I’m about to replace the rear mounts on the front suspension of my series 1 XJ6 4.2.
I have access to a four post lift with a jacking bar and to a gearbox support hydraulic jack so intend to proceed as follows. Jack up the car with the jacking bar under the cross member and put axle stands under the chassis and remove the wheels. Support the bottom of the engine on a gear box hydraulic jack with a piece of plywood between the sump and the jack and then having removed the lower bolts on the old V mounts, lower the jacking bar slowly until the bolts clear. then remove the upper bolts into the chassis. remove the V mounts, replace with new, bolt up refit wheels and then remove all the jacks.
Am I good to go like that and is there anything I have forgotten ? Will doing the above put too much strain on anything, particularly the alloy sump and is anything likely to get in the way, power steering pipes etc? I’m also not sure about access to the front upper bolts on the V mounts, they look very difficult to get at, Anything else I should remove to give better access?
I have only replaced the rear mounts with the front suspension assembly out of the XJ6, so I can’t offer any special suggestions. However, the following photo of the suspension and engine bay without the engine may be helpful.
The suspension member must swing down from the two front pivot bolts (see green circle) if your method is to work. Unlike the Mk2 for example, the XJ6 engine mounts directly to pads on the front suspension cross member (see yellow circle). If these engine mounts are not loosened, it seems to me that the entire engine/transmission assembly must therefore tilt down for you to reach the rear suspension mounts. This degree of tilt may not be permitted by the propeller shaft and/or the lower steering column connections (note this photo shows the S3 rack/column, but the S1 rack/column is essentially the same).
The engine/transmission/suspension weighs around 1,000 lbs so moving it around in a single “chunk” is difficult and probably not a one person operation IMHO. I can tell you that removing or installing the front suspension by itself without the engine (just did one last week) is rather difficult even with a 4-post lift and two people.
Perhaps others will give you specific guidance about replacing the rear mounts with the engine in the car if this is possible.
Thaks for the photo and the advice Kris. I can’t get to my car to look tonight but I think that what you have shown with the yellow circle is actually the crossmember mount that I want to change. I’ll get under my car in the morning and check. I thought that the engine mount was fixed directly to the chassis but if I am wrong then it should still work if I support the engine from underneath and release the engine mounts as well as the subframe mount bolts before lowering the subframe support jack, I hope!
On the XJ6, the engine mounts directly to the front suspension crossmember, not the chassis. I am 100% sure of this. Earlier saloons like the Mk2 has engine mounts that are fixed to the chassis, but this changed with the XJ series.
Hi Kris
You are spot on, I got under the car this morning and yes, the engine mounts are on the crossmember so it looks like a short delay whilst I get new engine mounts. It would be a shame to drop it and not do them at the same time.
Job done yesterday, new engine mounts as well as the crossmember mounts and the bushes in the roll bar. All changed job total about 4 hours. The messiest part was getting at the bolts forward of the two crossmember mounts but finally done from above leaning over the wings. Easier than I thought it might be and the car feels completely different now. The crossmember mounts fell apart as soon as any weight applied to them. Thanks for the help and advice.
Good to know this can be done with the engine in the car.