Engine/Tranny not mounted correctly?

[Siberian Husky]

My 92 has an 89 single cam in it, and i think the guy who put it in rushed the job, not like its rocket science though. I thought maybe the mounting equipment might have been diff but as i learned ka and sr share the same hardware mounts.

The problem is that the transmission is mounted favoring the left, it was angled and positioned to the left. i loosened the motor mounts, took off the tranny crossmember and was able to. Anyways this is what it looks like after rotating the powertrain a bit more to the right. Am i trippin or should this be dead center when mounted correctly?

Note: before I did any of this, this thing was so cockeyed the shifter was almost hitting the body, so i know it wasnt right.


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs181.ash2/44421_1560272807286_1249276489_1558076_3950198_n.j pg

[DJPimpFlex]

That's pretty sketch. I don't think there is that much play in the components. Stock mounts and everything? Has the car been in a wreck? Tweaked subframe?

[Siberian Husky]

There is no history of any major damage, theres some body damage on the vehilcle but nothing wreck worthy. then again, i am no expert and dont really trust my own judgement on how to evaluate a subframe. i'll check some things right now.

[Killa_D]

you should check the 2 front motor mounts and see if they are the same thickness also make sure you have a 5 speed transmission xmember.

[Siberian Husky]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs145.ash2/40588_1560304328074_1249276489_1558121_3076798_n.j pg

reference pic of how this is sitting right now

[Siberian Husky]

right mount seems to be a bit thicker than left mount (all directions noted in this thread are from drivers seat reference point). but i dont think that is the issue.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs284.snc4/40519_1560309248197_1249276489_1558134_6820048_n.j pg

[BoxerJackJohnson]

Are your engine mounts seated properly? right above the stud there is a lilttle dowl i guess u could call it, that has to be in the subframe slot. Stud on bottom dowl on top. u could possibly have them in upside down.

[BoxerJackJohnson]

PS yes the trans should sit level and be comin dead center of that entry hole. Check in the front fender wells or along the frame of the of the front portion of the car if any of the spot welds look different than your typical pinch weld that section has been replaced. That would signify the car has bene in an accident.

[Stratokat]

If you have a straight frame, mounts will be the only reason for your issue. From the trans mount picture, it looks pretty bent. go get nizmo tranny/motor mounts and youre issue will be solved. if not, you still have awesome mounts, and you now know your have a bent frame.

[Siberian Husky]

i know for a fact this motor is sitting in the bay a bit cockeyed. i doubt my frame is wrong. my uncle, a mechanic of over 25 years inspected it for me yesterday and said the frame was straight.

does anyone have pictures of a ka24e sitting in a bay with focus on how the mounts look?

[Emeru]

maybe the tranny mount was on backwards ? i belive the whole would still line up i believe it should be mounted just how u have it in the picture the top facing the motor.

[Siberian Husky]

the tranny mount was on right. honestly i think it is centered well enough. the tranny and engine just need to be rotated to the right. on the right engine mount, however, there is no more room to rotate in that direction. on the left engine mount the bolt it at the halfway point. does that make sense?

here is what i need done: top arrow indicates rotation and bottom arrow indicates lateral movement.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/DancingMop/enginewrong.jpg

i feel like such a f*kkin nub i cant figure this out. i dont wanna have to shell out 150 for nismo mounts if i dont have to. =(

[shanelach]

I feel like you have an automatic transmission cross member which was flipped around to fit a manual transmission. The tall side is on the wrong side if so.

[Siberian Husky]

driver side mount:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs380.snc4/44336_1561475557354_1249276489_1561563_1436573_n.j pg
passenger mount:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs197.ash2/46005_1561477077392_1249276489_1561576_1970737_n.j pg

they look okay to me, as far as condition.

pic of crossmember inplace (not screwed in all the way on one side, this is when i was tryna mess with it.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs131.ash2/39897_1561482517528_1249276489_1561584_6091767_n.j pg

[shanelach]

Are those mount brackets on the correct side?

[Siberian Husky]

yes they are. there is no way any of the holes line up when flipped to the other side.

im comvinced this is a rotational issue dealing with the motor mounts, just dont know how to correct it as the passenger motor mount has no more room to rotate in the desired direction. im fawked.

ARE THE PASSENGER AND DRIVER SIDE MOTOR MOUNT BRACKETS THE SAME? could it be possible that they were placed on the wrong side thus leading to this bad angle?

[cesdezSil80]

i had the same problem but my reason was cuz the subframe was tweaked a lil
all i did is make some custom mount

[Bigsyke]

passenger mount is gonna tear, haven't you gotten an alignment done to see if your frame is warped?

[bb4_96]

motor mount brackets are not the same if i remember right. they won't even bolt up if mixed up. Maybe the trans xmember is from wrong year 240? You said this was some type of swap so consider all parts new to the car a possible issue.

[Siberian Husky]

i thought all 5 speed crossmembers were the same for all two-fawties.

u guys are makin me sad face with the tweeked frame speculations =(

[Siberian Husky]

passenger mount is gonna tear, haven't you gotten an alignment done to see if your frame is warped?


i called all allignment places by me and they said they cant tell me if there is a problem with my frame by alligning, they can only tell me if the wheels are too far forward or backward, if that makes sense...

[Siberian Husky]

BTW anyone who lives in the 510 area code (fremont) that wants to stop by and take a look please feel free. im stumped as all hell.

[Steve Lloyd]

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/240sx/1989/1989.pdf

Look at page BF-82 it has all the frame measurements for you.......

[TallPaul5950]

id shell out the $$ for the nismo mounts, and go from there,

[Siberian Husky]

got my frame checked at body shop, evidence of an accident on pass side but no tweeked frame. frame is straight.

could the brackets be from an sr or something the previous owned left on? my hypothesis is that they are too short, especially on the driver side, making it lean toward that side causing the angle.

[Siberian Husky]

I GOT A HOLD OF SOME KA MOUNTS AND BRACKETS FROM THE JUNKYARD. THE LEFT (DRIVER) BRACKET I HAD WAS WRONG AND TOO SHORT AND NOT AS STEEP.


the problem was not my frame, but my bad bracket. ill post pix