GK2

The rear motor mount is the more difficult motor mount to replace, the other mounts are kinda straight forward. If you can afford the original mounts buy them, the mounts replaced were aftermarket mounts.

MAD_MIKE

On rear solenoid actuated mounts, when replacing the original, remove the rubber sleeve around the diaphragm and transfer it to the new mount.

GK2

Mike, Have you used the aftermarket rear mounts and did you like them, or would the original rear mount be a night and day difference? When I replaced the mounts the vibration was better but I wonder if a OEM rear mount would be worth the extra money?

holmesnmanny

You'll be fine...just be sure to raise the engine so that when you tighten the thorough bolt the engine is straight in(level)...this ensures the bushings aren't twisted which would cause premature mount breaking.

This applies to all mounts.

MAD_MIKE

I just replaced the rear mount with an Anchor boxed unit. The mount in the car was original, and although it did not have the normal tell tale of bad vibration while at idle, it was a bit sloppy under deceleration.

From what I could tell the Anchor mount was the same, even had the same witness marks and a few paint splotches that was on the Honda unit. Vacuum solenoid was the same piece and had the same markings and hardware. IIRC NOK brand with raised letters on the solenoid.

I purchased my mount through RockAuto, ~$30+ shipping, to my door it was ~$40 shipped. IIRC Honda Dealer quoted me somewhere North of $330. The engine is smooth, quite, does not have any excess movement and the slop is gone. Could there be some difference? I cannot say definitely, but I can say the mounts were identical with the exception of age and the rubber grommet needing to be transferred to the new mount. After comparing the original to the Anchor unit I can't justify the 10 fold increase in price.

I have bought Anchor brand mounts in the past and they have yet to disappoint.

FWIW the Anchor mount was made in Taiwan.

GK2

Mike, What rubber grommet or sleeve from the original rear mount are you talking about transferring to the new mount? I did not take anything off the original mount {except for a clamp and vacuum hose that went into the mount (valve?)} Do you have a picture of what I should have swapped? Thanks for your help

MAD_MIKE

I'll see if I can find a picture of one, I did not take a picture.

On the old mount around the NOK diaphragm there is a rubber ring with a port on it.

If you look at your video at the 1:24 mark you see the new mount, look at the diaphragm, note how there is a lip and then a recessed section, and then at the 1:25 mark the old mount does not have a recessed section and is smooth.
That smooth part is a rubber ring, it appears to be some kind of baffle, possibly to allow ventilation of the diaphragm while preventing water/dust intrusion.

curvenut

Can someone explain to me why aftermarket mount is only 30$ and Honda one is 300$, X10 the price !!!!

X2 or X3, I understand but X10 !!!

MAD_MIKE

Difference in pricing is from a few factors.

Is it the actual OEM specification meeting part or just something close enough?
There can also be the same supplier of a part but it may not match what the OEM part, this is where Tier pricing comes into play. A Tier 1 part will be the same OEM spec'd unit from the dealership. However there can be a Tier 2 par from the same manufacture, looks the same, smells the same, even may have some same witness marks on the product, but may not meet the OEM specs with rubber durometer or steel grade. And unless you know what the OEM specs are, and can test what the part actually is, it can become a toss up.

Also overhead. Employee costs, storage space, supply/demand will affect a parts cost and availability. A Honda dealer will less likely sell an older model engine mount than the local chain auto parts store or online retailer. And when it comes to an actual physical store vs an online retailer there are the costs associated with overhead of a warehouse/employees/advertisement and all other costs associated with upkeep of a physical store front. Albeit the online retailer has an agreement with several parts warehouses that allows them to purchase the parts at bulk costs, and since the online retailer has little costs, outside of a webpage, they do no need to markup the parts to cover the costs of what a parts store has. This is why a same mount form Rock Auto is ~$30 and one from OReilly is $65.

Dealership costs are going to be more because the part you purchase will be equal too or better than the original part. It will fit, and it will meet or exceed specifications.

Something that most people probably do not realize, often times a given O.E. spec'd car part is only available through the dealership. An aftermarket supplier such as NTK or Denso may make the part for a car manufacture, but that does not mean they own the tooling, rights, or the part itself. They merely are contracted out to make a given part for a manufacture. For them to even sell a second tier rate variant may be prohibited in contract. Several years down the road the car maker may either sell the rights to the part or the tooling to the supplier, or may have them destroy the tooling outright.

