Motor Mounts aren't liquid filled, are they? Weird Leak by passenger side mount?

fjman

Member
Well its my first post. I have a 02 dark blue P5 w/ the factory chrome wheels. Up until this point, I didn't even realize the guy I bought it from had it posted on here too.

Anyway, last night some jerk nailed my front bumper and took off (I think I found the car that did it though!) I was looking at the bumper and popped the hood and noticed that I'm leaking an oily liquid around the passenger side motor mount. I can also stick my finger through the rubber part of the mount (I'm thinking thats going to need to be fixed soon!). The rubber is really oily. All of the other linesrunning around it look good (AC and PS) I just had the car in to get the oil changed and checked out since I just purchased it and it looked good. Definately no oily mess then. Car is running fine.

Do the P5 mounts get packed with oil or some sort of liquid? Could the impact of the accident (the car got pushed into the curb and good 5 inches or so) have caused the mount (or something I can't see) to leak????

Here are some of the carnage pics:(
 

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So how safe is it to cruise around like this? I was thinking they were a bit worn since I get some rocking motion at low speed between shifts/takeoff.

Could the accident have caused the mount to fail? In hte pics it doesn't look too bad but the skid marks tell a different story. I got their side marker housing as a souvineer and it led me to their car :) Saturday started out CSI style!
 
Man these people... no respect at all.

It's hard to tell without looking at the damage, but if you really need to get somewhere, you can probably get by by driving really carefully and minimizing the rocking. I'd get it fixed ASAP as it sounds like that mount isn't supporting the engine properly anymore.
 
I do have 3 other mounts as well, correct? I'm planning to drive to the beach this next weekend..... The car is still running very smooth. Anyone else think I should park it and wait til its fixed?

Would normal driving in this condition be a definate no-no?
 
pasadena_commut - I've changed three of the four mounts and I can tell you with utmost certainty that NONE of them have fluid in them. The reason you can put your finger through the mount is because the mounts are not solid. They have empty spaces within the circular housing so that the mount can flex its way to oblivion while providing you and your passengers with comfort instead of massive amounts of vibration.

Most people here agree that the Mazda OEM mounts are crap. They tear easily and may need replacement at least one time throughout the life of the car. I'm sure if you use the search button, you might be able to find a thread on changing mounts and/or photos of torn mounts. Chances are very good that your mounts were not damaged in this accident. Now, if your bumper had fallen off, your radiator support frame and rad were torn off the car or pushed back into the engine, well then I can see your mount(s) being damaged.

As for the liquid you've said that its sort of oily? If I were you, I'd smell it. chances are that since you had your engine oil changed recently, a bit of a spill is possible. How much is there? What colour is it? How does it smell? These are good clues that could tell you what it is.

Good luck!

P.S. - NONE of our OEM mounts are solid either.
 
pasadena_commut - I've changed three of the four mounts and I can tell you with utmost certainty that NONE of them have fluid in them. The reason you can put your finger through the mount is because the mounts are not solid. They have empty spaces within the circular housing so that the mount can flex its way to oblivion while providing you and your passengers with comfort instead of massive amounts of vibration.

Most people here agree that the Mazda OEM mounts are crap. They tear easily and may need replacement at least one time throughout the life of the car. I'm sure if you use the search button, you might be able to find a thread on changing mounts and/or photos of torn mounts. Chances are very good that your mounts were not damaged in this accident. Now, if your bumper had fallen off, your radiator support frame and rad were torn off the car or pushed back into the engine, well then I can see your mount(s) being damaged.

As for the liquid you've said that its sort of oily? If I were you, I'd smell it. chances are that since you had your engine oil changed recently, a bit of a spill is possible. How much is there? What colour is it? How does it smell? These are good clues that could tell you what it is.

Good luck!

P.S. - NONE of our OEM mounts are solid either.

Yeah the mounts are all rubber with some open space in the mount....I never heard of motor mounts being liquid filled.
 
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Most likely fluid in that area would be the power steering fluid that got sloshed. I mean, that's a long hell of a miss with the engine oil.
 
Want to buy a used AWR front motor mount? (hear ya) I just took mine off because the front and rear were just too much... and the front is soooo much easier to change.
 
I just changed the passenger side motor mount with an OEM one and the old and new mounts are both rubber with indentations for flexing. The one thing I noticed in the old and new mounts is that there is an insert that is a sliver in size and a different colour. It must be a different durometer...(screwy)
 
actually, it is fluid filled. i had an accident a few weeks ago where i completely hopped a curb and my passenger side motor mount has basically exploded. there was a liquid all over my engine bay that came from the motor mount.
 
Anyone got a stock one that they can crack open and take pics? I'd like verification of this.
 
Liquid filled is not weird or abnormal. i know Nissan and lexus have been using them for a while now.

The oily mess is definately from the mount as nothing else is leaking.
 
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