I finally changed my transmission mount. Here is what you need to do:

Drive the car up on a ramp (I used a Rhino Ramp)

Use the jack that came with the car, together with a piece of wood, to even out the pressure point, and apply jack on tranny pan. You need to apply just enough jacking force to lift the tranny about 1/2 inch.

Behind the tranny pan, you will notice a cross member. This cross member is held to the chassis by 4 14mm bolts. There will also be 4 12 mm nuts that holds the tranny mount towards center of this crossmember.

Remove the 4 nuts in the center followed by the 4 bolts on the crossmember, remove the crossmember.

You will be able to see the tranny mount. The tranny mount is held to the tranny by 4 bolts. Remove the 4 bolts and remove tranny mount.

Install new tranny mount.

Alldata list torque figures for the 12mm nut at 10 pounds and the 14 mm bolt for the cross member at 19 pounds. Is this correct? Anyone please care to comment?

My old mount's rubber was pretty much squashed to the point that it was metal on metal. See attached pics:

Notice that there is barely 1/8 of inch of space. With the weight of the tranny, I am sure that it was metal on metal - this means all the vibration will come through












I did not have the time to take the car for a drive but I immediately noticed less vibration at idle. I am sure that the motor mounts are probably shot. However motor mounts are $110 each and labor is another $250 or so. It is too difficult a job for me to undertake.

The tranny mount took me 30 minutes, the mount cost about $56 delivered from Park Place Lexus. It is a really cheap solution for those looking to reduce vibration. Anyone can do it.

My car has 200K and has issue of vibration.

 

Nice job!!! Our cars are notorious for going through engine mounts. I had mine done when installing the headers. My driver's side boot was pretty much gone. Passenger's side was getting there. Replaced both and car feels much smoother. I guess I'll be looking into the condition of my tranny mount.

 

nice writeup! i bet mine needs replacing.

 

You won't believe what the combo of new Motor & Tranny Mounts will do to improve ride comfort & noise issues. Your motor mounts are likely to be in way worse shape than the tranny mounts, btw. The rubber portion were actually split in two when removed on mine.
damon

 

Yes, you are probably right

How much was labor to change the engine mount? Any idea how many hours? I figured that it must cost at least $250 + another $250 for the 2 mounts. That is a $500 price tag.

Currently, I am trying to budget the $500 to change the lower control arm bushing. The Daizen bushings are $100 and labor is probably $400.

 

I asked about Motor Mounts in my own post a few days ago, and though there were MANY views, NO ONE answered. I removed the entire post because it was embarrassing to have no one reply.

Well it is nice to know that I am not the only one that has this problem. I suspected it, but could not verify it until now. I will replace all 3 mounts. The transmission mount is the easiest of all.

The engine mounts will require lowering the front cradle I think, as the bolts are practically inaccessible around the rack and pinion without removing the whole thing.

If anyone has a DIY on the engine mounts, let me know!

 

Go to the thread about the header install and it will give you tips on how to get to the engine mounts. The rubber on my motor mounts were torn half way on the passenger and almost torn all the way on the drivers side.

 

Nice write up Suloh. One question. Is it safe to jack the tranny up with the jack under the trans pan? I would think it would just dent and bend. Or am I misreading your WU?

 

Place a piece of wood between the pan and the jack to even up the load. You just need to jack the transmission up by 1 inch the most. Just the Lexus jack in the trunk.

 

Thanks!! I just went back and reread and saw that I missed the part about the wood! thanks for the write up!!!