Subaru WRXs of the 2002-present variety come to mind. To purchase the proper upstream O2 sensor for years you could only get it from Subaru. There were plenty of the cheap O2 sensors that everyone sold, but on the turbo engine would you really want to chance it? About a year ago you could get it from a few online retailers/auto stores but the markup was the same cost or more than a Subaru dealership. Just better to get it directly from Subaru so you know you had the actual correct part. And with something as mission critical in the correct functioning of the drivetrain, it really is not something you want to cheap out on.

Clevor

Just got my car back from a Honda dealer mainly to do a diagnostic check of the tranny. They told me all my mounts were cracked and quoted me $430 for the front, $320 for the right, $680 for the rear, and $191 for the tranny. Total bill including tranny flush would be $2,297 on a 2000 Honda Accord. Are they nuts or what???

On top of that, I don't have any vibration issues at idle or hard jolts during shifting. Only hard jolts are when starting the car after it has sat awhile and shifting into D4 or R.

I plan to do the work myself and looks like the Rock Auto mounts are good enough.

Question: Can the engine be jacked up enough to change the front and rear mounts with all hoses/cables attached?

curvenut

Thanks Mike for this deep analysis !!
I have better understanding now .

Is there a way to known which cie is Tier 1 among Beck, Anchor , DEA etc ...??

curvenut

2297$$ !!


For those more knowledgeable, How hard is it to diagnose ourself the mount to check if they are cracked ??
Do we have to remove them in order to see their condition ?

MAD_MIKE

That sounds more like a 'go-away' price, that or the labor cost for doing all the mounts at once is not right. If the rear mount on the CG is the same as a CB/CD Accord it should not be more than 350 from the dealer, and even then thats still ~3.5 hours to do the mount at a dealership? That sounds a bit high. Would be interesting to see what the book prices are.

On CB/CD Accords yes. The only tricky one would be the trans mount as it requires the whole drivetrain to be lowered a bit to get the mount off the trans while having enough room to clear the frame bracket. Which also requires removal of the battery/battery tray to have easy access.
I think the mounts on the CG Accords are a bit different from the CB/CDs so there may be more or less work needed to be done on these cars.

You could try calling them, and ask if they are
A) the OEM supplier,
B) is the mount they sell the same as the mount they sell to the dealer.
B1)even if they are the supplier for OEM, an OEM spec'd part may be mixed up in lower tier parts while boxing/shipping so you may or may not get that part... see how convoluted this can become.
C) what is the durometer spec for the rubber parts.
However, you may not get anywhere. Simply they may tell you to go pound sand, or that if you want to purchase the OEM spec'd mount you will have to purchase it from the dealer. Or if they even tell you the specs you will still have to locate the tools to measure the parts.

Unless you know someone in the industry, you may not get anywhere in your fact finding mission.

Another side note, a few years ago I was looking for a replacement catalyst for my non-Honda. Found out who the OEM supplier was, called up their tech line, and after getting stone walled I finally had the technician admit that the catalyst that I could purchase from them directly, or from any number of automotive shops was NOT the same as the part that the dealer would supply. And nobody but an authorized dealer could order the part. That premium was not a mark-up there was an actual difference. It was a bit disheartening since the price of the catalyst was between absurd and ludicrous.

With all that said, from what I've seen on the Anchor brand engine/trans mounts, including the hydro mounts, they appear to be the same as the factory Honda parts, that came out. Casting lines, bracketry, how the metal was bent, welds, pen marks, etc. The only unknowns are actual metal grade, rubber durometer, and hydraulic fluid(hydro mounts).

holmesnmanny

If you have the manual(which has a different mount than the auto), you can actually do the rear without taking out the bracket. You basically need to jack up the motor(using a wood block so that you don't damage the oil pan or motor) to take the weight off the mount and to help it maneuver towards the firewall and out. Then you will need to undo the 10mm bolt that holds the water valve bracket to the firewall. The just undo the 17mm thorough bolt and use a 12 inch extension to get the 4 bolts that hold the mount to the sub frame from the top. I think two from the passenger side and two from the driver side. You will need to jack the motor up I think so the mount can clear the bracket and come out towards the passenger side. It's tight but it will come out.

