Expert: Roland Finston - 10/21/2011

Question
QUESTION: I have a 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan, 3.3 liter flex fuel engine.  I want to replace the motor/transmission mounts, the 3 mounts I can see are most definitely broken, the Haynes manual says there are 4 of them, looking under the hood I can find 3, one is on passenger side near the strut tower, one is underneath the radiator, one is underneath and to the rear of the battery tray, so where exactly is the 4th one located?

ANSWER: Hi Jay,
There is also a fourth mount on the back side (toward the firewall) of the engine/transmission unit which appears to be attached near the seam between the engine and the transmission on the right side of the powertrain unit, and it is called the rear mount. The one under the rear of the battery tray is called the left mount and it is attached to back of the transmission.
Do you have the procedures for changing these out and adjusting them? I have the '98 and '02 manuals in hard copy that I can xerox pages from and postal mail, or I have an '04 manual on CD that I can make copies and attach to an email but I would need to verify they are identical to those shown in the hard copy manuals.
Roland
PS Sorry for the delay but I just found your question in the 'pool' to which it had been referred by Kevin.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Kevin, I appreciate you reply.  So, the fourth mount is accessible from underneath the vehicle then?  The Haynes manual states that I should "remove the left wheel, put a floor jack under the engine, with a block of wood between the jack head and oil pan, and lift slightly to relieve weight from the mounts, then remove the insulator through bolt from the mount and rear suspension crossmember, then remove the four fasteners and remove the mount".  This is the part that sounds confusing, maybe it will make better sense when I actually get in there tomorrow morning, I have purchased the parts and plan to change them in the a.m.  Thanks for offering to send copies from your manuals, but I think I'll be OK without them.

ANSWER: The description of the procedure you gave is for the 'left mount' not the rear mount. That fourth mount is attached to the rear suspension cross member.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks again!  So, I replaced two of the mounts, but when I tried to replace the third (rear transmission), I couldn't figure out how to remove the old one.  I took off the plastic cover, removed the center bolt, but then the only other mounting fastener I could find I did not have a tool for, I tried both my SAE set and Metric set, nothing fit exactly, so have put aside for now.  I have attached an image of the part I am trying to replace, do you have access to a step-by-step procedure for replacing this part, including the tools needed?

Answer
Hi Jay,
The '98 manual simply shows there to be three bolts (top fasteners) on one flange of the mount and one bolt (side fasterner) on the other flange and it mentions no special tools to remove those bolts. It may be that in the metric head size that they are 16 or 18 mm so that is why you can't find a wrench that works. There are such sizes available at tool stores. The manual looks just like your image. Interestingly, in the '02 manual the mount is entirely different!
Roland