Hi forum! New user, long-time Neon owner. My engine and (manual) transmission mounts are shot. Need to replace. Any advice on whether or not I should go for OEM or aftermarket parts? Saw the OEM prices online and the RockAuto prices for Anchor & DEA parts and the stuff at Autozone. Quite a considerable difference.

Just using for daily driving. No racing or anything crazy

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

I've used the Anchor mounts and torque struts from Rockauto on a couple of Neons now and have been very happy with them. Can't beat the price.

 

Go with OEM for the engine mount. Aftermarket for the transmission and torque struts are fine.

 

Thanks! Parts ordered. Hopefully the install won't be too big a PITA.

 

The engine mount is a PITA. Other than that, it's all pretty straight forward. Torque strut alignment procedure link in my signature....

 

I agree. Changing the engine mount requires a lot of patience. Perfect time to change the timing belt and water pump if it hasn't been done in a while.

 

as ignorant as this sounds, I was watching some videos on changing the lower and top engine mounts and it seemed fairly simple / easy.

now i am second guessing doing it my self

 

Don't psyche yourself out. It just takes patience and tools. Also if you put the jack in between the trans and engine like the shop manual calls I found that I couldn't jack the engine up high enough doing this, instead I put the jack under the front of the oil pan.. make sure wherever you jack it to use a block of wood so you don't damage things.

 

should I just buy all the mounts and have someone do it for me?

I know the top needs to be changed
the weather has been bad so I havnt been able to check the bottom mount.

How would i check the one in the middle / passenger side?

 

The top and bottom mounts are fairly simple. All you need is a jack, torque wrench, and ruler with millimeters on it. It's really important that you do the torque strut alignment procedure in the manual.

The center mount isn't quite so easy. You have to remove the drive belts, p/s pump and engine mount bracket (big aluminum bracket with the belt tensioner on it). Then you can remove the 4 bolts and the mount. It doesn't sound bad, but it's really tight in there and you have to raise and lower the engine several times to get it out. Unfortunately the only way to really check it is to get to the point just before removing it then you can get a mirror in there to check for tearing and evidence of fluid leakage.