3.7 engine mounts

[nlocascio]

What is involved in replacing the engine mounts on a 2002 liberty, 4wd 3.7? Do i have to drop the front differential? What i saw from the little info I could find is that i may have to remove the starter and should be able to jack up the engine using a jack and a block of wood. I really don't want to have to drop the front diff or raise the motor from the top.

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

What is involved in replacing the engine mounts on a 2002 liberty, 4wd 3.7? Do i have to drop the front differential? What i saw from the little info I could find is that i may have to remove the starter and should be able to jack up the engine using a jack and a block of wood. I really don't want to have to drop the front diff or raise the motor from the top.

No need to drop the diff - but if you're feeling frisky it WILL make the job a lot easier...

Loosen the motor mount bolts (no need to completely remove them) and lift the engine. There are three bolts that hold the mounts to the block - the two on the bottom are reached fairly easily but the one on the top will require some contortions. Patience, some high quality universals for your ratchet and gloves to protect your knuckles should be in place.

I bought mine at NAPA and they've been fine for about 80,000 miles now.


Bob

 

[WINGDOG]

You will need to remove the drivers side convertor and get some of the bolts from the top after the engine is raised. It took me 3 1/2 hours to do the drivers side and less than an hour for the passenger side. Your gonna need a lot of patience. Have fun.

 

[nlocascio]

So did you use a jack and block of wood under the engine to raise it up? And you had to remove the driver side catalytic converter?

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

So did you use a jack and block of wood under the engine to raise it up? And you had to remove the driver side catalytic converter?

I found it easier to just remove the entire engine :happy175:

Engine Swap Overview


Bob

 

[WINGDOG]

Yes a block of wood that spans both sides of the pan. Front driveshaft out, skid plates off, starter out. Jeep couldn't have made this more difficult to do. It's no wonder labor to do it is so high. May as well check the trans mount while your there, it's probably bad also.

 

[nlocascio]

Front drive shaft is currently out. Had to pull it to replace starter couple months back and left it out because the CV is bad. Jeep engineers made this way more difficult to work on than needed. Starter was a royal pain. Right now have to figure out how to get my front skid plate off. The front two bolts have captured nuts that broke free in the frame. The transmission mount looks really good. I'm also going to do the crank position sensor. The wires at the connector are bare and so i bought the new pigtail and sensor. Heard some horror stories about it breaking off in the block. I'm going to spray it down with liquid wrench for awhile and do the same to the motor mount bolts. I have a feeling the mounts will be tackled at a later date. Just trying to avoid issues ahead of time. Then on to rear diff pinion seal. And as to pulling the engine out, no thanks, but the official directions do say to do that. I can't imagine what idiot at Chrysler thought that was an acceptable repair procedure for a motor mount. Probably the same one that made instructions for replacing the starter include dropping a drive shaft and removing the converter. Thankfully we know ways around such stupidity.

 

[nlocascio]

Thanks for all the great info. Feel better informed for when i tackle this job.

 

[DaddySS]

Thanks to all the comments and insights I had a good start, this is what worked best for me:
You'll need to gain enough space to access bolts and harnesses, and for the mounts to come out. To do this, lower the differential:

• Remove the right front wheel.
• Remove the right side lower control arm bushing bolts, this will allow the control arm to be lowered and the right front differential bushing bolt to be removed. Be sure the mark the alignment cams so they can be installed the same position.
• Remove the drive shaft bolts at the front differential flange - if you have 1/4" deep sockets it makes it easier.
• Remove the three bolts holding the left front bushing bracket to the differential.
• The oil filter drip tray un-clips from the bracket once the 10mm bolt is loosened.
• Now support the differential and remove the right rear and left rear differential bushing bolts and the differential will drop down and forward leaving lots of room to work.
• Loosen the mount through bolts and raise the engine high enough for the bolts to clear the cradle.
• If you have long extensions and universals it will make things easier.
• Remove the bolts from the mounts.
• On the drivers side there's a metal plate on top of the mount that holds the wiring, it's held in place by a clip at the front and a 10MM bolt at the rear.
• You now have a choice the remove the plate and reinstall later or remove the wiring clip and remove the plate with the mount. The clip is the kind where the connector slides onto the base with the pin that goes through the plate.
• If you're using aftermarket mounts check the hole alignment and test fit the clip. I had to file the lip of the new mount for the plate to fit and file the holes with a round file to get the bolts to line up.
• Test fit both mounts with all four bolts and adjust as necessary before proceeding.
• After you get the mounts set, bolt them to the engine, get the plate and wiring installed and lower the engine onto cradle.
• Once done and tight, reinstall the front end in the reverse order.

Hope this helps. The full job took me three days working about 6 hours per day, but that was with lots of trial and error. I suspect it should take two days.

 

[DaddySS]

By the way, I was chasing a fairly heavy vibration at idle and lower RPMs. Replaced the harmonic balancer and all three mounts. The vibration is now 95% better. As a note,with the new mounts the engine sits about 1" higher than before - double the clearance between the oil pan and crossmember