DIY: Install.....RX8 Performance Motor Mounts
 

Installed these on Friday....and decided to throw up a quick DIY

I found this to be a super easy install....took me about 20 minutes including taking the pictures for the DIY

First thing...put the car up on a hoist or jack stands...hoist if you are lucky like me...but still easy on the ground with jack stands

Put a jack under the transmission bellhousing to hold the motor and to raise and lower it as needed. Just take the slack out of it to hold the motor still at this time

This shows the mount...with the 2 mounting bolts and one nut..(they are 14mm)

Both sides are basically the same configuration.......so remove all 6 fasteners from both sides. If you have problems....put some penetrating on the bolts and let them sit for a while...

After the fasteners are removed...jack the engine up until it lightly binds..this will give you enough room to remove both stock mounts


Once the stock mounts are removed..match them up with the new mount to get the correct one for each side ( yes they are different ;) )

Install both side mounts using the supplied hardware on the mount....remove the nylock and put the small washer and the nut on the bolt after putting it through the aluminum arm off the engine. Make sure that the tab on the new mount is inside the retaining groove on the arm

Using a 14mm socket and 6mm hex key.....tighten the nylock until it is snug...but not super tight...so you can slightly rotate the assembly. This makes installing the mount over the stud and re-installing the rear retaining bolt into the front cross member easier. If the nylock is too loose you will have difficulty tightening the mount after it is lowered..and if it is too tight you will have trouble turning the mount and installing the fasteners

To make removing the fasteners easier in the future...use some never-seize on the fasteners....will save you time and grief in the future :)

Once you have the top nuts on and the mounts hanging on the arms...carefully lower the motor until the front holes on the mounts are on the studs on the crossmember. At this time thread the nuts on a few turns to ensure the mount stays in position

Lower the motor until the mounts rest on the crossmember lightly...at this time rotoate the mount if needed and install the rear bolts on both sides.....remember the never-seize :)

Once the rear bolts are installed you can tighten the front nuts .....lower the motor completely and finish tightening all the fasteners. The nylocks on the top mount are designed to be tightened until 2 threads are showing...so stop at that point

If you wish...this is the time to torque the fasteners to factory spec's if you wish ;)

Great write up :) Just need the review after you drive around with them :D:

Nice! Can't wait for the review of the results on the road & track! Harshness, movement, sound...whatever thry're supposed to improve lol.

... but 20 min to install? I'd need that to decifer your directions and squint at the fuzzy upics. You need a new cellphone :yesnod:

It never ceases to impress me how easy the RX-8 is to work on. How can Mazda abandon this platform???

Nice DIY!!

Looking forward to the review as well

can you give ua bit more info on these performance mounts? who makes them and where did you get them?

^^ they appear to be https://www.rx8performance.com/products/motor-mounts-1

I'm also curious about the test results and driving impressions, especially regarding vibrations.

I am just hoping he comes back and says "not much difference than OEM, no need to get it if you have good motor mounts" so i have one less thing to add to my list lolz

^Ha! I concure...

Sorry about the pictures...maybe I resized them a bit too small :) They were taken with a good camera....but the original files were 4 megs...so they were too big to put up on here...If anyone wants better ones drop me a pm :)

What kind of jack are you using under the engine to hold it up?

I have the car on a hoist...so it's a telescoping jack stand.

You can basically use anything..even the OEM scissor jack if you need too. The jack only has to lift the engine/tranny up less than 2" to get the mounts to clear when you remove them

Any chance you can post a higher res image of exactly where the jack should go to support/raise the engine/tranny? I just want to make sure I position it correctly so I don't bend/break anything.

http://www.aisin-ai.co.jp/english/ne...0948106321.jpg

assume that this is your transmission, place jack stand all the way on the right which is called the bell housing.

Got it! Thanks.

Make note of what dannobre said .. you only want to lift from that point an inch or two to free up the motor mount ... dont go jacking the car up a foot from that spot lol.

The big plus is the durability of the passenger side mount. With the OEM oil filled one, it will eventually split open, due to the fact that it sits right next to the exhaust manifold. I doubt these will do that.

IMO, putting the jack under the oil pan with a block of wood to spread the load out to the vertical sides of the pan, is a better place. It's flat, stable, and further forward, so there's less torque on the rear tranny mounts. I took a piece of 2x6, drove a nail in the center half-way through, then flipped it over, putting the nail shank thru the hole in the top of the stock scissors jack to keep the board from sliding out. I don't like risking my fingers by using hydraulic jacks for things like this. :nono: When an o-ring fails, a common occurance with cheap chinese floor jacks, the load will drop *instantly*. YMMV.

Also, be careful if you're using a filter adapter for oil pressure/oil temp gauges. This raises the filter up where it may hit the firewall or line guide on the firewall before getting the engine high enough. A Series II oil filter + Prosport adapter def will interfere. The strut bar and the center part along the firewall of my GTSPEC 6-pt brace also had to come off.

I just ordered McMaster-Carr urethane compound. will give it a try first before spending money on these..they do look well made.

dannobre can you report back how do they comapre to stock mounts, are they to harash, what about cabin vibrations?

There's no risk in crushing the oil pan using this method?

Agreed, I was just explaining dannobres method since he asked.

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As long as you are using a board to distribute the load, there is very little risk to damaging the pan, it is a very common method of dropping an engine, either method would work, of course less supplies will be needed with dannobres method lol

I have an aluminum oil pan that won't like supporting the engine weight....and don't buy cheap chinese knock off racing jacks..they do fail often and can cause serious damage to the car and to yourself if they fail under load

As for the Oil sender and other addittions to stock...you always need to think about changes you have made to the car before you do any modifications....sometimes you have to do other things than ordinary to account for those :)....where are your tranny mounts ;)..last time I looked there was nothing from the diff to the motor mounts :)

Yeah, hate it when I have to mod my mods to get my latest mods in. :banghead:

Tranny mounts seem to be here, marked in red.