Ford Freestyle Top Motor Mount (Transaxle Roll Resistor Replacement) for under $10

I claim no credit for this hack, I stumbled across this fix HERE. I decided to make this blog because, for whatever reason, the photos that the original poster “Imperial Death Star” posted were dead links. Of course, subsequently the pics have come back up but since I took photos of my fix, I thought I might as well go ahead and post them.

The problem of this roll resistor failing seems to be a very common and replacement through the dealer or repair shop involves replacing the entire aluminum bracket that contains the rubber bushing. This repair will run you between $275 and $600 depending on where you have it done….BUT, you can order a Volvo part and with a few minutes of modification and 30 minutes of your time, you can complete this fix for under $10!

So here we go:

1. Get the part – I found this on Amazon for $6.12 (with free 2 day shipping w/ Amazon Prime), there are several places you can find the part but here is an Amazon link. If you want to look elsewhere the part number and description are: Volvo -9434263 Engine Torque Rod Bushing.

2. Modify the part – The part that you get has a metal sleeve which a bolt slides through to hod the mount in place. The problem is that the ends of this sleeve sticks out past the edges of the motor mount and they have to be trimmed off in order for the part to fit in the bracket in the Freestyle.

Trimming these ends can be done in a number of ways….I have a pipe cutting stand which has a chain vise that held the mount firmly in place but I have read in the Ford Freestyle blog (linked above) about people using a regular vice or even two pairs of needle nosed Vice Grips. You need to come up with some way to hold the part very firmly so you can cut it.

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You can use any metal cutting implement that you have at your disposal. I used an angle grinder with a 4″ metal cutting blade which cut through this piece like a hot knife through butter…about 60-90 seconds per side. I have read about people using a hacksaw which would work but a sawzall or bandsaw would be quicker and easier.

Here are a couple of views from the finished product.

3. Install your modified part

Here you can see the broken rubber bushing.

Here is the other side, notice how the bracket goes down…it attaches to the engine and then the transmission. This fix is so expensive at the dealer because this whole piece is replaced, not just the rubber…plus it is a real pain to get down to where it attaches. It is insane that this rubber bushing was not made as a replaceable part.

Notice two pictures above how the bracket that holds the bolt that goes through the bushing attaches to a stabilizer bar just in front of the firewall. While you might be able to get this fix done by just pushing the bracket out of the way…I found it was really easy to take the whole bar out…it is 4 easy to get to bolts, it takes about 2 minutes and makes it much simpler to get to everything. DO NOT try to take out the single bolt that holds the bracket to the bar (shown below) it sucks to get to to loosen and re-tighten (I tried)

Here are the bolts at the end of the bar…easy!

Pop that sucker out!

Ok, here is the old bushing. it is completely broken down. the center is not even attached, it was just held from falling out by the bracket we removed.

Ok, this is the most important process…the bushing will have a lot of rubber left in the hole. DO NOT COMPLETELY REMOVE THE RUBBER! This is important, if you totally clean the hole out your new part will not fit, the remaining rubber holds the new part in place. You do want to clean the hole up of big broken chunks, I used a razor knife. Be careful!

Here is what the hole looks like before any cleaning

Here is me cleaning with a razor knife

Here is the hole cleaned out, I probably could have trimmed a little more out but I wanted a really firm fit…it made it a little difficult to get the bushing in though…you do want to definitely leave the rubber “nubs” on the right and left in any case

Ok, almost there, now you have to get your part in. In the original post on the Freestyle Forum (link at top of page) I think the author said he used a mallet….there is NO WAY that would work with the amount of rubber I left in the hole, I used two metal plates and a large c-clamp…I also had to use a “cap” shown below to get the part centered exactly….you might not have to do that…try to hammer it in with a rubber mallet, maybe some dish soap or something might help it slide in too though I didn’t try that.

Below is the beginning of pushing the piece in place with two metal plates (you could use wood blocks or anything flat)

When I pushed in the part as much as I could, it wasn’t quite centered because it was hitting the plate on the far side….this probably would have worked but I wanted to get it perfect

I found a small aluminum cap that I could put over the entire metal hole and let the clamp push the bracket deeper into the hole in order to get it centered.

That worked! Note that the hole was so tight that my new bracket pushed out some of the rubber as it went through the hole.

Now, just put it back together and you are done!

Ok, let me know if you have any questions or if you come up with any tips or tricks to make this easier or more effective!