passenger side motor mount keeps loosening itself
 

Every time I check the torque on the nut on the passenger side motor mount it is loose. Is this normal? How can I fix it? These are urethane motor mounts from rotorsports racing.

Did you use any loctite or something similar?

same here.. i happen to re-torqued almost every oil change. i juz put on the stock one recently and it stop doin that, maybe the motor mount u have is about to goin out

no i did not, not sure if whoever did my install did either. only reason i checked it was because i have a small oil leak that appears to be coming from the mount. as for the mount going bad, i thought urethane mounts were supposed to last forever?

you can break anything if you try hard enough. ;) are you using the right type of bolt? it should be a locking type with an eliptical end making it to hard to put on by hand all the way

hmmm, don't know. I've never taken it off completely, only put a torque wrench on it to tighten it. Never tried to turn it by hand.

or put a good lock washer on it

Well, a couple of thoughts...

The urethane may be breaking down all by itself - that would describe why the mount won't hold torque.

The oil leak you mentioned may either be accelerating the break down of the urethane, or allowing the nut to somehow mysteriously loosen - stranger things have happened. I would suspect both. That means you get to do a new oil pan job to stop the leak, and THAT is a major a pain in the ass - but - the only way to CURE your problem.

I thought long and hard what to do about motor mounts and decided to go with two new OEMs and a gas spring torque brace that I designed for the UIM. Between the upgraded driver side mount that Mazda designed, the change to a higher viscosity fluid in the mounts, (Mazda) and the addition of my "brace" I've got things where I want them: No vibration, "flexible" motor mounts - from all 3 directions - and rock solid shifting.

I'm not saying that all after market parts are bullshit, but in my experience a great majority of them are under engineered, not well executed from a quality stand point, and are pretty much a fast buck exercise marketed to prey on unsuspecting owners.

Let me tell you how I really feel... ;)

urethane is oil resistant. much more so than rubber

good points all. now that I think of it, less flexibility lends itself to breaking things doesn't it? i think the leak is coming from the mount. the pan was "glued" on as is the rage now, or was at the time, so i don't think that's the problem. i also thought the oil might have had some effect. in retrospect I think some "mush" would be acceptable. How much did those mazda mounts set you back if you don't mind me asking. next time the motor's out i may swap them in. i swear that when i bought the mounts i read that it would be "the last mounts i would ever have to buy". Of course I can't find that in print anywhere now. I think the guy that sold them to me is a decent fellow. I'm not qualified to guess as to whether or not they are under engineered. thanks for the insight.

oh and anyone think a lock washer would work?

Good point, and at that location heat is probably is not a factor either. They *should* last a loonnnnng time.

Put some red (permanent) loctite on em!

as far as I know with the oil leak problems i had on my last 3d gen the car cant leak from the motor mounts

theres 3 bolts that hold each one on but they go all the way through the pan in a place that doesnt hold oil so you could take them totally out and the car wont leak oil...its a problem with the sealing of your oil pan gasket IMO