Author Topic: oil pan accident motor mount gone (Read 3167 times)

AutoXSS · « **on:** January 27, 2011, 04:18:50 PM »

had alittle accident and cracked the oil pan. the concrete footing my car hit directly hit the oil pan, and i assume hit it so hard, that it pushed the motor off the passenger side motor mount. it basically lifted it off/tore it apart. the motor is now sitting alittle off to the side on the passenger side. I plan of replacing both of them at once in case the drivers side is also bent(probably). the car ran for about two minutes as the oil slowly leaked out of the pan. Im hoping this is all that is wrong, we'll see...

wondering if this has happened to anyone else. i know the cracked pan happens alot, but does the motor mount ever happen with this as well? Im sure the mounts were the original ones, so they may have been weak anyway. they actually hold alot of oil inside. looked worst than it really was.

Is the procedure for motor mount replacement on here anywhere? will i have to loosen the tranny mount to realign the motor?

DesktopDave · « **Reply #1 on:** January 27, 2011, 04:36:16 PM »

Just lift the motor & set it back down. It's just like the rubber mounts, only bigger. I've heard you can use e28 535i (M30) conventional mounts instead of the spendy M42 ones, but they'll transmit more vibration.

I have seen many BMW motor, transmission and CSB mounts dissolve/crack/de-laminate from motor oil. Often when I pull the powertrain they just fall apart. Oil seems to shorten their life significantly. It's also because the cars tend to last a long time too. In particular, my Nissans never lasted long enough to need new mounts...

If the pan bounced enough to break a mount I'd check the oil pump, chain, drive gear, etc. very closely for abnormal wear too.

AutoXSS · « **Reply #2 on:** January 27, 2011, 10:37:42 PM »

I plan on getting a new pan and gaskets, upper and lower. hopefully everything is ok. it was really close to the radiator and steering rack, but they were untouched. I've never done motor mounts on anything. can't wait to dive in and see if the damage was minimal and straight forward......

AutoXSS · « **Reply #3 on:** January 27, 2011, 10:40:46 PM »

BTW, I plan on using some poly mounts. found them on e30tech. I'm more of a "all compromise" kind of guy. don't mind the noise, I daily drove an ESP prepped camaro for a long time

DesktopDave · « **Reply #4 on:** January 28, 2011, 07:30:20 AM »

Yeah, it's easy. You might need a wobble extension or u-joint on your wrench to get the mount nuts off. Use an engine crane to lift the motor if possible, but if you're replacing them from below be sure to put a block of wood under the pan, it's possible to crack the lower pan lifting it with a hydraulic jack.

Those motor lift bars or maybe some chains & a 4x4 that mount on the fenders and hold up the motor would be a great idea too...I never trust a hydraulic cylinder 100%, especially to hold hundreds of pounds of metal over me for an extended period of time.

AutoXSS · « **Reply #5 on:** January 29, 2011, 03:36:15 PM »

turns out both motor mounts were broken in half. pan had a scrape on the side that dug into it deep enough to let all the oil out. still havent ordered parts, probably wont get to it for several weeks.

not gonna repair the oil pan, just in case its tweaked in a place not really visible. just gonna replace it with a proven, used one.