Just bought the Powerflex complete engine bushing set from WayMotorWorks (this one:http://www.waymotorworks.com/powerfl...shing-set.html). I thought it would come with instructions, but it doesn't

So I've found some instructions online for the transmission mount here:

http://www.billswebspace.com/MiniPow...ansInserts.htm

But I'm having trouble finding a guide for the large lower engine mounts.

I'm going to the sears to go get a ramp to raise my car safely, but I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what other tools I should get while I'm there that I will need to install all of these parts (particularly the large lower engine mounts, as I'm going to start with that). I tried searching on the forums but with no luck, so if this has already been discussed somewhere please point it out to me.


Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Check Pelican Parts Mini project list, I believe they have a DIY for all the motor mounts. There is also a DIY linked (to Bills Space) through WMWs pulley package page that has a section on the upper mount, that website also has a DIY for the lower mount.

Hope this helps! Good luck on the project, sounds like fun!

 

The lower mount is very easy to do.

1. Remove the smaller bolt for the lower engine mount.
2. Remove the larber bolt that goes straight up and down.
3. Wiggle the whole mount off the car may have to push or pull on engine to create clearence room.
4. Install the Powerflex into the oem engine mount gaps. Just push them in by hand.
5. Wiggle the whole mount back into place.
6. Reinstall large bolt, torque to spec
7. Reinstall small bolt. You may have to push or pull on engine to get the hole to line up.

 

Thanks for the response guys! Things got really busy at work and I had to put this off for a while, but I did the large lower engine mount inserts yesterday. It took me an entire afternoon -- but I have zero experience working with cars, this was kind of a first attempt at getting my hands dirty. A couple of bloody knuckles later, and all set! Worth it.

Bobtop, I pretty much followed those instructions, although I did the large engine mount bolt first. I found this video for the large lower inserts, and I followed it:


In the end I'm not sure if it was necessary to detach the fan like he did in the video, but I guess it gave me more room. For anyone else trying this and wanting to know what tools they need, the bolt sizes on the lower engine motor mount are 5/8 inch and 1/2 inch (for those of us who speak American ). You'll also need a Phillips screw driver to take off the plastic cover underneath (but I actually used a flat head).

The large vertical bolt on the motor mount was a pain to remove. I couldn't budge it, even after spraying it and letting it soak in WD-40, until my dad came up with the idea of holding it with a crescent wrench and hammering the other end of the wrench for leverage. A few good whacks did the trick (but it needed both of us).

Another note: I did this with ramps that only lifted the car six inches. I looked everywhere, and apparently nobody in Miami sells ramps that are higher. It was extremely cramped. If you're going to use ramps, get ones that lift the car higher, if you can find them. Maybe they would be alright with other cars, but the mini is just too low to begin with. I would have done this with jack stands, but I was not on cement and I didn't want to risk putting the car up on unstable ground.

Cease, I'm definitely going to be following Bill's Space for the transmission mount.

Now that they are on, I noticed a little more vibration, especially with the air on, but it's hardly noticeable. I'm not sure I would have noticed if I weren't looking for it, and I quickly forgot about it on the drive. Rocking of the engine is reduced, although not entirely gone. I'm going to proceed with the others next weekend. Any recommendation on which one I should do first? I'm definitely going to go with one more, but I'm not sure about the third one in case it vibrates too much. I was thinking the transmission mount would be next.

 

Update: After a day of driving to and from work with just the large lower inserts, I REALLY like them, and I can't wait to put on the transmission mount inserts. On the otherhand, the vibration is more noticeable sometimes than I thought initially, while at idle or around 1K rpms in gear. Exagerates some of the rattles in the cabin. But completely disappears when driving. Hopefully it will settle more. Will post the update after the next one goes on.

 

Ok this has been bothering me: I have not idea how to "torque to spec." I tightened the vertical bolt on the lower engine mount all the way as much as it would reasonably go with my unassisted strength and a ratchet, but at the time I didn't realize I needed to do that to spec.

