a one-piece design, the rubber of the cushions becomes excessively soft. It is better not to neglect the technical condition of the power unit supports.

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Consequences of untimely replacement

The engine support provides reliable elastic mounting of the engine to the body, which determines the level of vibration of the latter, and hence the sound insulation of the entire vehicle. Extreme wear is indicated by excessive background noise and clatter on poorly surfaced roads. You should not bring the details to this state, as this can lead to disastrous consequences:

due to poor fastening of the engine, the air filter will hit the hood;

Most often, car power units are equipped with three supports, but there are models on which five such parts are installed. Experts recommend replacing everything at once, rather than one at a time.

In the video - what will happen if you do not replace the engine mount in a timely manner:

Articles

The choice of parts should be taken seriously since engine mounts play an important role. Let's look at the original catalog numbers of the engine mounts that are installed on the Hyundai Accent:

21830-25010 — left
21810-25110 - right
21930-25010 - rear
21910-25010 — front

How to remove and change the front and rear supports of a VAZ 2109

Front support

First, let's look at the sequence of replacing the front support, and then the rear. To change the front support, it is not necessary to drive the car into the inspection hole, you just need to have the following set of tools: a set of various sockets, spanners, sockets and the corresponding ratchet, a wrench, a jack, a special liquid for cleaning metal from corrosion and a new part.

Procedure:

Before carrying out work, it is necessary to place the car on a level surface, immobilize it and remove the terminal from the battery. After this, treat the bolted joints with WD-40. This will make disassembling the connections easier.
Under the car, locate and unscrew all the engine protection bolts. It is not necessary to remove all the elements; it is enough to unscrew only the part that blocks access to the mudguard and pan. After this, loosen the bolts connecting the engine support parts.
Raise the engine with a jack until the bolt in the support begins to move freely. After this, unscrew the nut completely and remove the bolt from the cushion. If it is bent and does not give in, then you can use impact tools and knock it out from the back side.
Once the cushion is free, unscrew the bracket bolts that secure it to the cylinder block. Next, the old support is dismantled and a new part is installed in its place in the reverse order. When installing a new support, the hole in the pad may not line up. This is an absolutely normal phenomenon, since the engine pressed the old part sufficiently and it became deformed. Use a jack to adjust the installation height.

Rear support

To replace the rear support, it is recommended to use a hole or overpass, since working under the car while lying down is quite inconvenient and dangerous.

First of all, it is necessary to install some kind of support or jack under the gearbox so that it does not move in the future. The support must be strong, since a rather impressive mass will act on it.
Using a 17mm socket, you need to unscrew the two nuts that are designed to secure the support bracket to the car body. After this, the stop or jack is lowered slightly, and using a 19 socket and a wrench, the mounting of the cushion on the gearbox is unscrewed.
Using an impact tool, remove the thick bolt and remove the old cushion. After this, install a new support and secure it to the gearbox. Then, lift the support or jack and screw the nuts securing the support to the car body. Tighten with sufficient force, since poorly tightened nuts can cause the power unit to sag again and cause rapid wear of the fastening devices.

Signs of engine mount failure

Increased vibration of the motor indicates that it is necessary to pay attention to the condition of the supports. During normal engine operation, an increasing rattling of the body appears, the steering rack, control panel and pedals begin to vibrate

These are signs that the pillows have become unusable.

The vibration peak usually occurs during engine startup and shutdown. If the rubber cushions are completely worn out, it is possible that a knock may occur, which is caused by the fact that the motor elements come into contact with the supports.

To confirm the guess about the wear of the pillows, you need to start the engine, open the hood and conduct a visual inspection of the engine and its supports, and also determine the degree of vibration by placing your palm on the engine.

The reasons for failure of supports may be the following:

resource development;
mechanical and other influences (for example, chemically active substances and liquids);
influence of temperature changes;
loss of elasticity due to “aging” of rubber;

