| Since the day I picked up my
240, I noticed the ill effects of soggy, old motor mounts.
Even new mounts are a bit soggy. What are the effects of
old engine mounts? Very spongy response from the engine. You
may notice that you get a bog-snap take off that probably drives you
crazy. What's the solution? You
have two options. One is to use the same technique as I did in
my homemade motor
mount write-up. Simply fill in all the gaps with the window
weld. You could possibly do it with the mounts in the car if you
really want to try
A much more costly method, but quite a bit
less "home brewed" is Nismo's motor mount upgrade for the 240SX with
the KA engine.
Here are the part numbers:
As you can see, the mounts look identical. In
fact, I had contemplated filling them with window weld, but decided
to wait and see how they felt compared to stock given the fact that
new mounts are significantly stiffer than the originals.
Start by raising and securing the front of the
car.
I would suggest starting with the engine mounts. The
driver's side mount is easier than the passenger side. There
aren't as many parts in the way. Here's a shot of the driver's
side mount:
Remove both of the nuts
You'll need to remove the oil filter on the
passenger's side to get better access to the mount. With the
filter out of the way, remove all of the nuts on top of the mount.
You'll need to find the nut located on the
bottom of the mount. If you look between the steering rack (boot in
picture) and the sub frame, you'll see the nut. Remove both the
nut from the passenger and driver's side.
Raising the engine can be difficult. Use
a jack and a piece of 2x4 about a foot long, raise the engine by the
alternator bracket for the right side and the AC bracket for the
driver's side. Raising the engine this way, will allow it to
twist giving you more room to remove the mount. Slide the old
mount out and the new one in. Reattach all of the mounting
hardware.
For the transmission mount, you'll need to
raise the back of the transmission using a jack. You'll need
to remove the cross-member. There are 4 bolts that secure the
cross-member. Remove both nuts that secure the cross-member to
the transmission
You will also need to remove the nuts that
secure the exhaust mount to the transmission mount.
With the cross-member out of the way, remove
the two bolts that secure the mount to the transmission.
Slip on the new mount and as always, the
installation is the opposite of removal!
Impressions:
The new mounts are MUCH stiffer than the
original units. Vibration inside the car is minimal and the
improvement is very noticeable. Launching the car is much smoother
whether you are accelerating casually or aggressively. Nearly
all of the slop has
vanished. You could take the time to fill the mounts and make
them even stiffer, but I don't feel that it's necessary.
I've experienced a 240SX where the stock
mounts were filled with window weld material. Vibrations in
the interior were much more pronounced. It seems like the
Nismo mounts were designed to avoid that problem and still offer a
significant improvement.
This was definitely an upgrade I recommend!
|
