Article on: STi Engine Motor Mounts

STI Motor Mount installation instructions for 2002 WRX

A couple of things:

A) For this install, you re-use ALL the stock nuts and bolts.

B) Contrary to the way this reads, I replaced the mounts one at a time- driver's side removed and replaced, then passenger side removed then replaced. There was always at least one mount, stock or otherwise, on the car.

C) Tools needed: 14MM socket, socket wrench, 14MM 12 point box end wrench, screwdriver, jack, wood, a 3" and 12" extension, and some light.

D) Time: Maybe an hour or so if you have the right tools. We frigged around for a long time before I built the "custom" tools.

Standard Disclaimer: Use of the following instructions can and will lead to injury, disfigurement, death, premature baldness, uncontrollable flatulence, and loss of saliva control. Performing modifications to your vehicle will void your vehicle's warrantee, as well as the vehicle warrantees of all your family, close friends, and a couple of innocent bystanders. The following instructions are for educational use only. I make no guarantees of any kind, at any time, that this will work. Never do this to your car. Don't read, follow, or even consider doing this modification to your car, and especially not the way herein described. I am an idiot, and these are the nonsensical ramblings that I am allowed to type before the nurse on my ward comes by at medication time.

Instructions:

1. Put the front wheels of the car up on ramps. You could probably use jack stands, but because of the additional engine jacking I was going to do for this job, I figured that ramps would be safer. Be sure to set the emergency brake, and to put the car in gear.

2. Remove the pitch arm bolt from in back of the intercooler. (Figure 1). Let the pitch arm just flop around. In this picture, my turbo heat shield and downpipe shielding is not in place.

Figure 1:

3. Under the car, undo the 14MM nuts that hold the bottom part of the mounts to the crossbar. A small extension is handy here. Save the nuts and washers.

4. Undo the 14MM front motor mount bolts. (Figure 2)

Figure 2:5. Jack up the motor with a jack placed under the oil pan. The oil pan is pretty strong, and can support the weight of the engine, but be sure to put a piece of wood between the jack and the oil pan to spread the force a bit. From the pictures, you can see that I actually used a piece of wood and then some folded up cardboard to cushion the oil pan even more.

I had to put the jack itself up on a cinder block to get enough height. When you jack it up, do it slowly to make sure that the jack will not slip, dropping the motor. Eventually, the studs from the motor mount will be lifted out of the slots on the crossbar (barely). At some point, you will stop being able to raise the motor, and you will start raising the car, due to the various things that are attached to the engine like coolant hoses, etc.

6. When the motor is high enough (1-2 inches), and the lower bolts are sort of clear of the crossbar, consider trying to wedge a piece of wood between the engine block and the crossbar. Your hands will be in between there too while you get at the mounts, and if the jack slips when your hands are in there, they will become hamburger. Of course, we did not do this.

7. Now you will be able to access the rear mount bolts (figure 3) from in back of the crossbar.

Figure 3:

Driver's side:

The driver's side rear bolt you can get with an ordinary socket wrench. There is not much room to work: If you back the bolt out all the way, you can no longer remove the socket, which will be backed up against the crossbar. Back it out only enough until it becomes loose enough to get with your fingers. (Hence the wood-see step 6.)

Passenger side:

The passenger side rear bolt is harder. There is not enough room for a socket wrench. From the picture (figure 3), it looks like the bolt is right there, but it is really recessed far back under the crossbar. You will see. I ended up having to build special tools to undo it. To break the bolt initially, and to torque it down, I had to use interlocking wrenches. (Figure 4). To continue loosening it, I taped a screwdriver to the wrench so I could have enough reach. (Figure 5.) If you had longer wrenches, you should be in better shape.

Figure 4:Figure Figure 5:

8. Once all the bolts are removed, you can wiggle the stock mounts out toward the front of the crossbar.

WARNING! If you have an EGT probe installed where I do, (figure 2) you need to REMOVE it in order to get the passenger side mount out. My Greddy mount just screwed out, and later back in again.

9. Once the stock mounts are off, unscrew the metal plates from the rubber bits. Screw the STI plates on the STI mounts using the nuts from the stock set. The plates are labelled L and R for left and right. Make sure the plates are oriented the right way using the stock ones as a model. Don't torque them down too tight- the plates are made out of aluminum. Take the stock mounts, clean them up, and use them as paperweights or conversation starters.

10. Put the STI mounts in. Wiggle the mounts in place on the engine block, and screw in the bolts, front and rear. The bottom bolts should be near the holes they are supposed to go through on the crossbar. Torque down the bolts to the engine block.

11. Now lower the motor a tad until the bottom mount bolts rest <I>gently</I> on the crossbar, if they are not doing so already. Here is where you wiggle the motor around until the bolts go into their slot on the crossbar. We had to take the jack handle and lever the manifold crosspipe against the front flat part of the frame of the car to shove the engine backward about 1/6 inch until the bolts went in. After they are more or less in place, lower the motor the rest of the way. Try not to damage the threads on the mounts.

12. Screw in the nuts and washers to the lower studs on the mounts, securing them to the crossbar.

13. Screw the pitch arm bolt back in, securing the pitch arm (behind the intercooler). Torque it down.

14. That's it! Make sure there are no extra nuts or bolts lying around that you forgot about, and make sure you got all the tools out from the engine bay and from under the car. Take the car down, and go for a drive.

(The ISDC cannot be held responsible for any modifications that adversely effect the warranty of your car.)