I'm one of many who has had issues with the upper motor mount leak. I just noticed the leak when cleaning the Mini this morning. I noticed stains on the white wheel (bummer this stuff is hard to clean off) and after looking under the bonnet I noticed the bad mount and its tell tail leak. This is the second mount in about 4 years (currently 62,000 miles on the car).
I would prefer to fix the mount with a TSW mount from WAY, but no time as the Sunday event is only 2 days away and getting the part shipped and then installing it would not be possible. I could get a OME mount, but hate to waste the money on a mount that has proven to fail over and over. My question is: would one be able to safely drive the Mini a few hundred miles on a bad mount? MTTS is going on and I had plans to attend the Chicago festivities.

 

I guess it would depend on the roads you will be traveling on. Use rubbing alcohol to remove the stains and do it as fast as possible.

 

Yea, if I drive it I'll probably have to drive like a slow grandma .
The engine should not be a rock'in too much. The last time the mount went the rubbing alcohol worked pretty well. Thanks for your input.

 

If you would like a high quality mount check out this thread

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...atechnics.html

Steve

 

Thanks for the information THE ITCH. This is the first I've heard of the VT motor mount line, sounds impressive. I'm going to seek out additional info on the product. Does anyone out there feel driving this car (non aggressive driving) would damage anything on the car? I'm still strongly considering a road trip of 4oo miles or so in the MIni for MTTS this weekend. Unfortunately, this road trip has been planned for a few weeks and there is no way I could repair the mount before the drive.

 

Front upper pass mount leaked its guts on me back in december. Ive been driving on it since. No your engine isnt going to fall off and no you dont need to grandma anything. It may vibrate and have slight more wiggle but everything is bolted together. You still have the dogbone on the bottom helping prevent fore/aft sway and the drivers side trans mount keeping things in line.

Plus the pass side mount is still secured with bolts. So you are fine over short term. Long term like me, you may be looking at excess strain on the clutch components due to more engine movement when taking off from a stop and during shifts. Honestly, except for the visual signs, most of us never know there was even a problem until we popped the hood and saw it. I dont know about you but I dont pop my hood at every pit stop so who knows how long you've already been driving on it with no symptoms.

Have fun and enjoy mtts. Be safe.

 

ERIK06MCS, you are right about not knowing when the the mount broke. I notice the problem when washing the car, the right front wheel was real dirty from a fluid stain. the Hydraulic fluid found the white rims, then looking for a leak I noticed the stain around the mount. I may have been driving the Mini for a day or two without noticing the issue and who knows when it happened. Regardless I will tone down the "fun" driving and take it easy. thanks for you opinion. I hope to change the mount within a week or two, the car is not a daily driver.
Motor On!

 

The visual indication was the only thing I noticed about mine. It doesn't seem to drive any differently right now. That being said, mine is now parked until my mount gets installed. I'm too risk averse to continue driving it with a leaking mount. There's a reasonable chance that nothing will happen if you continue driving for a while but that's a bit of a crapshoot. I think it's a wise idea to stay away from OEM so you have the choice between VT road, VT race, and TSW - I went with the former. Really depends on what you're looking for and your budget.

 

Got to agree with tir1000. My Mini is now parked after some "careful" driving. Hoping to place an order for the VT road soon. One of the main reasons I'm looking at the VT is that I hate dash vibrations. It sounds as though VT has less chances of creating those annoying rattles that are sooo difficult in tracking down.