Changing 944 engine mounts the easy way.
 

G'day, I tried doing this replacement today and had this experience. I started my career many years ago in aerospace engineering and as some aircraft ( particularly military ones) can be notoriously difficult to work on, I always read the manual first and then looked for an easier way. Well this was no different. Everyone says lower the subframe and raise the engine and twist the mounts out etc.

Well looking at the system, my first instinct was - This seems a lot of work but I thought - this is what everyone says so I tried it anyway. Well what a s#*t fight. After sweating for an hour I thought bugger this and took a fresh look. It turns out there is a much easier way.

Forget touching the subframe or the steering uni joint ot anything else.

Here's the quickest way to do it.

Starting with the RHS
1 Undo the clamp and move the power steering reservoir out of the way

2 Undo the water pipe that runs above the exhaust manifold and the front hose and move it back and out of the way

3 Undo all the exhaust manifold bolts

4 Go under the car and unbolt the exhaust manifolds from the 2 into 1 pipe

5 Lift both pieces of the exhaust manifold out of the car.

6 Undo the bottom engine mount bolt (in the subframe)

7 Support the engine with a jack and piece of wood under the sump

8 Undo the four bolts on the engine mount strut that bolt to the block

9 twist the mount strut 90 degrees anticlockwise and remove from the car.

10 Remove the old mount from the strut.

11 Place the new mount in the housing on the subframe - make sure you push the raised rubber edge of the mount under the lip on the subframe, so it snaps into place.

12 Drop the mount strut on top of the mount and bolt it into place on the mount and the block (you may have to jack the engine a little to line up the bolts on the block.

13 Replace the exhaust manifold and reinstall everything you moved.

Job done. It took me less that 30 minutes to do the whole job.

The LHS is even easier. Support the engine with a jack. Remove the air box and AFM all as one piece, unbolt and remove the mount strut with the mount attached replace and refit. Easy as... It will take about 15-20 mins.

Too bad there isn't an easy way to perform this easy on a turbo version car.

Thanks for sharing!

LOL... nothing is easy on a turbo. :eek:

Got lazy and had my newly discovered P-shop perform this job (starting to get too cold outside to lay on my back in the driveway). I can't describe the difference except for WOW!!! The steering wheel is absolutely vibration free and she shifts and actually sounds better. Best of all, the shop is providing a 2yr/24k mile warranty. Can't beat that! I'm looking forward to really testing her out during this weekend's run.

Working on changing the Oil Pan gasket and the passenger side Motor Mounts have been a big PITA. Was hoping to avoid removing the exhaust but I can't get enough torque on the bolts to get them off. Thanks for the post I'll try this over the weekend.

nice method in the OP. makes sense.

the real easy way is to wait 10 years until you have the engine out of the car and then you can stand over the crossmember while installing the new mounts...about 30 seconds per side :D

There is no way this will be a 30 minute job. Hell it takes that long to undo all the bolts on the manifolds. The easiest way is to completely remove the exhaust manifolds, remove the steering rack from the crossmember and the hard line for the power steering bolted to the crossmember, then remove the a arms from the crossmember support the engine with a floor jack and wood then remove the crossmember entirely from the car. Pressure wash it to get all the grime from power steering fluid leaks from the last 38 years off of it , coat the new mounts with silicone and slide them in , throw the old power steering rack out and install everything back in and throw in a new manual rack because you got so pissed off with the power one being in the damn way. :)

My easy method: Have a shop replace the mounts. I had factory OEM mounts installed and WOW! what a difference! Smooth👍👍

There is an easy way, even for the turbo. Send the x-member to Lindsey for the 3-piece conversion. It made changing the mounts a breeze. Drop the mounts with the two end pieces, put new ones on at the workbench, and put them back into the car. Easy under an hour. And you'll love it if when you need to replace the pan gasket.

My non P-Car mechanic did the replacement on my 87S in about 2-3 hours. I doubt he lowered the cross member or removed the exhaust manifold. I think he just raised the engine and maybe used a pry bar to lift up one side a bit more. Would this cause damage?

I don't think so - I replaced the eng. mount the same (similar) way.