CarlaValentine Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Well I brought my car to my brother's garage today to do an oil change on it. I am quite certain I have found the cause of my front end clunking. Although I had visually inspected all of my motor mounts and they all LOOKED fine, they are indeed not. We looked everywhere for the cause of this clunking and were at a loss. I had one last suggestion: to try power braking the car (shifter in DRIVE, foot firmly on brake, rev to about 2,000 rpm's) with the hood open and see if the engine moved. With my brother power braking the car and me looking at the engine, I noticed it was practically jumping out from under the hood. The front end of the engine was lifting up at least a couple inches. We then switched places with me power braking and my brother observing, and he crawled under the car, with chocks under all wheels (not safe I know, but we had to figure out what was going on). He said the front engine mount was actually pulling apart where the metal plate meets the rubber and lifting over an inch and a half out of place. This just goes to show that even though a mount may appear fine to look at it, that does not necessarily mean that it is. My next step is getting a new front mount and replacing it. I will hopefully be able to get this done by the end of the week or over the weekend. All of the other mounts seemed fine when they were observed while power braking the car. The good news is, I got my oil changed. This was my first time changing it since it has been under maintenance by me, aside from the initial change when I bought the car. It made it 6 months and 7,000 miles between changes, and when I changed it today the old oil was still very clean. That helps reassure me that I don't have any internal issues going on. I also fixed the broken hose on my windshield washer fluid tank. Not a big deal really, but it was a nuisance not being able to use it. The water pump belt was also replaced today...finally. The squealing from that has now taken a hike. I think the only demon I have left to contend with now is that motor mount. Is there anything I should know about replacing it before I take the leap into doing it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 That front mount made a big difference for me, wait till you see Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 The front mount problem is rather common, especially on the newer engine without the torque struts. That's why I fabricated a set for my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlaValentine Posted March 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 Mine has torque struts. They are getting quite an extra workout with that front mount being bad. I priced a new one today. 75$. I don't think that's too bad. At least I don't have to pay for labor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 I think you saw this thread, but I did the front engine mount in this thread http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=19074 Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 I also replaced the front mount on my '94 Eldorado. It's not too difficult but getting the three bolt holes lined up with the bracket was tedious because once the bolts are removed the engine will shift ever so slightly. I supported/lifted the engine with a jack and slid the bracket out and replaced the mount. It's one job that I wouldn't want to do a second time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlaValentine Posted March 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 I think you saw this thread, but I did the front engine mount in this thread http://caddyinfo.ipb...showtopic=19074 Yes I did see that thread. I actually bookmarked it for future reference. Thanks. My thought is to use a cherry picker to lift the front of the engine a little to make getting the old mount out and the new one in a little easier. Using that rather than a jack won't take up any extra room under the car. I'm sure I'll need all the room I can get. I plan to put the car on ramps rather than jack stands. The ramps seem a safer bet to me, and will be out of the way. I just don't trust jack stands for some things, and I think this is one of them. If I had access to a lift or a pit right now, that would be great, but I don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 I didnt find that job too difficult using a floor jack to support the engine and lift it a bit. If you disassemble and reassemble the front mount in-place the job is not hard, just tight. The front mount breaks down into two pieces a bracket and the mount itself. I did it without removing the radiator, just protect the radiator with a 1/4 piece of plywood. Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlaValentine Posted March 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 I didnt find that job too difficult using a floor jack to support the engine and lift it a bit. If you disassemble and reassemble the front mount in-place the job is not hard, just tight. The front mount breaks down into two pieces a bracket and the mount itself. I did it without removing the radiator, just protect the radiator with a 1/4 piece of plywood. Thanks for the info. I was afraid I would have to pull the radiator to change it. If I don't then that saves me a WHOLE lot of trouble. My mounting bracket the hooks to the top of the mount seems fine, so I found the mount without it and am ordering that since it is 20$ cheaper than getting it with the bracket attached. I figure it will also make things a little easier not having to change the bracket with it. I'm planning on doing the job this weekend. My mount should be in on Friday morning. I'll take pictures and let everyone know how it goes. I'm reserving an entire day for it because my luck, something will complicate things. It always does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlaValentine Posted March 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 My motor mount will be in tomorrow morning, and I am bringing it to my brother's garage at 5:30 to get it changed. I definitely can't put it off any longer. It has gotten so bad over the last week that the engine is actually knocking on the underside of the hood causing the hood to bounce up and down when driving over 40mph or so. I assume this to be the cause of not only the front end clunking, but also the shaking/shimmy that my car has since that has progressively gotten worse as the motor mount got worse. Hopefully this won't be an all-night job, but if it is then so be it I guess. I need my car in good working order as it sees well over 250 miles a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlaValentine Posted March 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2010 Here's an update. I got the motor mount changed yesterday. With myself and my brother both working on it, it took a little over an hour. First, he pulled the radiator fan. That wouldn't have been necessary at all if it weren't for the fact that there wasn't room to fit the mount through the bottom, so it had to be passed up between the engine and radiator and jimmied out that way. Then the 2 bottom nuts were taken off the mount. After that, the engine was jacked up slightly. That took enough tension off the dog bone mounts on the top so they could be disconnected and allow for the engine to be jacked up further. With the engine jacked up it wasn't very hard to get the top nuts off the mount and pull it out. We left the original bracket so that didn't have to be changed. Then the new one was put in, the nuts were tightened on the top, the engine was lowered, the dog bones were reconnected, then the engine was set in place and the bottom nuts put onto the mount. It was overall a pretty easy job. The engine doesn't move anymore, and the clunking seems to be gone. It also doesn't feel like it's shifting hard when driving it anymore. There is still a shimmy to the car, but I think that may be due to my having a bad tire in the rear. I'll be getting that changed as soon as I can. Here's a link to a short video I did of what the engine was doing PRIOR to changing the mount. http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/nn204/ChevyMetalBitch/Caddy/?action=view¤t=DSCF6545.flv Also, here are some pics of the old mount next to the new one. As you can see, there was about 1/4 inch of rubber missing from the friction of it moving and wearing it away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott y Posted March 22, 2010 Report Share Posted March 22, 2010 Hey Carla not that I have to do that job yet....at what area(s) did you lift the engine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlaValentine Posted March 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2010 Hey Carla not that I have to do that job yet....at what area(s) did you lift the engine? The jack was placed under the front part of the oil pan, centered between the left and right. This allowed the engine to be lifted up and tilted slightly toward the firewall to allow better access to the mount. The dog bone mounts on top had to be disconnected to allow the engine to tilt back as it was jacked up. Be careful allowing the engine to tilt back though so you don't pinch any wiring between it and the firewall. Also, we used a block of wood between the jack and the oil pan to prevent crushing or denting it. The car was on jack-stands as well to allow room to work underneath it. On a scale of 1-10 for difficulty, I would rate this job a 3 or 4. It's a little tricky, but not really hard. It is much easier with 2 people working so you can have someone on top and underneath at all times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott y Posted March 22, 2010 Report Share Posted March 22, 2010 Thanx for the info, I'll keep that stuff in mind when/if the time ever comes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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