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Bushing Replacement Tutorial Overview
The 850′s upper engine mount is designed to hold the engine in place. Without it, the engine would thrash back and forth in the engine bay and damage nearly everything near it. There are two lower engine mounts that are responsible for the engine’s weight, but these are out of scope for this How To section.
Original bushing after sawing and removal.
It’s easily spotted at the top of the engine a bit to the driver’s side (North American). When it decays, the results can vary from engine vibration felt in the cabin to violent shake and sounds from the engine bay. The upper engine mount, as it comes from the factory, is a molded rubber piece a little smaller than a baseball. Replacement polyurethane mounts (about $20-40) are two half-donut pieces that come together from either side of the metal arm (you don’t replace this). In retrospect I would have replaced my mount with an OEM peice after looking at the OEM that came out and reading about them. It turns out the OEM peice has a certain engineered design that limits engine rock to two directions, and conversely dampens engine movement in other directions. Apparently the 850′s engineers built a certain degree of movement into the design of the car.
Tools
- hacksaw
- hammer
- ratchet set
- adjustable wrench
Procedure
Remove the bolt that runs through the center of the engine mount. Put the adjustable wrench on one side to keep it from turning while you use the ratchet to unscrew the bolt. When this is out take a hacksaw blade and run it through the OEM bushing (there are holes). Cut the bushing from the inside out (cutting approximately a half- or a quarter of a centimeter). This photo shows the original bushing that has just been cut. IMPORTANT: The hacksaw blade appears to be ‘aimed’ at the bolt hole… but please, don’t cut that. It should not look like you need to cut through any metal. This is a much better illustration of what you need to cut:
Original bushing during sawing. Notice the small cut at the 11 o’clock position.
The next step is to remove the bushing after the cutting has collapsed the integrity of it. It should pull out either side. Line everything up, put in either half of the replacement polyurethane bushing (or the one peice of the OEM replacement if you’re concerned about keeping your Volvo running with the correct parts), keeping in mind you may have to tap the bolt through with a hammer. If the holes are not lining up perfectly, get a friend to try to rock the engine back and forth while you push and tap the bold. Don’t forget the washers.
Conclusion
The hardest part is getting the old OEM bushing out. Like I said above, if I could do it over again, I’d get the OEM version. Also, I think I feel now more natural engine vibration in the steering wheel because the polyurethane replacement transmits a bit more vibration.
Reader Comments
When you fit the new mount rotate the top forward about 15 degrees as this takes some of the ‘shear’ out of the thrust and the mount will last much longer. I still have an OEM mount in and it is about 6 years old.
Hutchie
Instead of a hacksaw to cut the old bushing out use a narrow wood chisel and hammer. It is much faster.
Orr’s Island
Instead of either the hacksaw or the chisel, use a large rubber mallet to smack the old bushing out. I took one look at it, grabbed my trusty rubber mallet, gave it a good whack and the whole thing popped out just like that.
This procedure worked for me.
1. Remove the bolt that holds the old bushing.
2. The torque arm that the bolt passes through gets in the way, but it is attached to a flexible mount. Lift it up, swing it toward the center of the car and park it on top of the bracket that holds the old bushing. Now you can work.
3. Get the old bushing out of the metal sleeve. I cut through it with a hack saw blade (holding the blade with my hands), and then it pushed out easily.
4. Clean the sleeve, and then smear some grease on it. Butter or margarine will do if you don’t have any grease lying around. Grease the poly bushings also.
5. The hole through the new bushing is off center, and it has to be aligned with the holes in the torque arm. The poly bushing should have arrows or some other index mark to help with alignment. The yellow MTC bushing I installed had arrows, and the correct orientation had the arrows pointing towards the rear of the car. It is easier to slip a bushing half into the side of the sleeve that is closest to the center of the car. Push it in with the index mark toward the rear of the car. Lower the torque arm. Are the holes aligned? Rotate the bushing if needed until the holes are aligned and note the orientation of the index mark. Return the torque arm to its parked position.
6. There’s a metal tube that passes through the bushing halves. Insert the tube through the half that is already installed. Now with the index mark of the second bushing half oriented the same way, slip it onto the tube and align it with the sleeve. It’s hard to push into the sleeve. I used a dead blow hammer.
7. Slip the torgue arm over the bushing. It’s a very tight fit, and the dead blow hammer is useful for tapping it down until the holes are aligned.
8. Install the bolt. Per the Haynes manual, tighten to 26 ft. lbs (35Nm)then tighten an additional 90 degrees. You’re done.
Good procedure for replacing the upper engine mount bushing. I replaced my wife’s S60 mount last fall. I must admit I am very unhappy with the polyurethane bushing. It transmits WAY to much idle noise/vibration into the car. I tried re-adjusting it, no better. Finally, I replaced it with another rubber bushing. Ahh, much better. Think twice about the Poly.
I use an air-powered hacksaw…………..I agree that the author of this column is a VERY intelligent individual
I own a Mercury Cougar and i rebuilt my lower rear control arms in the same fashion……………use a hacksaw.
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I just completed this replacement on my 2001 S60 and wanted to share some comments.
I used the OEM-style rubber (non urethane) mount. I got mine at autopartwarehouse for $23.
Installing this was incredibly easy. I researched a lot and read several posts about threaded bolts and installation tools, etc.
Removing Old Mount
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The two brackets are folded sheet metal there is a long bolt at either end. One bolts to the enginer mount and one to the stabilizer bar. You have to remove the one bolt and loosen the other so the brackets can be swung out of the way.
The bolts and nuts are mis matched sizes (17 and 19 mm).
Remove the worn bushing with a hacksaw blade. Cut one slit the chip it out wqith a flat-blade screwdriver and hammer. It comes out easily (if old and brittle it may chiip out a few pieces).
Installing New Mount
————————
I put mine in the freezer for a few hours. 60deg diff isnt much but it might have contracted a tiny bit and gotten a tiny bitter stiffer. Couldn’t hurt.
Sprayed the inside of the mount with WD-40 and slipped the end of the bushing in (go in from passenger side).
Tap the perimeter lightly to move it in. Then place a small piece of wood on the perimneter (say a 1/2inch square piece about 4 in long) simply tap with a light hammer around the perimeter.
Thats all it took.
About 5 minutes of gentle tapping and it was in. No fuss no muss no tools needed.
I think this will also work on the 2006 Ford 500…anyone hear about the inter-changeability? Please send me a note to [email protected]…if this works, where would you suggest I get the replacement bushing/poly version…
Thanks
Jess
Florida
There is some excellent advice on this blog. However, I wouldn’t recommend using any kind of lubricant, whether oil or solvent (like W-D 40) on a polyurethane bushing. I’m no mechanic or chemist, but I thought most forms of plastic break down and degrade when they come into contact with oils and solvents. In my case, on my ’96 Volvo 850, I had to scrape out pieces of the old yellow bushing from the sleeve. For some reason, my car already had yellow replacement bushings in it, after only 150k mileage on the car. Anyway, I scraped the sleeve out until it shined, and the new bushing went in with a few taps of the end of my crescent wrench handle. I was then able to press the bushings in the rest of the way with the flat part of the handle. However, I don’t understand mounting the bushings at a 15-60 degree angle. Where is the zero point you measure from? Anyway, the old bushings had the arrows pointing to the front, instead of the rear, which makes me wonder if they were mounted correctly. I mounted the new bushings with the arrows pointing to the front, and I was able to push the shaft the bushings were mounted on through with my fingers. No pounding with a rubber mallet was needed. Now I wonder if I needed more tension on the bushings and if the arrow are pointing in the right direction. Any comments?