Busy week at work. A lot of oil changes, tire rotations, check engine lights, but this week was a little different. A had around 5 to 8 cars this week with almost all the same kind of complaint. Rattle and vibration around 2000 RPM. This is a common issue on most Mazda's and it seems like I am seeing these more and more of these complaints. All leading to the same outcome of a blown passenger side mount. Mazda has been using an 2 piece aluminum infused mount that is held together with rubber and hydraulic oil. I don't know if Mazda realized how bad and brutal the streets of Chicago can be on cars especially in the winter months but they manged to use the worse possible part imaginable to support the engine. Why? Because 2-3 times a week someone is paying around $300.00 to $400.00 for a new mount that is no longer covered by your factory warranty. Which you are over in mileage but not in age.
Why such a high failure rate? Why do nearly 85% of the Mazda I service need or have had there passenger side motor mount replaced? It's because the rubber that was designed to with stand perfectly paved roads, with no speed bumps, or pot holes as deep as your Miata, and don't forget sinkholes as if bombs had fallen from small R/C airplanes. leaving 3ft holes in our earth. So what happen when this innovative piece of aluminum combines with a pothole at 25 miles and hour. BANG BUST. Then 2 days after your pothole incident you find a black oil on your garage floor. Don't be fooled that distinctively black oil you find coming form your right side of the car is NOT oil. That's oil from the motor mount you blew the other day. To be for sure that you have a blown mount, take a flash light of some sort and through the top of the engine to the right side you should look for a black fluid of some kind to look like dirty water running down the frame and engine bay of your car.
If you don't have a warranty and don't have a warranty and cant afford the high priced dealer. Here's how you can do it yourself. Get a floor jack, a 2x4 piece of wood, a good size flat head screw driver, 17mm deep socket, 12inch extension, ratchet ( highly recommend if you have air an impact will make it go much faster).
1st thing to do is get that jack under the oil pan with the wood in between the motor and the jack. Lift the motor up just slightly so you know for sure that you are in the right spot.
2ND thing is to move the coolant reservoir bottle out of your way. You will need the flat head for this part, find where the coolant bottle is held in place and get the flat head in the middle of holder and pull up on the bottle. You do not have to remove any hoses and fluid from the reservoir just put over the side.
3rd step is to get the 2 nuts off that connect the block to the mount off. If the motor starts to sag when you start to remove the nuts jack the engine up some. Use the jack to keep the engine supported. Makes it easier to remove and replace the part.
4Th is to remove the to bolts holding the mount to the frame. Slide the mount passed the ground cable and install in reverse order.
Note: When you are installing new mount and you are having trouble getting the mount where it needs to be you can move the motor back and forth to get it to line up right. Get all nuts and bolts started before tightening all the way down.
Hope this was helpful...
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