IJM

Brown Dog makes mounts with rubber inserts instead of poly that are supposed to be pretty smooth. Anyone tried them?

242xj

Alright, time for a juicy update.

To get the motor mount bracket (engine side) in I had to remove the motor mount bracket on the body side. It looked like it would simply unbolt, and perhaps it would if not so rusted and old. One of the bolts that goes into a welded nut in the frame became a problem, as the welded nut broke loose. I needed to cut into the frame to get that out after I used a cutoff wheel on an angle grinder to cut the bolt head down. Very tight fit, but I managed. Then, to get that out, I needed to remove the top left (passenger side) idler pulley and whatever that is attached to (A/C?) as a whole. I broke one of those bolts, but I think 3 is good enough. I'll find out in time, I'm sure. Anyway, to get the body side motor mount bracket back into place I needed to cut the two bolt holes remaining to create a slot so I could get the bracket into place. Otherwise the end nearest the engine of it would hit the motor side motor mount bracket.

From there, I needed to move the jack from the oil pan to the alternator bracket. The alternator was out so I could get the new Ironman 4x4 Fab motor mount bracket bolts in. So I jacked the engine up from there and it actually tilted properly, allowing me to get the motor mount in rather easily. The engine had been sagging a good 6 inches, if not more, on the passenger side. The exhaust also does not contact the transmission crossmember, and even has about 1-2 inches of clearance. After that I went to the driver side to replace the motor mount. I did not change the motor mount bracket for the upgraded one. I'll wait for warmer days instead of sitting half in the snow to do it. The motor mount was very easy to change on this side (with the air box removed).

Once all that was done, I went to put the alternator back in. At this point I finally had to remove the passenger side fan, meaning I should have just done it in the beginning to save myself trouble. That was easy enough, but also the part where I cut my finger under the nail and a chunk out of the top of the same finger. Didn't even notice until I took the gloves off.

Now, my new issue is that I don't believe I hooked the alternator back up correctly. I was sitting at about 9-10 volts and have a Check Engine light on. That's a tomorrow problem, after I check some wiring diagrams. Also, I can't help but feel that I either did not plug a wire back in somewhere, or maybe the ground isn't good enough on with the new motor mount bracket in place.

I think that's all, and I believe I told things in the right order. Either way, no more clunking and the motor is sitting nice and straight.

Edit: I did move the coolant tank temporarily. I also undid a coolant hose on top and spilled some coolant. So, perhaps that is why the CEL is on. Although I still believe the battery is not charging properly, it could be from sitting in the cold garage for a bit.

242xj

Thinking about it, I believe I left one cable off of the alternator. The one that sits recessed in a little plastic protrusion on the back, with a 10mm bolt. I bet that's the issue. From some searching I found that terminal is the positive battery connection. Makes sense why the battery is not charging. Easy fix as soon as I'm up in the morning!