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So, the car was just about to roll over 100,000 miles and it had had some serious vibration issues ever since I've been driving it. I realized a while ago that I could pretty much put my hand between the metal and rubber parts of my torque axis mount, indicating that the mount was about as dead as a fucking doornail. A doornail that had been dead for a loooooooooong, loooooooooong time. When I asked my mom if she'd ever had the motor mounts changed, she responded with an encouraging, "motor what?" Soooooooo, at that point I put it on my "to do" list, but never really got around to it. Finally, when the car began to shake pretty bad from a stop every time, I decided it was time for it to go. The first step to replacing the mount is to support the engine from the bottom so you can get it off safely and easily. Using a floor jack would probably have been better, but I just used the normal "changing tires" jack. So sad, I know. Whatever, bishez. You want to jack it up so it's supporting the engine from the bottom of the oil pan. To distribute the weight more evenly, you want to put a piece of wood, or in my case my cutting board from the kitchen and a bath towel, between the jack and the oil pan. Just raise the jack enough to it's pressing gently against the pan.
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Once the engine is supported, pop the hood and look to the left of the cam cover. You'll should see something like what's pictured to the right. You want to remove the five bolts circled in the picture. I believe they are 15mm nuts and you'll need a long 15mm socket to get the three on top. If the studs come out with the nuts, don't worry. It's probably a good idea to replace the nuts and studs now, anyway, but you don't have to, as far as I know. I did, anyway.
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After you have all the nuts and/or studs out, pull off the mount by pulling straight up. If it comes apart in two pieces like mine did, it means you should've changed it a LOOOONG time ago. Whoops. Anyway, if you're replacing the studs, hand tighten them into the holes as far as they'll go and then use an 8mm (I think, maybe bigger) ratchet to crank them down. Then, simply slide on the new mount and tighten it back down. If it doesn't fit, you might have to only have one stud in, place the new mount onto that stud, line the holes up, and install the last two studs through the mount's holes while it's siting there. You might also have to lower the jack some to get the nuts onto the studs. After they're started, though, when you tighten them, they'll pull the engine up as they go. Just keep turning them until the mount is flush with the head and you're all good to go. Enjoy the lesser vibration and better starts off the line. Hoodayhoo.
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