When you have an older car, always think about replacing the engine mounts. They are almost always made of rubber, which becomes brittle over time due to aging/drying out.
I replaced all the engine mounts, which tightens up handling and improves performance and reduces strain on components like the exhaust, as the engine swivels way less. Highly recommended!
My original gearbox mount was shot and I decided to replace the mount with a brand new reinforced polyurethane mount, which tightens up the shifting and allows for less engine movement, which is better for the exhaust.
One disadvantage, the cabin has added drone due to extra vibration. But the advantages outweigh the one disadvantage, so for me it’s a keeper!
Closeup view
Old vs New. The mount should not be able to move like that 🙂
And this is how it looks under the engine. Easy job, 2x 14mm & 2x 18mm nuts.
My front gearbox mount was shot. Found a polybush replacement part which is a easy swap. Remove 4x 18mm bolts, swap the part and tighten the 4x 18mm bolts. Noticed a big improvement in pickup and shift handling. The engine/gearbox is able to move much less, which helps in driveability.
I noticed that when lifting off (like shifting), there was a lot of movement / play in the engine / gearbox. So when I inspected the upper engine mount, I found the root cause rather quickly. The rubber deteriorated and there wasn’t much left of the original rubber bushing.
Having read the other options, like fitting a polybush, I went with the SuperPro version which looked like a good bit of kit. Mounting the new polyurethane kit was quite a breeze. Fortunately, the original bushing has a plastic ring 🙂 The SuperPro kit consists of 2 pieces, which makes the mount very easy to replace.
Result: a much better shifting car, putting the power down goes a lot better now. I will also replace the bottom gearbox mount with a polyurethane version soon.
Very easy job to do at home. This also applies to the S60 and V70, as these are quite identical.
Broken upper engine mount…
Tearing it down
Comparing old to new
Et voila!
