Motor Mounts

There is no recall on motor mounts.


Does your mechanic look at anything when he services the car?

 

There are several older threads on the 550 engine mounts. I had a '99 550 and had them replaced. The common fix was to install the newer 575 mounts. Cost was around $800 IIRC. Does your engine contact the hood liner?

 

One way is to put the car on a lift and remove the bottom cover from the front half of the car.
This enables you to get a good view of the motor mounts from underneath.
You might be able to see them through the holes using a flashlight.

Below is a picture of one of my failed motor mounts (picture was taken a few years ago).
The bottom washer ring should not be hanging down like that.
My understanding is that it should be up tight up against the bottom of the rubber part of the mount.
It is sagging because the motor has dug into the top of the rubber part of the mount over time and now the engine is sagging on that side.

The 575 motor mount has another metal plate on the top of it which is what keeps the motor from digging into the rubber part.
It is a better design and solves this problem.
550's should have their motor mounts replaced with 575 ones once sagging starts to appear.

My understanding is one of the real dangers of sagging motor mounts is it exposes an oil line on the bottom of the engine.
It can sag low enough that it may scrape on something while going down the road.
If it hits road debris then all the oil can drain quickly out of the engine and the engine will have permanent major damage in a matter of a few minutes time.
So, given the cost of a replacement engine, upgrading the motor mounts is a good idea.
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Has anyone heard of the mounts failing on the 456M? I believe they use the same part #.

 

They used the same mounts and they are the reason Ferrari ran out of new 456 motors many years ago.

These are the new updated mounts. We replace them with some regularity. They are better but as you can see they are not a fix.
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Probably a Porsche mechanic...

 

Toggie,

Sell those old MM's on Ebay as Ferrari race parts. "ESpecial ferrari 550 1" lower motor mounts. Lower your car's CG and go faster!"

 

Hahahahaha..... there you go......

Alex

 

FoA is quoting me $1850 (8.0 hrs labor) for a 2000 550. Does this sound about right?

RRS

 

I just did mine and it was a pain. This was a first time through for me and 8 hours seems a bit high, though there were times when I could have used a helper...

After having done this job - I think I would pay that to have it done by someone else...

 

Mine's in the shop at this moment and motor mounts are one of the now necessary items on the to-do sheet.

 

I was recently informed by a technician at a dealership service
facility that sagging motor mounts will cause the engine
to drop and will cause interference with steering that
one can feel. Marks on the hood pad more likely to be caused
by a sagging pad. A sagging motor mount will result in the
engine moving away from, not closer to, the pad.

Zed

 

Ask that technician about torque reaction and it's effect on the motor when the mounts not only sag but allow upward movement of the motor.

 

Dave- The check we used to make for a broken motor mount was to hold the brake and rev the engine just slightly. The engine would rear up where it was not constrained. Pretty easy to spot on an American V8 with and automatic. Probably a bit more subtle on a V12 with a loose mount.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

I did not feel anything in the steering, and mine were toast. Alternator was hitting the anti-roll bar and the oil sump was contacting the fluid return line from the steering rack. Picture below is with that line removed from the rack - the bolts were removed from the rack to move it forward to access the mount bolt from below.
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Back in the early 60s I once hooked up an old fuel gauge sender to the top of the valve cover with a rod on a MGA. I had a switch where I could switch between senders. One way read the tank, the other way read how far the motor reacted to torque,

I never got much more that a quarter tank of torque though

 

My independent mechanic, ex-Ferrari dealer tech, quoted me $900, including the mounts. I don't know if there are reasons why 550 and 456M prices might differ, but maybe someone can chime in.

 

Allan- $1800 did sound excessive, but one of the mounts, I forget which, is a real pain to reach and requires removing quite a bit of stuff on a Maranello. Not sure about a 456/M.

This is the kind of stuff you would like to hear from Brian, but I think he hates to get into prices too much.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

I was a bit uneasy quoting my mechanic's price. He's a great guy and it's possible he was giving me a break on the cost of the work, maybe because I'm having a number of other items done at the same time.

 

The driver's side.

 

Brian- If I paid shipping, would you send me a set of the 575M motor mounts you have removed? I will ask Pfadt if they could be rebuilt or something better produced for a reasonable price. Their C5/C6 mounts are $250 a pair, way better than $349 each for Ferrari mounts.

Might also be something Paul Hill might be willing to tackle.

Taz
Terry Phillips