motor mount woes

[towncarblue]

i have a 2002 nissan pathfinder 4x4.
the drivers side engine mount needs to be replaced.i went and bought both of them from rockauto.
i went to a mechanic and they want to charge me $300 for the labor.
is this job really that hard ?? ive done some research but cant find any info on 4x4 versions,
i guess they all took it to a mechanic.
is the price of the labor about the price im supposed to pay for replacing the engine mounts ??
can i do it myself ??

[Buzzman]

How did you determine that the engine mounts were bad?
I'm curious because I think I might have a similar problem, but don't know how to check or troubleshoot.
Thx.

[towncarblue]

turn on car, hold the brake pedal down , shift into reverse, have friend determine how much the engine moves.
it will be obvious

[Hawairish]

It's doable, but it won't be fun. You'll need to access the nut on top of the mounts from the engine bay, as well as the nuts on the subframe (which are located almost directly over the axle). And probably loosen some other stuff (transmission mount, hoses, etc) before either hoisting the engine 1-2" or lowering the subframe.

Can't say I've done it, but I've lowered my subframe and dropped the axle a couple times to get to the lower motor mount nuts to install my SFDs. I don't recall having enough room to do anything without removing the axle.

[Hawairish]

Check out the Oil Pan replacement process in the FSM under the Engine Mechanical section...this is basically what you'll need to undo to get to support things. The engine rests on the motor mounts, which rests on the subframe. You need to separate the two to remove the mounts. It's a good amount of work. And if you're going to do one, might as well do both.

Have you been able to visually inspect the mount to know it's bad? You'd only ever see one mount lift up because of the rotation of the engine.