Replacing engine mounts

Replacing car engine mounts

The cost of replacing engine mounts is usually low - from 500 rubles per piece. An exception may be “running” cars. For example, this amount can become significantly larger if the holes in the gearbox housing intended for bolts or studs for fastening the support are already torn off or the studs themselves are broken. Often this requires dismantling the unit - otherwise the hole cannot be drilled and threaded - space does not allow this work to be done on site. Quite often it happens that when unscrewing the bolts securing the supports to the spar or subframe, the embedded welded nuts inside the latter break off. This happens, for example, when replacing the left airbag with a Daewoo Nexia. You have to make a “window” in the spar and weld the nut. Replacing the rear engine mount on old VAZ 2108 - 2110 can cause especially a lot of trouble - sometimes you have to weld a “patch”, replacing part of the rotten bottom with it. But these are rather exceptions. In general, the replacement procedure is quite simple. It is enough to hang the engine so that the support is unloaded. For this purpose, you can use a jack mounted on a board laid across the inspection hole. An unloaded pillow, as a rule, can be easily removed and replaced with a new one. Sometimes additional disassembly may be required to gain access to the support.

Design features

A rigid engine mount contributes to the transmission of noise into the car interior and increases the load on the internal combustion engine parts, since the body inevitably “plays” when driving over uneven surfaces. Therefore, vibration-damping materials are used in the design of the pillows. In modern automotive industry, several types of support designs are used:

rubber-metal cushion. The units are fastened to metal elements, between which there is a layer of rubber. The silent blocks used in car suspensions have an identical design. This type of pillow is the most common because it has a long resource and low production cost. Some types of rubber-metal supports use springs to increase rigidity, as well as buffer elements to reduce shock loads. Rubber alloy or polyurethane is used as a damping material;
hydraulic cushion. The operating principle is close to the operation of shock absorbers. The design of hydraulic mounts is more progressive, since it allows vibration damping to be adapted to the changing amplitude of engine and gearbox vibrations. The device assumes the presence of a working fluid, a membrane, upper (working) and lower (expansion) chambers, as well as a throttling channel. At idle speed, vibrations of the internal combustion engine are dampened by a membrane. As the speed increases, the rigidity of the membrane is not enough, so vibration damping begins to be carried out by hydraulic fluid. Thanks to this principle of operation, the cushion remains soft at idle, changing hardness only as engine speed increases.

We will not consider the design of electromagnetic and electrovacuum engine mounts, since they are found only on luxury cars, where replacing an engine mount with your own hands is a phenomenon bordering on science fiction.

Where is the engine mount located and what does it look like?

Mounts can mount the engine to a subframe, frame, or directly to the car body. The photo shows the main types of supports, so even a novice car enthusiast can find an internal combustion engine support on his car by analogy. To securely fix the motor, at least 3 pillows are used. The most commonly used scheme is with three lower and two upper supports.

Symptoms of failure

Engine mounts do not have a clearly defined service life, and therefore replacement in most cases occurs only after characteristic symptoms appear:

vibrations appear only during acceleration or at low speeds;
dull knocks when changing gears, releasing the gas, or sharply pressing the accelerator pedal;
the engine begins to shake when the gearbox selector is moved to position D or R (for cars with automatic transmission).

Diagnostics

To ensure that replacing engine cushions is not in vain, it is necessary to pay due attention to diagnostics. Main faults:

subsidence of the rubber layer, as a result of which the metal parts of the support begin to contact, thereby transmitting vibrations from the cushions to the body (typical only for some types of construction);
detachment of the rubber layer from the metal clips, which leads to looseness;
the appearance of cracks and tears in rubber;
destruction of the damping layer due to the ingress of engine oil or other technical fluids that corrode the rubber of the cushions;
depressurization, as a result of which working fluid flows out of the hydraulic support (usually hydraulic fluid or propylene glycol, used in the manufacture of antifreeze);
breaking off of a metal bracket (breakage is rare, but it does happen).

The check should begin with a visual inspection. If no obvious signs of malfunction have been identified, you need to start the engine. The upper cushions can be observed by opening the hood; the rear and side supports are most often clearly visible from the inspection hole. Ask an assistant to “turn” the engine, as vibrations can only manifest themselves at a certain speed. It would be a good idea to start moving, and in a car with an automatic transmission, move the selector one by one to all positions. Airbag knocks often occur when starting and stopping an internal combustion engine.

DIY repair tool

To install the engine mount, you will need:

a set of keys and sockets (the exact number depends on the size of the bolts used on the old and new cushions, as well as the number of parts that will have to be removed to gain access to the supports. All this information is in the operation and repair manual for your car model);
a jack that will be used to support the engine while the replacement takes place;

Additional tools may require a brush to clean dirt from bolts, as well as WD-40 or its equivalent to remove stuck nuts.