For the transmission side you jack up the tranny using a wood block or something, remove the thorough bolt, drop the jack so the mount will maneuver out. When putting it back in you may need to use a pry bar in between the driver side chassis and the driver side mount to get the thorough bolt on the tranny mount to line up properly. Make sure before tightening the thorough bolts that the mount is straight with the thorough bolt. This helps prolong the bushings.

The front is easy and the driver side is easy as well. You will need to remove the battery and stuff to get to the tranny side. I would say the tranny and rear should take about the same amount of time all in all.

$2000 dollars to do all the mounts is absolutely criminal. This might take you 3-4 hours tops to do all. Just make sure to use something wooden in between the jack and whatever it is you're jacking up. The key is just to jack up the mount to relieve the pressure from the through bolt then just either go up or go down to get it out.

Clevor

Exactly what are the symptoms of bad/broken motor mounts? When the engine is cold, there is a jerk when shifting into D4 or maybe R, but it doesn't happen much when the engine is warmed up. I think that is an internal fluid issue. I don't notice any vibration at idle. During shifts, also the engine is pretty smooth. So why does the dealer say all the motor mounts are bad? Is it a visual check which requires a lift and a strong flashlight?

I suspect it's not so much a go-away price as trade-the-car-in-for-a-new-Honda. The service advisor did say not worth fixing if you won't keep the car long. It is sort of embarrassing to take a 14-yr old car into the dealer, although I did see another old Honda in for service, mainly because the routine oil changes don't cost that much more than taking it to Firestone, and the dealer does offer a shuttle service home.

holmesnmanny

Mounts don't cause jerking issues.

Just grab a jack and a deep socket 17mm and ratchet and a piece of wood with a jack and you can check the front, pass, and trans. For the rear, you would only also need an extension and either 12 or 14mm regular socket.

The front you can check just by looking at it. The rear, you can get under the car and grab the oil pan and try to rock the engine front to back. If it rocks, it's bad. The driver side you might even be able to see it cracked. The trans is really the only one that is almost impossible to check without taking it off.

professorman

I need to do my mounts. Would it be easier if I travel to my friend who has a lift? Or can I just do it in my driveway?

holmesnmanny

you only need a jack and a wooden block as a buffer

Kanga

Sorry for bringing up an old thread but this seems like the best place to ask. I need to change my front motor mount on a 2001 accord lx. Can someone explain more on how to support the engine?

I know the gist is jack under exhaust pipe with a board spanning from the oil pan to the craddle. But these all sit at different heights. Do I just start jacking until the board is making contact with everything? First raising the pipe, then the cradle, and finally contacting the oil pan?

holmesnmanny

Jack up the oil pan but with a piece of wood in between the oil pan and the jack so you don't dent the oil pan. The easiest mount to ever replace is the front mount.

This will be very easy for you.

Kanga

Ok so only the oil pan? And I guess just jack until I see it rise a little so I know it's supported.

Thanks! It looks very easy, I just want to make sure I'm supporting the engine correctly and don't turn a simple job into nightmare lol

holmesnmanny

As long as you have a block of wood in between the oil pan and the jack you can't mess this up. Just jack it up to take support off the mount. Then undo the two bolts and install the new mount but don't completely torque down the bolts yet. Then remove the jack and then torque the mounting bolts to spec.

masospaghetti

Old thread but thought I'd add my 2 cents.

I tried DEA mounts and they clearly used different tooling. Castings looked different and quality was obviously poor. Holes were not drilled in the right places and one hole was not even the right size (OE had a shoulder, DEA's did not - bolt would not fit without boring it out).

As Mike already said, Anchor's mount look identical to OE down to the casting marks. Maybe they bought some of Honda's old tooling? Not sure. But they work great and fit correctly without modification. For the price, it's a no brainer - IMO.

KFC1

Would you be able to report how your motor mounts held up? I am struggling to find a reliable after-market rear mount. For the two that were shipped to me from RockAuto the solenoid does not activate under vacuum.