MX-3.com

If it's one of the front ones on the rad support it would be a lot easier to repair. Mine is on subframe so just a little harder to access. Either way it's doable jsut a big pain in the butt. It is safe to drive to a mechanic though. No worries there.

Yeah, its one of the front bolts. I'm borrowing a drill tomorrow to see if I can get it. I still can't believe the majority of the engine transmission weight is held on by two bolts.

It isn't. The vast majority of the weight of the engine and tranny is supported by the right and left motor mounts. You can remove the transmission mount member and the whole unit will be well supported from the frame rails by those two mounts.

Also...I wouldn't bother with a drill. You're much better off to have someone cut a small window in the bottom of the rad support and weld in a patch with a new weld nut on the back.

If your going to drill start off with a small diameter drill bit and make sure you drill as close to the center as you can then use a bigger drill bit till your have the majority of the bolt drilled out. The heat from the drilling will help release the broken bolt from the anchor nut and some times if you put your drill on reverse and bind the drill in the broken stud it may come out just from the binding of your drill bit.

Oh ya, wear safety glasses so drillings don't get your eye then you'd have to go to the hospital. Good Luck

wytbishop wrote:It isn't. The vast majority of the weight of the engine and tranny is supported by the right and left motor mounts. You can remove the transmission mount member and the whole unit will be well supported from the frame rails by those two mounts.

Just to be clear. I am not suggesting that the car can or should be driven without the trans mount member in place. I'm just saying that it is not responsible for supporting the weight of the engine and transmission as you suggested. It would be reasonably safe to drive it with one broken bolt.

I hear what you're saying. I looked at the mounts, and it looks like its made to keep the engine/trans more steady that actually supporting the weight. That being said, I'm still going to try and fix this bolt. I pretty much snapped the head off halfway through, so I'm gonna drill a bit tonight or tomorrow and see if I can't get it out.

I don't have a welder so anything like that is out of the question. I'm borrowing my buddy's drill for this.


I can't imagine how nice it would be to work on a mint, straight from the factory MX-3.

I can dream, yes?

So, that bolt's not gonna be able to be drilled out. I got the crossmember back on but I can still wiggle it a little bit. I'm going to take it to a shop when it's put back together and have them either figure out a way to get it out and/or make a bracket or...

have them weld it up and do everything from the top from now on.

I hate this car.


Here's some fun