Front Engine Mount needs replacing. 3rd gen

[D-Maxima]

If anyone could give some advice that would be great.

Every shop my car has been in says I need a new front engine mount. I called a Nissan dealer on the cos of the part and cant believe, for what is a relatively simple part, is $210

I can't tell you what condition the mount is in, unfortunately. How long can they hold out for? Or should I stop being lazy and have them do it? I dont think i could do it myself, unless someone has done this before and says its not too hard. I have a bit of mech knowledge but only change simple stuff, oil, coolant, hoses etc, myself.

One place says $295 for the part and the work. Does that sound reasonable enough?

Thanks in advance guys

[MinisterofDOOM]

I've done mine a couple times. Super easy job. I just went with the $50 mounts from Auto Zone. They've died on me, but I assume this is due to a combination of the car's shift kit which makes for EXTREMELY hard 1-2 shifts and my extremely aggressive driving and downshift engine-braking habits.

Bad mounts can last a while as they're still supporting the motor while bad, they're just not damping as well. You're getting more motion in the engine (and therefore wasting more power) but not causing any damage. The mounts are a sort of double donut of rubber (one inside the other) that's linked horizontally. What breaks is the horizontal link, so the inner donut falls onto the outer donut, but it's still rubber-on-rubber which is pretty harmless.

Here's a picture since my description is lacking:

To swap the front one out, all you need to do is jack up the motor (just to support it and take load off the mount and it's bolts) and remove 3 bolts. Then the mount slides right out. Hardest part is lining up everything for the new mount, and even that's not bad at all.

[D-Maxima]

Cool. Hopefully I can show that to the old man and he may help me have a go at it.

Yeah I thought that for such a simple part it cant cost so much, so I called one place to see if they had any, and they said they'd need to see on to see if they have anything similar or anything that could work.

What could or would you jack the motor up on/ with? Just anything that will hold it?

[MinisterofDOOM]

What could or would you jack the motor up on/ with? Just anything that will hold it?

I just used my floor jack with a piece of wood on it.

[D-Maxima]

how long do you think it took you? 20 mins?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah, probably about 20 minutes, possibly less.

[D-Maxima]

sweet. to pry once more, what length are the bolts needed?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Uh...I don't recall. FSM should show. You shouldn't need to replace them, though...just reuse the old ones. They're special bolts anyway, IIRC.

[D-Maxima]

ahh well thats seems so obvious now. i need to source out a part now.

thanks for all the info MOD!

[MinisterofDOOM]

No problem.