General engine questions/issues that aren't specific to the other categories
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By suspendedHatch
#349104 The front lower mount can be swapped to the driver's side. 92-95 Civics and 94+ Integras have five engine mounts, two connected to the engine on the driver's side and three attached to the transmission. The two most obvious ones on each side just hold the engine up, there's one in the center near the firewall and sitting on the crossmember in a big T shaped bracket, and then there's the two torque mounts in front of each wheel connected to the underside of the frame rails. The T shaped mount and the torque mounts prevent the engine from moving.

The mounts supporting the engine up rarely fail, but the torque mounts often rip allowing the engine to rock back and forth. This is particularly noticeable on heavy launches and when shifting. Unfortunately, getting aftermarket mounts or inserts causes heavy vibration at idle. This is acceptable for track use but for daily driving it severely degrades the driving experience.

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The driver's side torque mount barely exists. It's supposed to stabilize the engine by holding the AC mount bracket (even on cars w/out AC), but Honda wanted to avoid having the car vibrate at idle. The result for us is that this mount is ripped and worthless. It's pointless to replace with brand new because it will just rip again.

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I can tolerate inserts but I remove them when selling a car because people think that the vibration is a bad sign. Another problem with the inserts is that they often bulge out.

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I tried drilling holes around the bottom of the insert to see if that would alleviate vibration, but it had no noticeable effect.

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The passenger side torque mount has a lot more to it. I wondered how much vibration it would cause if they had used this much rubber on the driver's side.

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Then I compared them to see what would prevent me from using a passenger side torque mount on the driver's side. The bolt holes line up but the passenger side is .5" thinner. If you slap the pass side on the driver's side stud, there's a gap that allows the engine mount to slide around, defeating the whole purpose.

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Here I compared the studs from each side.

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You can screw the pass side into the AC bracket on the driver's side, but then the mount wont stick out far enough to reach the frame rail.

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I then took the extra nut I had from the junkyard mount and used it as a spacer. Not the cleanest solution but suitable for this stage in the proof of concept.

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I had someone rev the engine and it does a decent job of resisting engine movement. Then I took the car for a drive and my opinion is that there is no noticeable increase in vibration. Acceleration and shifting is noticeably improved.

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Later I found that the three bolts holding on the passenger side torque mount have thick washers that you can use as a spacer. You'll need the fourth washer that's on the end of the stud when you get the donor mount. This pic is from my Civic. When I add this to the site in my sig, I'll use the pics from my Civic EG.