motor mounts - $1300?

G

greeksurfer

Member
Hi all, newbie here!

2003 Mazda Protege5 hatchback, bought used about a year ago with 130k miles on it.

Long story short, I had to take my car into Mazda for an OEM part. They've done their 100? point inspection, and called claiming to have found 4 of the 5 mount bolts broken. He said the total cost of parts and labor to replace the four bolts is $1,300.

Is this typical?? Seems excessive, but I know little about cars. Is it difficult to change them? Does it require special equipment or something? Also, how urgent of a repair is it? I've noticed some vibrations at startup but honestly no major changes since I bought the car.

Please help, thanks much!

PS: If my question sounds familiar it's because I reposted since I was in the wrong section of the site. Thanks!
 
greeksurfer said:
Hi all, newbie here!

2003 Mazda Protege5 hatchback, bought used about a year ago with 130k miles on it.

Long story short, I had to take my car into Mazda for an OEM part. They've done their 100? point inspection, and called claiming to have found 4 of the 5 mount bolts broken. He said the total cost of parts and labor to replace the four bolts is $1,300.

Is this typical?? Seems excessive, but I know little about cars. Is it difficult to change them? Does it require special equipment or something? Also, how urgent of a repair is it? I've noticed some vibrations at startup but honestly no major changes since I bought the car.

Please help, thanks much!

PS: If my question sounds familiar it's because I reposted since I was in the wrong section of the site. Thanks!
Click to expand...


$1k is way too much to be paying someone to replace your motor mounts. IIRC you can find the mounts for around $40 each, new. The front, right, and left are easy to change, all i used was a few wrenches and a jack to keep the engine in place. However, the rear mount is difficult since it's located underneath the intake manifold. If possible you should buy the mounts, change out the front, left and right yourself, and then take it in to a reputable mechanic to have the rear one changed.
 
Which mounts did they find broken bolts on? Yeah the mounts themselves are cheap and easily replaced but if you cant remove them because the bolts are broken its going to be a major PITA to replace them. $1300 does seem high but its a dealer so the hourly labor rates are going to be higher. It could definitely be several hours of labor to remove them though, depending on how its broken.
 
Brian_K said:
$1k is way too much to be paying someone to replace your motor mounts. IIRC you can find the mounts for around $40 each, new. The front, right, and left are easy to change, all i used was a few wrenches and a jack to keep the engine in place. However, the rear mount is difficult since it's located underneath the intake manifold. If possible you should buy the mounts, change out the front, left and right yourself, and then take it in to a reputable mechanic to have the rear one changed.
Click to expand...

What he said ^^
 
Get a few quotes...try to find good mechanics that are not dealerships, if you can not do it yourself. 1300 dollars is ridiculous.
 
The cost definitely sounds high. I don't think I've heard of anyone breaking the bolts for there mounts. The mounts themselves to tear pretty easily on these cars. The front and passenger mount are easy to change. The driver's side mount isn't too hard but you do have to remove the intake, battery tray, and unclip the clutch line if it's a manual.

My modified Mazdaspeed Protege broke 3 out of it's four mounts. The driver's side mount was fine but you can't see the rubber unless you pull it.

The rear mount is by far the hardest. It's easiest to remove the intake manifold from the car. I would change the front and passenger mounts by myself if I were you. After that look into the driver's mount if you still have issues. If you still have issues and aren't comfortable doing the rear mount then find a good local shop to do it for your.

There should be how to's on the forum.
^^ I pulled my mount from the bottom. Just remove the through bolt and unbolt it from the lower cross member. I didn't need to remove any other parts to do it, 3 bolts that's it.



Rear motor mount install #1

Rear motor mount install #2 VTCS removal is optional but not a bad idea if you are going to remove the intake manifold. I was changing the intake manifold on my car so this is the method I used, method #1 may work better for you.

DIY filled motor mounts I don't know how bad the vibrations would be if all of them were done. I filled my wife's front motor mount when I changed it in an effort to keep it from tearing again. 3M window weld worked great and was cheap. There were no noticable vibrations from filling only the front mount. Unfortunately the car was wrecked a few months later so I don't know how long term of a solution it is. For < $10 and I little time I will be filling the mounts on my wife's new P5.
 
timuhai said:
Get a few quotes...try to find good mechanics that are not dealerships, if you can not do it yourself. 1300 dollars is ridiculous.
Click to expand...
Exactly!
I just went to a reputable shop this morning to get ONE mount replaced (the rear one) and it turned out to be a bit more extensive than they'd anticipated. My car is at 134k miles and I was thinking I could possibly have a mount broken for almost a year. Then the noise got worse, so I had it checked out. Turns out that the front and rear were broken. The front wasn't bad to replace - only $63 in labor (and I brought the new parts with me, which saved me about $30. I'm waiting for a quote on the rear - same deal, I bought the parts already.
 
