1997 Villager motor mount

[Bob Mayo]

My 1997 Villager has gone through 2 front motor mounts in less than 15,000 miles. I did the standard check to see which way the engine moves when someone holds their foot on the brake and accelerated in reverse and drive. The engine lifts in reverse so it looks like the rear mount is OK. I can't understand why the front one keeps breaking since that one would be stressed in reverse. Maybe the quality of my replacement parts was not so good?

[villagerguy]

Motor mounts usually ast a long time. I would guess poor quality. Use Ford part. see tascafordparts.com for a discount.

Also, go here and read files and photos for Villager issues.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/villagerquest/

[Bob Mayo]

Thanks for the web site. I need to update my original post. The engine lifts at the front of the car when the motor is in Forward gear not Reverse. My local tire shop told me they had it in reverse when the engine lifted at the front and I was standing there too. Just another reason why I do my own repairs.

The car does shift into second a little hard. Bob

[villagerguy]

The hard shift could be from a TPS sensor that needs adjusting. It causes most hard shifts.

[drcoffee]

I have a 2000 and jut last year had a Meineke replace the front mount. 1 year later its trashed again. Last weekend I did the work myself. I ordered he front and rear mount from rockauto.com and droped the crossmember, installed both mounts in under 2 hours. I am guessing that the front mount tore apart because the rear was ripped as well. Time will tell. The only thing keeping the front together was the steel ring. It was completely torn out. These motors have a lot of torque. but it should last a little longer than 1 year.

[DebSol]

Rock Auto? Expect to be replacing it again before long. Unless you got a Motorcraft part from them.

[Bob Mayo]

Well, the mount broke again after 6 months. I'm using Anchor Motor Mounts. Tried to get a Motorcraft once but they sold me the wrong part at the dealer then did not have the correct one after I had the car apart so I used Anchor again. After replacing the broken front mount several times I came up with a fix, I hope. I bought solid mounts, sold in pairs, from Speedway Motors (Universal Bolt-Through Engine Mount Cushion Kit - $20.) and retrofitted the existing steel mount with the new rubber. The rubber is 3" in diameter and the pair fit perfectly. It was a little work but doable. After removing the mount from the car I used a propane torch and burned out what was left of the rubber. After a while it burned all by itself. The new rubber I bought had steel washers just under a thin rubber skin at one end which I sliced and removed. Then I took the upper bolt sleeve from the old mount and fitted it to the new rubber mounts. I had to enlarge the holes in the new rubber using a forstner drill bit and a drill press. It cut a perfect smooth hole in the rubber. Then I put a little white grease on the new mounts and pushed them into the metal housing with the tapered ends facing the outside. Put it all back together and it seems to be fine. The hard shifting from 1st to 2nd is hardly noticeable now and I think it was exaggerated a bit because the mount was always in some state of deterioration. The old rubber seemed very brittle and was only 6 months on the car. Who knows how long they have been sitting on the shelf before they were sold.

[drcoffee]

Welcome to the club. I just replaced my mounts for the 3 rd time. I get about 12 months from them. The last 2 sets were Anchor and they were tore all to hell. I'm thinking it was what was tripping the P0325 knock sensor code. This last time I used DEA mounts from Rockauto. If these tear out again, the next set will be filled with Poly from Energy suspension parts.

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...sp?prod=DIYMMI