silly thread, best way to get front left motor mount realigned

[Donnyten]

Got rear and front motor mounts changed, was gonna change the front left mount i got from oreillys but the damn side parts that mate with the bolt holes were too long ... tried reassembling the old mount and just can not get the bolts to go through the holes 100 percent. seems like i have to pull the engine closer to me to align the two bolt holes. I tighten the center bolt securing the mount, then I let the weight of the engine push down on the mount to align itself horizontal to the block or close to it.. then i pull the engine closer to me to align the holes, drill away, thats the best i know how but the bolts only go in about 80 percent of the way. able to easily wiggle the engine by hand...been doing this for 6 hrs.. wtf? any tips?

[Shane86]

Be sure the front mount is the same as the original

[Dr_Snooz]

Pics of issue?

[Donnyten]

as you can see in the picture the bolts are not going in all the way.

and shane man i think you are on to something, the freakin front mount is a little taller than the old one SMDFH.

[Donnyten]

tried to remount the old front mount, same issue really. that protrusion in the middle of the mount seems to be stopping the bolts from going in all the way but it was in there before sooo..... no clue. replacement mount doesnt have that groove in it.. ordered another mount, going to see if the new one fits

[Dr_Snooz]

You got them backward. Put the top one on the bottom and vice versa.

[Donnyten]

oh snap. do you simply reverse the two black mounts? thats crazy, no wonder why this wasn't working, must be too many hours in the heat

[Shane86]

yeah man on the front motor mount I search for like 10 years to try to get the right one everyone was too tall. I ended up ordering Chris's (cygnus x-1) front and rear motor mount adapter plates that hold the GM transmission mounts

[Donnyten]

thats crazy

[Donnyten]

is my timing belt supposed to be this tight? surely its supposed to rap around the cam pulley with relative ease? i even tried taking the pulley off the cam shaft putting the belt on the pulley and tried putting it back on, simply does not want to fit. mind you this belt came with a rebuild kit so i dont know. maybe i should try to get another from the parts store?

[Dr_Snooz]

It's good. Man up!

[Donnyten]

Timing belt good im assuming? No way this thing can be that damn tight. If i take pulley off and put belt on that way, I literally have to stand over the car and pull up with all my might just to get it barely on the camshaft and even so it throws the woodruff key out of position because it wont slide on all the way. Goes on with max strength without woodruff key but then i cant slide the key back into position. Key falls out of place of i put it on the pulley before hand so i have to place it on the shaft. But if you say its good guess ill try again later

[slithica]

Dude, did you remove the tensioner? It's neigh impossible to put the belt back on with the tensioner holidng it.

Also, the front motor mounts is annoying and I simply cut the bolt on mine since it was too long. It works better than a worn out one but meh.

[Shane86]

Yeah be sure the tensioner is loose and it's a pain. but it will go on there. it may take a couple times to getting the timing right

[Donnyten]

I mean should the tensioner be lose or completely OFF? could they seriously not have made this an easier process? I took the tensioner half way OFF and can get the belt on but then the belt pushes UP and i cant align the hole on the little protrusion on the block, there is no way by simply loosening the bolt i can even get the belt ON. What are the official instructions on doing this? Ive never had so much trouble changing a timing belt. What am i doing wrong?

[Donnyten]

i must say. that was the weirdest, most frustrating timing belt i've ever had to put on. why couldnt they have made this any easier.. dont see how some of you guys say the belt " slipped off and slipped on".. i've read that on here. the real question is now... judging by these photos, is my engine out of time????

so annoying how these pics always come out sideways

[Dr_Snooz]

The belt has to be tensioned so you'll have to struggle with it one way or another. You can take the spring off the tensioner, set the belt and then try to manhandle that spring back on while reaching down into the engine bay with needle-nosed pliers an no clearance, or you can leave the tensioner sprung and do it that way. It needs to be tight on the front side of the car. Put the first few belt ribs on the cam gear at the front. That will line everything up so you won't lose TDC, even if the pulleys move. Then just like you were doing, walk the belt bit by bit over top of the gear. It's the best way I've found to do it because it doesn't involve contorting your hands at funny angles down deep in the bay.

[Donnyten]

So did i essentially lose tdc? Do i gotta start over?

[Donnyten]

Two dash marks behind cam pulley aligned to cylinder head though " up "is not directly in the middle.. slightly to the left, engine directly on white timing mark above "T" . Just gonna run it and see what happens. I dont ever want to do that again for a while

[Shane86]

yeah looks like you're off a little bit. it's a royal pain in the ass to get it right. when taking pictures try holding your phone at a different angle like upside down then went how you usually take them

[InAccordance]

I know your pain, did this on the old prelude when I had to swap the head out. Took me days to finally get it timed right. Everytime I would go to tighten the tensioner, the crank would move. Ended up watching it a few times to get the exact amount it would move, set it back that much so when I went to tighten the tensioner down, it actually moved the crank exactly where it was supposed to be.
Not looking forward to doing it again, but mine does need a new belt pretty bad so yay...

[Donnyten]

Man. Still off? Smh.. . My timing belt is tearing up from all the attempts at trying to FORCE it on.pain in the fuggin ass.

[Donnyten]

This is how it currently is

[Shane86]

Look close enough to me lol

[Shane86]