The front is easy compared to the rear,... I hope you're not gonna get a $300+ labor quote for the rear.
 
The front is very easy. It takes minutes to change. Unfortunately when either the front or the rear mount go bad all of the stress is put on the opposite mount and it gets destroyed pretty quickly.

Reading over the first how to for the rear mount, a lift would make the job easier. Since I was changing to a 626 intake manifold, I removed the factory IM, changed the rear motor mount, then installed my new IM. All of my work was from the top, no removing the subframe connector or anything like that.

I put aftermarket mounts on my car. My transmission mount was poorly made and did not line up well. The rear motor mount was a huge pain too. I had the hardest time getting it to line up and drop down on the two studs off of the firewall. I had to walk away numerous times. Finally, I touched it and it literally fell into place. I don't know if my rear mount was slightly out of spec like the trans mount was or if the rear is always that touchy. GL
 
^The guys usually break the bottom stud right off the firewall (one of the ones that holds the plastic connector), then plug the hole.
 
I just dropped my car off this morning for the installation of the rear mount. With me bringing my parts, it is still only $63 as I was first quoted. Since the shop manager said it was so much more detailed than he originally thought, I thought the cost was going to be much higher. Still he said $63, so I'm thrilled!
 
^You got a deal then! I would definitely pay $63 rather than do it myself. Kudos to the shop and manager for sticking by there quote. Keep them in mind whenever you need work done!
 
I'm waiting to hear from MrsZR7, AFTER she gets her car back and gets the bill,... I still don't think that mechanic fully realizes what he's in for.
 
He gona learn today... What that rear mount feels like.

Poor bastard I'd be pissed if I only got $63 for labor on that. Although up on a lift with the right tools it wouldn't be horrible
 
pcb said:
I'm waiting to hear from MrsZR7, AFTER she gets her car back and gets the bill,... I still don't think that mechanic fully realizes what he's in for.
Click to expand...
Sorry! I never know about replies unless I check back.
Anyway, I ended up going to the dealer, not so much for reasons of thinking nobody else could do it, but because I needed a loaner car while mine was in for service.
So, for the labor (to include "drilling out bolts") and use of a loaner car, my total bill was $127.45. I saved $30 on the cost of the front motor mount by going to O'Reilly and getting my own, WITH a lifetime warranty included. With that savings, I just went and got the second one the same way without asking what their price was.
 
Sport23 said:
^You got a deal then! I would definitely pay $63 rather than do it myself. Kudos to the shop and manager for sticking by there quote. Keep them in mind whenever you need work done!
Click to expand...

Oops....I should clarify. I forgot that I haven't been on here since I took it to the first shop.
So here's the rundown. I dropped my car off at 8am on Monday morning They had it ALL DAY while I was at work, and I hitched a ride with a coworker to pick it up that evening. I arrived around 6pm, and it was still on the lift. They messed around with it for a while longer, tried to get me to leave it that night (no dice. Need it to get to work the next day) and finally the manager asked to give me a refund because they couldn't get it done. They refunded my money, put the car back together, and then I spent the next day calling different shops.
The first quote from a mom & pop mechanic shop was $75 for the labor. The next call was to the Mazda dealer not far from home (just to compare), and they were $142 and change, with no loaner car service, and they were rude. The third call was to the Mazda dealer across town, where I ended up taking it. Nice guys, and very reasonable labor and loaner car costs.
So for $127 my car feels almost like a new car!
(For the record, my loaner car was a 2012 Mazda 3 - not sure what trim package it was, nothing fancy though. I like my car a lot better)
 
After the mounts were replaced, did you notice if your steering wheel wasn't straight? The car will track just fine, it's just that the new mounts will properly support the engine and everything else so it affects the suspension etc. in the front. I put on AWR mounts plus transmission mount and noticed that the steering wheel was crooked but car drove straight. Took it back to the shop and they just pulled the steering wheel off, and put it on straight.
 
MadBiker said:
After the mounts were replaced, did you notice if your steering wheel wasn't straight? The car will track just fine, it's just that the new mounts will properly support the engine and everything else so it affects the suspension etc. in the front. I put on AWR mounts plus transmission mount and noticed that the steering wheel was crooked but car drove straight. Took it back to the shop and they just pulled the steering wheel off, and put it on straight.
Click to expand...
Me? No I haven't noticed that. I know I need to have an alignment done - its always been slightly out.
 
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