Been there done that...twice with my SVX engine in my Westy.

In one case, yes, I limped to my destination and dealt with it. The
2nd time I was on the trails at Syncro de Mayo Este, when Hans
(behind me) noticed it.....

In that case we robbed a bolt from one side of the mount and used it
on the other side.

Now I carry spares in the glove box....just in case.

On Dec 31, 2007, at 3:49 PM, dhanson@gorge.net wrote:

>   Yesterday I was running through the desert in my 84 Gas/diesel
> inline four conversion and enjoying
> the dips, then I came to a stop sign and noticed my exhaust note
> had changed..The gear shifting was
> not right, either, so I pulled over and crawled under to find the
> passenger side of the motor was
> hanging low...Hmmm!..So I tossed out all the stuff in the back
> hatch area, after inspecting all the
> motor mounts underneath..
>   Now, this motor has always seemed a bit "loose" in the van, ever
> since I bought the already-done
> conversion about 30k thousand miles ago.  I've repeatedly checked
> the motor mounts, bought new ones
> and stached em after I found the current ones to be just fine...I
> simply assumed that it was normal
> for the inline four to be able to rock around back there...Not
> great, but perhaps just a poor design.
>   I found the right side rear cast aluminum motor mount had sheered
> the mounting bolts right at the
> block..leaving the right side of the motor hanging.....As I began
> trying to see how to fix that, I
> happened to find, in the Bently, a short 2 page write up on the
> diesel motor install/remove...and
> Whoa!..right there in the book it shows a thing they call the
> Engine Support mount...Mine NEVER had
> one...And I, for one, have never encountered any installation that
> uses the oil pan as a stressed
> mounting member..a weight-bearing part of the engine mounting set
> up...It is kind of a transverse
> strap, from rail to rail that the flat bottom of the diesel motor
> oil pan just sits on...takes up
> some of the weight, I guess and keeps it from rocking?  We shall
> see...
>   So anyhow, I limped back to my campsite and using some
> construction wood I had around and some
> extra motorcycle tiedown straps...I have now a fine looking '2x4
> engine support mount'...Gotta love
> the vans...
>   If I were home with all my tools, I could have done a permanent
> fix with ease...but since I am
> camping, I will have to depend on the local mechanics to try to
> "easy-out" the broken mount bolts
> out of the block, and to fabricate a strap to sit the pan onto
> rather than my 'special' 2x4 racing
> mount...
>
>   Happy new year everyone,
>   Don Hanson