I'm about to do the transmission mounts now, while I have it up I will check on the lower engine mount bolt. If any of you think I should redo the lower engine mount bolt, let me know. Thanks.

 

Good to hear you are liking the inserts! I was thinking about getting those for my mounts too.

As far as torque spec; if you are going to be doing more and more work on your car invest in a torque wrench. There are many debates on what tool is better etc and you can spend some serious cash on a wrench. I purchased a Craftsman 1/2 and 3/4 torque wrench. For most of the work I do (maintenance and some mods) it's fine. Now if I were a professional mechanic building motors I would get a better tool with less variance. Basically you are just turning the bolt to a set resistance measured in foot-pounds or inch-pounds (in the US) and it takes the "how tight should this go in?" Out of the equation because you set the tool to only turn to a set number.

Hope this helps. Glad to hear you're getting your hands dirty! Maintaining and working on my own cars is almost as fun to me as driving them

 

Just going to toss this out there, but there is not one bolt on the MINI that is not metric (at least that I have come across). Be very careful using a standard set on metric bolts, you could slip off or strip the heck out of it.

Best to use the right tool for the job. There is no direct conversion for standard and metric bolts. Some come close, but the fit is not perfect.

 

This man speaks the truth! (Spark plugs may be the only exception)

 

spark plugs are 16mm

 

Bently Manual calls for a 5/8" spark plug socket or a 16mm. I think they like the 5/8" spark plug socket because they have the rubber to hold the plug in place. NGK also states either can be used.

Only time I've seen a standard socket being called in the Bently Manual but I could be wrong.

 

Thanks for the responses. I used 5/8 inch and din't have a problem, never had anything feel like it was going to strip. But that's good advice, everyone attempting this don't listen to me and take the advice of the experts!

So I bought a torque wrench, read up a bunch on how to use them. Looking on Billswebspace it looked to me that the torque spec on all of the large 16mm bolts on the transmission mount should be 50.15, lb./ft. (or about 601 lb./in. on my wrench). Or at least that's how I understood this:

http://www.billswebspace.com/MiniPow...ansInserts.htm

All the bolts say 8.8. Is that the right spec?

Now going back to the lower engine mount vertical bolt, it says 10.9 on it. Now there is an enormous amount of information out there on the internet about figuring out what the torque spec should be from that, but to my untrained eyes, I can't make heads or tails out of it. What is the torque spec on that bolt? Thanks!

 

Thanks for the info! I completely agree, it's great to know what's under the hood. I've enjoyed the project a lot and have already learned a ton, thanks in part to your help, and everyone else who responded. Now that I've taken apart major pieces of the car, it takes a lot of the mystery out of it and makes working on my car a much less daunting thought. Hopefully this will encourage some other people who don't have any experience to get their hands dirty. It was a great first project.

As I said I went and bought a torque wrench (autocraft 3/8) and the transmission mounts are on. I like the feel of them a lot. I definitely recommend them! Shifts are smoother and crisper. Before I would purposely shift slowly to avoid the jerkiness, now it feels like I can shift quicker and still be smooth. Also, if your worried about vibration and want to do them one by one to see how much you can handle, I notice NO additional vibration with the transmission mounts on over the lower engine mounts that are already there. If you have your car up and have the time, I would do them at the same time.

At least so far, powerflex lower engine mounts + transmission mounts = the way it should have come stock. No regrets at all. I expect more vibration when I put the upper engine mounts, but we'll see. Maybe it will be fine.

Thanks especially to Bill's Webspace for the detailed instructions, it worked out great. I had to do one thing differently, though. When reassembling the 16mm bolts on the transmission mount, I had to do the large bolt that went through the bushings LAST, not first. I could NOT get the other bolts to line up when I did that bolt first, even trying to adjust the height of the transmission with the jack. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but it was exasperating. But when I did the other bolts first, then raised the transmission with the jack to get the holes of the bushings to line up, it was a lot easier. Actually, what I did was have the whole car slightly jacked up with the factory jack, and when I got relatively close to lining up the holes by jacking up the transmission on my own jack, I slowly lowered the car to let the mounts meet it halfway, then fit the bolt in with no problem.

