Front Engine Mount & Breather Pipe Advice

[BobbaFett]

Hi guys,

Looking for some advice on what is the best way to change both of these out. I have a 450 Brabus with air con and normal sized hands so its proving impossible for me to get at the end of the cranks case breather pipe (mine is actually split near the throttle body) and no hope in hell of getting to the top bolts for the front engine mount.

I was thinking if I removed the intake plenum would this allow me to get at both the top bolts for the front engine mount and the breather pipe and if I also remove the oil sump could I then get the front engine mount out (so I can replace it)?

[Thrumbleux]

From memory, I think you can leave the lower part of the breather pipe and just piece in the top part (with the valve). Can't remember exactly though and some cars have been known to choke up at the bottom end so require cleaning there. If it is unblocked though.....(My car doesn't have air con so easier).

I wouldn't disturb the sump unnecessarily - can be a pain to reseal and a seized bolt will cause you a world of pain if its head disintegrates. Plenum removal also a PITA requiring coordinated removal of injector connectors, plug leads, etc.
I'd have thought the best way would be to lower the subframe. Specialist 'long' bolts are available but Tolsen's method of swapping existing bolts front to rear (or vice versa) would probably work.

Maybe others with air con cars have better methods.

[Mr T]

There is a write up on Evilution on how to replace both of these items, but you need to sign-up to read the full articles.
In my opinion it's the best £10 you can spend if you are going to be doing work on your Smart. Lots of useful stuff plus Kane is a good guy!

[BobbaFett]

Already a member of Evilutions site, unbolting the rear engine mount would allow me to drop the engine slightly on that side to get at the breather pipe but not the front engine mount. I'm needing to swap out the oil sump anyhow so it will be coming off - I'm hoping someone can chime in to let me know if I can get the front mount changed out if I take this off and maybe pop the plenum off.

[Thrumbleux]

Can't really help on the mount front. I replaced mine when the engine was out for rebuild so access for bolting it to the block was easy. Bolting it to the (already lowered) subframe was easy enough and I tightened the bolts with a universal joint and extension bars on the ratchet and had plenty room to work as away from the shell of the car (the sloping part).
If it is clearance there that you need, consider lowering the subframe.That is a surefire way to access the bolts that connect with the subframe. For reasons already stated I can't say if that improves access to the engine block bolts.
Removing the plenum is a PITA not helped by it being as awkward as hell figuring out (by touch) how to unclip the injector connectors.

[Thrumbleux]

Just remembered - lowering the subframe for you probably means disturbing the air con plumbing.

[mikerj]

Undo the right rear engine mount and lower the engine down (on a jack), this gives plenty of space. You will need to unbolt the X frame to get access to the engine mount though.

[BobbaFett]

Tackled the breather pipe at the weekend and unbolting the right rear engine mount was the way to go, gave me a good few inches of clearance to get at the other end of the pipe to remove it.

Whilst I had the engine dropped on the right hand side I took a quick look at the front engine mount. I can certainly undo the centre bolt from underneath which would allow me to drop the front of the engine down. I came across this post that mentioned successfully getting to the top bolts of the mount via the alternator cover panel once the engines dropped a little with the centre bolt removed - has anyone actually used this method before by chance?

http://www.thesmartclub.com/board/sh...-the-easy-way.

[Chopper]

Yes, that's exactly how I did it. I slipped a new alternator belt om while I was in there.

[BobbaFett]

Awesome, thanks Chopper

[BobbaFett]

Well I tried the alternator access panel method mentioned previously and my hands are simply too big to do it. I finally did it and used the following method:
Jacked the car up
Removed the rear panels
Removed the crash bar
Removed the top x-frame bolts and loosen'd the bottom bolts
Supported the engine with a jack and removed the front engine mount centre bolt using two 17mm ratchet spanners
Unbolted the drivers side rear engine mount and dropped the engine down
Used an E14 ratchet spanner on the front top engine mount bolt and a piece of wood to push on the spanner from above to loosen the bolt off
Did the same to loosen the rear top engine mount bolt off
Unbolted the engine mount and spent 10mins cursing / swearing trying to wiggle it free past the sump and axle
Wiggled the new mount into place along with a lot more cursing / swearing
Used a zip tie looped through itself and fed it up one of the bolt holes in the mount and through one of the bolt holes in the subframe - so I could pull the mount up into place from the top
Managed to get one of the bolts in from the top with my fingers, then remove the zip tie and got the other bolt in
I pre-greased the bolts and the mount holes with copper grease beforehand so I could finger tighten them practically all the way in
Used my E14 ratchet spanner to fully tighten the top bolts up as I could use my fingers on the alternator for leverage
Used the jack to push the engine up back into place and fitted the centre bolt in
Re-assembled the car

In all took me just over 3hrs to do. My old mount was absolutely shafted, the centre part had completely separated from the rest of the mount, the new mount has made such a difference to the way the car drives its like night and day - my new mount also has the Powerflex bushes added to it.

[Thrumbleux]

Admiring your perseverance sir! Some jobs on smarts are way harder than is welcome. Done now though - and breathe.....