After driving a few miles the other day, I parked the car for a few minutes, then went back out to move it into the garage. I found what looked like a puddle of brake fluid in the driveway at the rear of the car. I got around to jacking the car up today to see what was going on. As it turns out, it looks as though the differential mount bushing is oil filled and decided to take a dump. I looked at the diff as well as the CV boots, all looks dry with the exception of the diff mount and the bushing itself. Has anyone else ever experienced this?

Any recommendations on aftermarket bushings that won't generate too much noise?

 

Mazdaspeed ones but they are exspensive

last pair, I paid 180.00 for them..

 

they are liquid filled but I have not seen the insides all pour out at once before
you didnt run off the track or hit something did you?

anyway, they should be replaced with solid mounts so go ahead and do it

 

Yep, that totally looks like the diff mount is torn and leaking. It is a fluid-filled mount, as is the stock motor mounts.

I have the Pettit diff mounts, it does transmit a bit of noise into the body of the car but not bad. I noticed it at first after installing and now I really don't notice anything.

I think there's a number of companies that make replacement diff mounts. I think Banzai may have them too, google around for it.

You will need a press to get the old mounts out. You can unbolt the arm from the diff that has the mounts on it and leave the diff in the car. Take the arm, get the old bushings pressed out and new ones just pop in. Reinstall and enjoy.

Those bushings are way up there as ones that need doing, they're REALLY sloppy. That and the rear trailing arm bushings.

Dale

 

Mazdaspeed

 

I have seen many of the stock bushings "pop". We stock Powerflex and have installed them in many cars, no noise increase at all http://www.banzai-racing.com/store/9...x_bushing.html

 

No, haven't been on the track in a while. I did drive it several days this week, put it through the paces on several occasions, so that may have been the final straw. Didn't hit anything either.

Thanks Dale, I wasn't looking forward to dropping the entire rear end...glad to hear I can take that mount out by itself.

I will do some research on the different options and see where I end up.

Thanks!

 

Do you guys know if there is a tutorial on how to get that arm out without dropping the rear? I am sure I could figure it out, but would like to know what to expect before crawling under the car!

Thanks.

 

I don't know if there's really a writeup, but here's a quickie -

- Get the car up in the air (duh)
- Remove the main cat, trans tunnel cross braces, any underbody pans that are in the way
- Remove the rear tires
- You MIGHT have to remove the driveshaft, can't remember. If so, just have the BACK of the car jacked up so the gear oil stays in the transmission
- Remove the powerplant frame
- Put a jack under the diff
- Unbolt the 2 upper diff mounts from the car. With a long enough extension you can get to it from the wheel well. Impact tools help huge here.
- With those undone, lower the diff with the jack. Leave the half shafts in.
- You can now get to the top of the diff. Undo the 12mm bolt holding the E-brake cables to the diff. There are 4 bolts to remove the arm at the top of the diff, you might have to get creative to break them loose in the car, but it's doable.
- Remove the arm with the 2 mounts.

With the arm off, you can get the old mounts pressed out and press in the new ones. May also want to get a spare arm used, then you can get the pressing all done on that one and simply swap it in.

If you do need to remove the diff, I've found it's easier to just unbolt the rear suspension so it's floppy (the toe links, rear trailing arm) then pop the half shaft out of the diff. There's enough room to have the half shafts out of the way and drop the diff out. That saves trying to remove the half shafts from the hubs which can be a pain.

Dale

 

are we talking about just the diff mount? I don't remember it being too hard

I think i put the car on jack stands in the rear
then raise EACH REAR WHEEL with the jack and put books under them or something
that lowers the diff so it will be like a V shape and u can get inside
then use the jack under the diff to brace it
reach in take the 4 bolts off
I did this more than 10 years ago so dont take this as any reliable instructions
of course, if you are using a lift it will be different

 

Powerflex bushings are a great upgrade that wont transmit noise into the cabin and won't break the bank. You can replace them without completely dropping the rear end in about 2-3 hours. It's fairly easy and gives you a great opportunity to change your fuel filter.

 

I did this last week

You don't need to remove very much to get it done
I left the wheels on, PPF untouched, cat was still on (but the cat-back was removed) and the driveshaft was untouched