 

Glad to hear man! It's amazing how rewarding it is to work on your own car and how much $ you save! I would recommend picking up a manual, there is the Haynes Manual and the Bently. The Bently will set you back a hundred bucks and the Haynes like 25 or so. The Bently is way more detailed, it will pay for itself the first time you fix an issue yourself but you can get away with the Haynes and some of the awesome write ups on this site and others online.

Wrench on!

 

I havetheir seen any specifics on installing the upper mount inserts but it is a pita.

My insert came with two large metal washers which I assumed went between the insert and the mount arm, but I had to use a clamp to squeeze the bushings enough to get the bracket over the bushing. It even required bending the bracket slightly to clear.

Does this sound right?
I also had about an hour into finding a sequence for installing the mout so I could access all the bolts as the black mount arm blocks access to the two front bolts.

 

These ramps are a great deal and should do nicely for you.

RhinoRamps 12,000 Lb. Capacity Car Ramps (Pair)

///Rich

 

Thanks for the info. At the time I was a little impatient to get them on so I bought what was available at the autoshops. I actually bought RhinoRamps brand, but they lifted the car about six inches, that's all anybody carried in their stores around here. I don't see the height listed on those ramps.

 

I haven't seen any instructions on how to install the upper mount either (which is part of the reason why I haven't done it yet). Mine came with two purple bushings and one metal tube-thing, like this:

http://www.waymotorworks.com/powerfl...e-bushing.html


Mine didn't come with two metal washers. Surprised to hear it was difficult, it looked to me like it would be easier than the others.

How much vibration do you think the upper mount added? Had you already installed the lower mount and transmission mount? I'm going to take my car to the shop to replace the brakes and put in a 15% pulley very soon,and I'm thinking of just giving the upper insert to my mechanic and telling him to put it on while he's at it. Haven't had any time to put it on myself.

 

The numbers on the bolts relate to their grade or strength. Here's a simple chart that illustrates what I mean.

http://k-tbolt.com/bolt_chart.html

 

Ah, I see. So it doesn't have any bearing on the torque spec? I don't see any numbers on that chart that look like torque specs.

I see that you put the poly bushings as well. What torque spec did you use for the large bolt in the lower transmission mount? I torqued it just a little past what I torqued the large bolts on the transmission mounts (50.15, lb./ft for those, so probably around 52-52 lb./ft). Do you think it should be adjusted?

 

The Bentley repair manual will have torque specs for each of the bolts. I am not familiar with the Haynes manual.

Also you can "extend" the height of your ramps 1.5 inches at a time by placing a 2x? board of appropriate width under the ramp letting the board extend out in front of the ramp a bit so that the board is the first thing driven on. Just make sure the board is wide enough to support the ramp without falling off. And I would secure the ramp and board together in some fashion.

 

Those numbers have no relation to torque specs. Get yourself the Bentley manual and always adhere to the listed torque specs when working on your MINI as that is a critical component to safe motoring. Bolts too loose and they may come out. Bolts too tight and they may break. Either scenario can have dangerous and/or costly consequences.

Edit: Not sure on the spec you asked for as I had a shop perform the LCA Bushing install and I don't have my manual in front of me at the moment.

 

In case anyone is using this thread to help with the installation, I was confused about the small purple bushings. I brought them to my mechanic like I said for him to install, and he informed me they don't go on the upper mount for the '05-'06 R53s, they go on the small end of the lower mount. The '02-'04 ones take those small bushings on the upper mount (in addition to putting them on the small end of the lower mount). Now that I read Way's site more carefully, that's exactly what it says:

http://www.waymotorworks.com/powerfl...e-bushing.html

Glad I didn't start taking apart the upper mount on my '05!

FYI: The small one is on and I don't notice additional vibration. Overall a great little mod.

 

ok, according to bills page it looks like you replace the old padded inserts on trans mount and put in the powerflex ones. But I am reading elsewhere they are in addition to. can someone please clarify as mine didnt come with instructions

 

They replace them. You can throw away the old ones when you put in the new ones.