HELP! Engine Mount Replacement...

[COBALT]

So I thought this was going to be easy. Simply loosen the tranny mount + whatever else could bind up, unbolt the old engine mounts, raise the engine, remove the old mounts, put the new ones in, lower the truck, put the center bolt through, reconnect everything I loosened to raise the engine, and I'm done.

Problem is those stupid center bolts won't line up PERIOD. I'm using stock mount replacements and they're the same size and shape. I left the tranny mount bolts in, so the engine hasn't moved backwards. I can only get one side in, the other side is at least 1/8-1/4" off! What the hell!

I've tried everything. The only idea I have left is to unbolt the towers, connect the center bolt to them, and lower the engine with the towers loose, and then try to get THOSE to fit right...

Any suggestions or help?

[Alexis]

I fell into the same problem. I just unbolted the towers. i didn't take the bolts out just allowed it to move around.

[73stepside]

if you tightend the other side then you will have to loosen it so you can get a little side to side play and use a bar to lift the engine while sliding the bolt thru at the same time. may have to have another help with it. get a little tricky doing it by yourself

[COBALT]

Well I had to unbolt the towers to begin with just to get that forth bolt out of the mount, so unbolting them again wasn't a problem.

I ended up bolting the towers to the mounts, and dropping the engine while putting the bolts loose in one side, while using some old long alternator bolts as guide studs on the other. It kinda worked. I ran out of daylight, but the troublesome bracket is about 1/4" off the frame rail with an alternator bolt stuck in it cockeyed.

Tomorrow I'll hit it fresh.

[seacrow]

This is the only way I could get it to work.

I took the towers off and then bolted the mounts to the towers, I put the mount bolt in through the backside with a lockwasher and left it slightly loose. Then I bolted the mount to the block swiveling the towers as required. Then I tightened the nut on the bottom of the tower to the mount and finally lowered the engine down on the frame and bolted on the towers. I went back and retightened everything as good as I could.

Of course I had to take one bolt out a few days later to mount the power steering bracket. That one bolt took me 2 hours to take out and put back in.

[crazy longhorn]

Those mounts can be a pain. I ran into the problem several times, & have been told that the aftermarket mounts are the issue. I dont feel that GM left enough room in the eng mount hole in stand to move things around much either. Any of the trucks that I have had the eng or stands out ......the hole in the stands has been drilled to 5/8" to ease installation . Good luck,crazyL

[COBALT]

As it is they're stock replacements from NAPA. I did have to shave them down a bit where the mount touches the tower on top so they'd be the same size as stock.

I might have this done. 1 Cup of Coffee and I'll be out there.

[PanelDeland]

I have had some luck by loosening all the bolts,towers and mounts, then starting everything before tightening anything.

[COBALT]

Well, I finally got it done. Unbolt the towers, and bolting them to the mounts on the engine helped tremendously. After that I got one side lined up and got the two top bolts in, then did the same thing on the other side with a pry bar and an old alternator bolt I had laying around as a guide stud. I managed to get the front bolt in and tight, then removed the guide stud, and put the other bolt in. Then it was just a function of getting the bottom bolts in the tower through the cross member, and tightening everything up.

As it turns out my engine sits too high now, so my fan was hitting the shroud. I had to slot the holes in the shroud to get it to mount higher. That took me a little while, but I got it done!

Man what a pain. I greatly recomend unbolting the towers!