11 replies to this topic

[Jay]

Hi, Last week my vxt began displaying the dreaded 'engine mount failure' symptoms. Which have been described on here time and time again. It's a 53 vxt with 15k miles and 3 months out of warranty. I have successfully changed the near side using the excellent guide, but I can't loosen the bolts on the off-side. I fear I may have damaged the bolt heads now. I have just test drove the car and the symptoms remain. The near side mount did not appear to be damaged/worn at all and whilst the off-side is still in situ and difficult to examine, this also looks in good condition. Is it possible that it is not the engine mounts causing the symtoms and maybe the exhaust or drive shafts etc etc... banging against something else and then causing the 'grinding' sound?? Any help or feedback from people with experience of this, would be greatly appreciated. I think I am becoming out of my depth and require garage assistance! All the best Jay

[Winstar]

Just before i got my car the front mount was changed by the previous owener and that was causing the same symptoms as the side going,so could be worth checking this I've not done the off side, which bolts are you having trouble with the bracket or those through the mount? Rob PS.glad you found the guide useful

[danyeates]

The mounts will look fine in situ, its only when you get them out that they fall apart. You can see if it is moving by pulling away sharply whilst having someone look up inside the wheel arch (dont get run over!). You will see the engine mount lurch forwards. You will have to take the inner arch liner out first.

[swerve]

Was the nearside one you took off knackered? Plenty of people only do the nearside one just to find the offside one fails straight after.... I guess we need to know how long you have had the car

[NickB787]

I have successfully changed the near side using the excellent guide, but I can't loosen the bolts on the off-side. Which bot top or top ones or the one from below. When I changed mine one looked ok but it wasn't untill I jacked the engine up, the oil came out of it as it was split. Change both together They are bound to be both gone

[ronbot]

They have oil in??

[danyeates]

No........... ........are you sure you changed the engine mount!

[NickB787]

Mine did as i jacked the engine up, the mount split and oil came out. I can tell you it scared the P... out of me initially , wondered what I had broken.

[Jay]

Hey, thanks for the replies guys. The bolts I cannot loosen are the three on the engine mount bracket, not the top and bottom bolts either side of the rubber damping block. The area available to work in is tiny. I've snapped two 13mm sockets trying to loosen these bolts! After removing the near side one it was in perfect condition and the off-side one looks good. I even supported the engine under the rear mount so that the off-side mount had no load on it and was free to move. It looks fine. I must admit I didn't check the front mount as I couldn't easily see it. I guess I'll try the above suggestion - 'Quick launch' with an assistant watching the off-side mount. Any idea how I can check the integrity of the forward and rear mounts? Radiator dumped its coolant last week as well. I feared the worse, but discovered a jubilee clip was loose and the hose had detached. Again, full days work, removing headlight etc etc.. Starting to lose enthusiasm for this little car now my hands are shredded and freezing! Cheers Jay

[CheesyPuff]

Hi everyone happy crimbo

Just had a thought the upper engine mounts on the VX look very much like the upper right hand mount that is used on some of the Peugeots/Citroens, I used to run some of the Citroen models and the mount used to break very much like the VX and their were a few uprated replacements to stop this happening.

After having a quick nose around the net I fount the uprated mount for a 205 Pug which looks perfect to replace the toffee mounts on the VX, I will try to contact the makers to get some measurments of the mount as I dont have an old Pug/Cit mount here to compare but it may be a good replacement.

The standard Pug mounts are only 20 quid so may buy one just to compare them with the VX, its the upper right hand (drivers) side that appears to look very similar to the VX unit.

Look here for the uprated mount from a company called Vibra Tech, if the mounts are similar they may be able to make one for us to fix the problem.

http://www.rallydesi...oducts_id=13092

What do you think could this be the answer or could it be Ive had one to many crimbo drinks tonight?

If we can get the measurements of both units We can compare them.

Cheese...

[danyeates]

The mount looks like it should fit, would need to see them side by side really tom compare - its a tight fit for the standard ones!

The 3 bolts on the engine mount should undo. Mine weren't too much of a problem on my 30,000 mile 2001 NA. Just use a large 3/4" drive socket on a large bar, not a ratchet. Dont use the small 1/2" drive sockets, they won't be up to the job.

Forward and rear mounts should be fine I would have thought. The forward one you can see after taking the undertray and sheer panel off from under the car, it looks more substantial than the right and left ones. The rear one im not so sure, as I've only ever worked on it with the exhaust and clam off. My engine mounts looked fine even with the engine jacked up with no weight on, so I would still assume its the engine mount gone.

Again, there should be no oil in or even near the left and right engine mounts. Are your drive shafts ok?

CLICKY

Above is a thread with photos of a failed engine mount. Where was the oil coming from?

[CheesyPuff]

Hi, If you cut open the rubber part of the mount you will find that it does indeed have some sort of light oil inside, I know it sounds strange but they are like a sweet with a soft center. They are like a small ballon and the oil must aid the damping somehow, when the mount breaks some times they split through into the inside letting the oil out and sometimes they dont If you have an old broken mount laying about try sawing right into the middle of the rubber part and you should find the liquid center it was this very aspect that reminded me that the Peugeot mount was similar, I have found the website for the Vibra-Technics guys and it appears that they make lots of replacment mounts for motorsport (they make the mounts for the Noble GTO) and if the Pug type (upper right) doesnt suit our needs they may be interested in manufacturing a similar one that does. It says on their site that they are making new mounts all the time and that some will be for Vauxhall, maybe with the release of the Astra VXR they might already be developing a mount (Im assuming the VXR Astra mount is the same) or be tempted to develop one for us as the market would be bigger than just for our needs. im going to fire them off an email asking if its a possibility but the reply might take a while with the holidays upon us, if it does sound promising I probably would have to pass this sort of thing over to Thorney as im just an individual car enthusiast and wouldnt have the ability to buy or sell large numbers. Can anyone confirm if the Astra VXR mount is the same as it would be handy as a carrot for them to be interested in the making of a part, if anyone thinks Im wasting my time please stop me now as this is just the sort of thing I get into when i have too much time sitting in front of the pc. Cheers.... Cheese.