1st Gen "How To" Powerflex Transmission Mount Bushing Install W/ Upper Engine Damper Replacement

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R53 Powerflex Transmission Mount Bushing Install w/ Upper Engine Damper Replacement. You don't have to do both of these jobs at the same time......
By agranger · Jan 18, 2018 · 5.1K
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  1. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #1 agranger, Aug 13, 2010
    Has anyone installed the Powerflex engine/transmission mount bushings on an R53?

    [​IMG]

    I've got these items sitting in my garage and I'd like to get 'em installed.

    I'm looking for any tips you could provide.

    Thanks.
     
  2. PGT

    PGT Wheel Whore

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    #2 PGT, Aug 13, 2010
    I've done it. The hardest thing is getting the cradle mount repositioned to get the bolts in. The bushing itself is easy. Put the car on stands or ramps (better) and use a floor jack under to support the motor while you unbolt things - the jack will help you move stuff around to get all the bolts re-threaded.

    And....after it was all done, the new bushings appear to take up less space causing some play. This caused some noise for me in of itself.
     
  3. wzabrouski

    wzabrouski Active Member

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    #3 wzabrouski, Aug 13, 2010
    PGT is right on. Did mine as well. Getting to it is the hardest part. You will be shocked at how skinny the current bushing is. Also amazed me that besides the tranny mount there is very little holding the engine. I used a bottle jack and it worked perfectly. I might have step by step directions I found. I will check.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  4. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #4 agranger, Aug 13, 2010
    Hmmm... I've got to put in a new upper mount as well... mine decided to spew oil again. It sounds like it might be a good job to do at the same time.

    If you can find those instructions, I'd appreciate it. I've done some searching and couldn't find a how-to anywhere. Perhaps I'll take some pics and get one posted if it all goes well.

    So these are replacement bushings? Many of the powerflex bits are bushing augmentation (leave the original bush in place and add these new bits around it to fill in the holes and stiffen things up. By the shape of it, I was thinking that this would be an augmentation, not a replacement.
     
  5. wzabrouski

    wzabrouski Active Member

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    #5 wzabrouski, Aug 13, 2010
    You are correct Aaron, inserts. I will look for the DIY.


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  6. Steve

    Steve Administrator
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    #6 Steve, Aug 13, 2010
    As would I. This has finally worked it's way up near the top of my to-do list.
     
  7. Dr Obnxs

    Dr Obnxs New Member

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    #7 Dr Obnxs, Aug 14, 2010
    Another thought...

    you might want to replace the stocker when you put these suckers on. The stock rubber cracks over time.... If you're getting in there, might want to do it all at once.

    Matt
     
  8. AliceCooper

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    #8 AliceCooper, Aug 14, 2010

    If you do find a DIY on this that would be tits, I have these bushings sitting out in the garage as well.
     
  9. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #9 agranger, Aug 15, 2010
    I just got back in from 3 hours or so out in the garage, replacing the upper oil-filled engine mount (you know... the one that spluges oil all over the frame rail near the serpentine belt every 25k miles or so but that MINI refuses to acknowledge as a design fault :D ) and installing these transmission mount stiffeners. I strongly recommend not doing this when it is 100 degrees outside!

    I took pics along the way and I'll try to do a write up in the library in the next week on how to install the stiffeners. I'd guess that I could do it in an hour and a half the second time. I spent most of my time struggling to get the engine lifted over the new oil-filled damper... the transmission mount was fairly easy... just fussy, moving all of the bits out of the way so you could remove the bracket and fit the inserts.
     
  10. Way Motor Works

    Way Motor Works New Member

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    #10 Way Motor Works, Aug 16, 2010
    They are pretty simple.

    Remove airbox
    unbolt fuse box and set aside
    Support trans with jack
    remove 16mm bolts holding trans mount to body and rubber mount.
    Install inserts and use pliers to squeeze them in place.
    Then reinstall everything in reverse order.
     
  11. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #11 agranger, Aug 16, 2010
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2010
  12. Steve

    Steve Administrator
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    #12 Steve, Aug 16, 2010
    Thanks Way and well done Aaron!
     
  13. BThayer23

    BThayer23 Well-Known Member

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    #13 BThayer23, Aug 16, 2010
    Thanks Aaron for the clear and concise write up. Illustrative, well lit pics are always helpful.

    In Step 17, part #5 is an E12 bolt, aka external torx, aka female torx, aka reverse torx. When I installed my urethane uppper mount, the instructions from TSW said it was a one-time use bolt with a torque to yield spec. The bolt should be torqued to 41 ft-lbs, plus an addition 90* of rotation.
     
  14. AliceCooper

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    #14 AliceCooper, Aug 17, 2010
    Excellent Job Agranger ! I needed this. :Thumbsup:
     
  15. Mr. Jim

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    #15 Mr. Jim, Aug 17, 2010
    Nice write up and thanks!

    Mr. Jim
     
  16. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #16 agranger, Aug 17, 2010
    As you guys do your installs, feedback and modifications for future modders would be greatly appreciated!
     
  17. txdesign

    txdesign New Member

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    #17 txdesign, Aug 25, 2010
    What's the NVH increase from the tranny bushings? I've heard after break-in of a few hundred miles it's minimal.
     
  18. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #18 agranger, Aug 25, 2010
    It feels a bit firmer, but if someone had snuck into the garage and done the work without my knowing, I probably wouldn't have realized it.
     
  19. howsoonisnow1985

    howsoonisnow1985 New Member

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    #19 howsoonisnow1985, Aug 26, 2010
    that would be nice
     
  20. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #20 agranger, Aug 26, 2010
    Send me a round-trip first class plane ticket, keys to your garage and $500 so you can experience the joy of the mechanical gnomes who slip into your garage at night and mod your car! Please leave the new bushings on the floor beside the MINI. :D
     
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