Hello All,
Discovered I have a broken upper engine mount. It has sagged, oil has leaked out, and appears the rubber is detached on the front of the car side. I have a trip planned before it can be repaired, and I am not sure how long it has been broken - but it appears to have been a while. Is it OK to drive 600 miles or so on the broken mount as is, or should it be fixed before? This would be mostly freeway driving and would avoid sport mode or any aggressive driving Car is F54 Clubman JCW.

 

I would say not a problem, but do get it replaced. I believe mine had been broken for 30K miles, but can't say for sure just how long. Just replaced mine at 106K, but based on what others have noted for theirs expelling their fluid I would have to say it was dead long ago. Replacement was 'finicky', but not difficult at all. YMMV.

 

Thanks for your response. I will take the trip in the car.

Spent a little money with ECS today. I have the parts on their way to attempt the motor mount repair when I return from the trip. I think I'll do the lower mount as well, with the power flex insert as preventative maintenance. No idea what condition it is in, but it seems that as one fails it has to stress the other.

 

I replaced my upper engine mount on my 2021 Clubman JCW today! Installed the powerflex bushings also, in hopes it will lengthen the lifetime - the car has just over 60,000 miles on it. While I was as it, I went ahead and installed the powerflex bushing in the lower dogbone engine mount as well. Only thing I noticed when test driving was a slight vibration in the steering wheel at idle - just at start up. Really couldn't see any discernible difference when driving. I was guided by instructions from this site, thank you all. I haven't worked on cars in many many years. If I can do this, anyone can! (now I'm ready to tackle the expansion tank in my X3)

 

Great to hear you were able to replace your mount. From what I have read, I think the jury is out on whether or not the inserts extend the life of the mount, but certainly worth a shot...can't be any worse IMHO. The job isn't that difficult, easier than I expected. Lot less involved than the oil filter/heat exchanger replacement, even though that ended up much less scary than some folks have made it out to be. The oil filter/heat exchanger on my wife's 3.6L Wranger (also made by Mahle) was way more involved that the Mini. These housings simply need to move away from plastic and use cast aluminum. I am starting to believe that the thermal coefficient of expansion differences between the aluminum block and plastic housing are the main causes of the seal/housing failures.

 

Really a bummer all this plastic stuff in modern cars. Definitely the achilles heel to some amazing - maybe final iteration - engine designs. I just changed the plastic expansion tank in my BMW X3 M40i due to cracking/seepage at the seam. The car just hit 65,000 miles.

 

Looks like designers are either getting squeezed on component cost, which is compromising longevity or they simply don't have all the proper design limits defined for the component. Either way, it is creating a shift in owning a vehicle long-term. While researching info on the Wrangler's issue, it seems that the 2.0L turbo powered Wranglers are having a high failure rate of their expansion tanks. It seems that it is located near the turbocharger and even with heat shielding, is having heat stress failures. Granted, it is a easy fix, but if not detected early, it can kill and engine due to coolant loss and overheating. Oh the joys of modern tech.