Diagnostics of engine mounts

Signs of wear on engine mounts

Worn engine mount

Depending on which engine mount is torn, signs of its malfunction may include:

Engine vibration at idle.
Extraneous knocks while driving, felt in the engine compartment or under the gearbox.
Jerks during dynamic acceleration of the car.
Knocks in the engine compartment when starting or stopping the engine.
Difficulty shifting gears.

On cars with hydraulic supports, the acceleration dynamics may also deteriorate. Visually faulty airbags can be identified by delamination and rupture of rubber dampers or breakage of aluminum brackets. An experienced specialist can also visually identify a sagging pillow by how severely its damper is deformed.

Types of pillows

Types of car engine mounts

Despite the variety of design options, the general purpose of the cushions is to act as an engine mount, i.e. dampen vibrations and vibrations of the power unit. The role of an engine damper is usually played by rubber (sometimes in interaction with the hydraulic properties of the oil), absorbing shocks and vibration, while preventing displacement of the power unit. As an example, we can take the motor mount on the Niva. It is a rubber cylinder with plates with threaded rods welded to it. The left and right engine mounts are absolutely identical, the third, which supports the gearbox, has a slightly different appearance and is mounted on a crossbar mounted on the bottom of the car. The dimensions of the supports and their attachment points are designed in such a way as to prevent displacement of the power unit, while the weight of the engine compresses the cushion and is distributed so that rupture of the rubber due to its shear deformation is practically eliminated. In a similar way, the engine, also located longitudinally to the axis of the car, was installed on the Volga. But with a transverse engine arrangement, it is somewhat more difficult to balance it, due to the design of the power unit as a whole. Therefore, the supports most often take the form of suspension arms, which have silent blocks as an engine damper, as on the additional supports of the VAZ 2112: This design of supports is also sometimes caused by the need to support the points of the engines most distant from the body, which after modernization have acquired a large mass. The use of additional supports allows the installation of heavier engines without significant changes to the vehicle design. The most typical method for relatively small power units is the method of “hanging” them, as on 2108 -09. The engine and gearbox assembly has three mounting points:

left engine mount;
rear (lower) engine mount.

Preparation for repair work

The presence of rubber elements in the structure of the racks implies a “positive” temperature at which their repair can be carried out. Otherwise, the rubber hardens, making it impossible to properly adjust the position of the power unit. The sequence of preparatory actions looks like this:

entry to the inspection pit;
battery disconnection;
inspection of the front left pillar (it is the one that most often fails);
inspect all the pillows one by one.

If the fastening is broken, the rack itself can be repaired. This is economically justified, since replacing engine mounts, which are quite expensive, will cost much more.

What is needed for repairs

First, you need to determine which support on the VAZ 2110 engine should be changed (if you do not want to change all the damper mounts at once). To do this, you need to do an independent inspection of these parts. Sometimes, the power plant seems to be tilted horizontally on one side or tilted along the central axis of the car. This is the first sign to replace the damper mounts.

Locksmith kit	Rolling jack
A couple of short boards	Angle grinder (grinder)

Two cushions (side) secure the engine to the left and right side members in the engine compartment. And one (rear) fixes the motor to the bottom. Therefore, it is necessary to lift the machine on a lift or install it on a viewing hole. The wear is immediately visible. The rubber has tears and core failure. Depending on the result of visual diagnostics, you should purchase the required number of parts for installation.

You will need a tool. In most cases, a standard locksmith set consisting of open-end and box-end wrenches with heads will be sufficient. In addition, to replace engine mounts on a VAZ 2110 you will need a rolling jack and a pair of short boards. It is advisable to have electricity and a cutting machine with a disc, since you may have to cut off the mounting bolts.

Helpful information! A couple of hours before repairs, it is strongly recommended to apply universal lubricant “Liquid Key” to the threaded connections. Damper supports are changed very rarely, therefore, unscrewing them without prior preparation is quite difficult.

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DIY repair tool

To install the engine mount, you will need:

a set of keys and sockets (the exact number depends on the size of the bolts used on the old and new cushions, as well as the number of parts that will have to be removed to gain access to the supports. All this information is in the operation and repair manual for your car model);
a jack that will be used to support the engine while the replacement takes place;

Additional tools may require a brush to clean dirt from bolts, as well as WD-40 or its equivalent to remove stuck nuts.