Engine mount failure: noise, checking and which mounts to order

The side mounts (the damping blocks at each side of the engine) are the ones that wear out. Fitting them is covered in the engine mount replacement guide. This one is about recognising the fault, checking which mount it is, and what to order.

What it sounds like

• A grinding noise or clonk under hard acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear. One owner said that if you get a noise in 1st or 2nd, it is the mounts.
• Other owners described it differently: a harsh vibration by the right ear, a harsh crackle from behind, or a grinding noise under the passenger seat. In those cases the mount was split in half when it came off.
• One owner thought the rear wheel was coming off under hard acceleration, and the mount was found in two pieces.
• Several owners could tell which side had gone from where the noise came from. The mount itself can be failing without any noise, and one owner found one had gone without knowing.
• Not every noise is a mount. In one case a similar noise was traced to the undertray, and the removed mount compared fine with the old one.

Checking the mounts

1. Jack the car and support it on stands, and remove the wheel and the arch liner on the side you are checking.
2. Put a pry bar between the mount and the chassis and lever. One owner said that if a mount is bad enough to make a noise, the movement should be visible.
3. Look at the rubber cone for a split at the bottom. With the engine lifted slightly, the split is easy to see. A visibly lifting engine under load also points to a split mount.
4. One owner said the mounts also leak their fluid, and had a mount replaced on that basis before it made any noise. Look for staining.
5. The front and rear mounts are a visual inspection. Take the undertrays off to see them.

Change one side or both?

• One experienced owner said that on every car he had changed mounts on, if one side was noisy the other side had also failed in some way, and as the parts are cheap and the job easy, do both.
• Another owner replaced one side and saw the second go a few thousand miles later. Another fitted a pair because the car was up and the tools were out, and found only one had gone.
• The counter-view: if you only change the noisy one, you can still have the noise, if the other mount or something else is the cause, and wasted the labour. A previous owner may have changed one side already.
• Owners reported side mount failures from about 27,000 miles. One said mounts can last 50,000 to 60,000 miles or more if you avoid hard starts. That is an opinion. In 2006 one owner said they would probably need replacing every 20,000 to 40,000 miles, which is a guess.
• Factory labour times quoted in 2006 were 1.8 hours for the near side and 2 hours for the off side. An owner estimated both sides in under 2 hours, with the caveat that you never know with someone else's car and its nuts.

Which parts to order

• Normally two side mounts. Owners said only the side mounts fail, so the answer to "do I need four?" is no. In one case a garage asked for "the other engine mounts" after being supplied with one side mount, and the owner had to order a full set. The front and rear mounts are different parts.
• Check the size. In 2016 one owner warned that pattern mounts from one supplier had turned out to be the wrong size in several cases, and recommended original ones. A 2013 post said that supplier had found a new source of original mounts. See the engine mount replacement guide for the 70 mm versus 64 mm case.
• Uprated side mounts. Earlier posts said there was nothing for the side mounts but the standard part. Vibra-Technics side mounts were mentioned in later threads. One owner said he would choose them next time because, by design, they cannot pull completely out of the mount. See the engine mount replacement guide for the maker's description.

Polyurethane inserts for the front and rear mounts

• Owners recommend them: they limit how far the engine moves, so the side mounts are loaded less and should last longer. One owner said the engine also feels more connected to the chassis.
• One owner who fitted a set to the front mount six years earlier said the side mounts had not let him down since. Another said the same after several years, and he does hard starts. A third fitted front and rear and said there was an amazing difference.
• The cost: more vibration, particularly at idle. One owner who fitted front and rear said it vibrates loads on tick over. Another owner called the cabin vibration slight. Another ran Powerflex front and rear mounts and said the cost was a little more vibration in the cockpit.
• Fitting the inserts is a quick job. One owner thought fitting inserts at the same time as the side mounts is worth it.
• All of this is owner opinion. Nobody measured engine movement or mount life.

While you are in there

One owner who fitted both sides said that a friend spotted his ancillary belt tensioner was about to fail and replaced it too. If the car has a lot of miles, take the same look.