Engine Mounts replacement quote. Updated video!

[Hellotalkie]

I have a 1997 civic, 178,xxx miles. I've been putting off this repair for quite some time due it not being a big issue for me. But now the engines vibrations have become increasingly more noticeable. I can feel and hear the A/C disengaging and engaging all the time when in park. The car tends to always vibrate when idling or parked, its become very annoying. I've also noticed I can feel every shift. Transmission fluid looks good so I don't think its an issue with that.

I recently moved but my old mechanic said the engine mounts were shot and need to be replaced.

I called up firestone down the street, they said they can replace all 3 engine mounts for about 430.

Looking online, I can't really find a good starting point as to if that quote is very high or about average.

How much did you guys pay to get them replaced?

Thanks!

 

[Raduque]

I paid $60 to replace mine....

because I did the work myself.


Edit: If you have a hydraulic floor jack, two jack stands and some metric tools and are even the LEAST bit mechanically inclined, it's a VERY easy job.

 

[mizzou]

spend the $ on a repair manual, and check to see how difficult it is. On one of my vehicles you seriously only have to remove a few bolts and move around some stuff, it seriously takes no time at all.

but if your engine mount system is complicated, I could see it being a pain and not wanting to bother.

I think I paid $30 for each mount, 2xengine mounts and 1xtransmission mount. So around $90

 

[jlee]

+1 to the above. I replaced one on my '86 MR2 and it was very easy. Some can be difficult. It's probably worth getting under the car (use jackstands!) and checking to see which one is bad (or which ones), and then figure out how hard of a job it is. You may only need one, and it might be an easy one to get to.

 

[punjabiplaya]

upgraded the stock one on my car, took like 30 mins to do it. As long as you have ramps or a jack, it's usually reaaaaaaaly easy

 

[Arkaign]

Yeah I'd do it yourself in that little civic, the tiny motor makes it cake to access the places you need to compared to a lot of newer vehicles. Have some cold beers ready for the celebration when you feel the accomplishment of doing it yourself and saving a grip of cash.

Have fun!

 

[AMCRambler]

Rear mount can be a bitch. The others are cake. Tried to do the mounts on my buddies 2002 Honda Accord a couple months ago. The front and two side mounts were cake. The rear was going to require us to pull the intake manifold and throttle body off. They are mounted on the top rear of the motor and without removing them you don't have enough clearance to jack the engine up with the cowling in the way.

If the Civic is set up anything like that, it's a bear for the rear. You can always do what we did, replace the other three and call it good enough.

 

[Gillbot]

I had a set of poly mounts to swap on mine, decided to say the hell with it. Mine are NOT an easy swap.

 

[Rifter]

the rear mount can be a pain. The others though are less than 20 min per mount with jusat basic hand tools. Make sure you have some good extensions and universal joints to get to the rear mount.

 

[Svnla]

I have a newer vehicle than the OP and the dealer told me then engine mounts will need to be replace sometimes.

So what will happen if you don't change the engine mount(s)? Will the engine fall off or any castatrophies or damages?

 

[punjabiplaya]

I have a newer vehicle than the OP and the dealer told me then engine mounts will need to be replace sometimes.

So what will happen if you don't change the engine mount(s)? Will the engine fall off or any castatrophies or damages?

just lots of the engine slamming around the engine bay. unless they all fail, then it can be really bad, but usually just one failing is no big deal apart from clunking (but still get it fixed asap)

 

[AMCRambler]

Excessive engine movement can cause big problems. Screw up your cv joints or half shafts and possibly the transmission.

 

[punjabiplaya]

Excessive engine movement can cause big problems. Screw up your cv joints or half shafts and possibly the transmission.

well, it depends on what has failed/level of failure

 

[Vette73]

You need to have someone take a better look at it. ALL mounts usually don't fail. 1 or 2 maybe but not all of them.

Jack up the motor a little bit and watch each of the mounts. If they seperate then replace, same for trans. But if they hold the vehicle and are not leaking fluid then keep.

 

[hanoverphist]

spend the $ on a repair manual, and check to see how difficult it is. On one of my vehicles you seriously only have to remove a few bolts and move around some stuff, it seriously takes no time at all.

but if your engine mount system is complicated, I could see it being a pain and not wanting to bother.

I think I paid $30 for each mount, 2xengine mounts and 1xtransmission mount. So around $90

http://hondatech.info/downloads/Auto/Manuals/Civic

heres a link to the service manual for your car. i have a 98 civic hatchback and just replaced both lower mounts for the cost of the mounts. took me about 30 minutes, with smoke breaks. hardest part was lifting the car, actually. the uppers are even easier.

 

[hanoverphist]

You need to have someone take a better look at it. ALL mounts usually don't fail. 1 or 2 maybe but not all of them.

Jack up the motor a little bit and watch each of the mounts. If they seperate then replace, same for trans. But if they hold the vehicle and are not leaking fluid then keep.

the mounts for that particular car/ year are crap. they are 4 point rubber ribbons for the most part, and easily rot away over time. only reason i know this is both my lower mounts were completely separated when i got my car, and have both been replaced.

the accord is a very different beast, and cant really be compared to the civic in this respect. doesnt the accord have a V6 instead of the I4?

 

[Hellotalkie]

Alright thanks for the help guys! I am going to bring it to my mechanic to confirm if its the engine mounts or not causing the excessive virbation.

I have uploaded a video to youtube. You can tell the vibration is there once I turn on the a/c (look at the air filter box) The video does not really show the severity of the vibration but it is definitely there.. You can also tell that that "clicking" noise is the clutch engaging. Is it suppose to be that loud?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXjtJo685zs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWZ4mvvNBU

 

[mizzou]

Replace them IMMEDIATELY in my opinion. Someone failed to do that on my car and I noticed that when I tried to remove the top engine mount, 2 of the three solid bolts snapped off into the timing chain cover and it was so bad that I had to remove the entire cover which was a gigantic pain, and then find a junkyard that had one in decent shape because brand new it was $$$$$

The engine rocks all crazy all over the place if it's serious and it can really damage alot of goods

 

[Hellotalkie]

Watch at 18 sec. I can hear the a/c clutch clicking in and out and the rpms match the clicking sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkru36uZ3H4&feature=channel_video_title

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Replace them IMMEDIATELY in my opinion. Someone failed to do that on my car and I noticed that when I tried to remove the top engine mount, 2 of the three solid bolts snapped off into the timing chain cover and it was so bad that I had to remove the entire cover which was a gigantic pain, and then find a junkyard that had one in decent shape because brand new it was $$$$$

The engine rocks all crazy all over the place if it's serious and it can really damage alot of goods

This... One mount failing makes the other mounts work much harder and more prone to failure. Can cause CV issues, trans, clearance, etc etc etc. Most fwd vehicles are setup in a way where the main rear mount can fail without catastrophe but I'd still replace it asap

 

[hanoverphist]

i can tell ya that if you have all mounts bad in that car, it runs very smooth. i had both bottom mounts severed completely and lemme tell ya, that engine will shudder the whole damn car. the dashboard would vibrate. with it being that smooth without the ac on, id say it is pulley or compressor related more than mounts. just from experience with the exact same engine in my car.