997 Engine mounts need replacing

Hi all, has anyone had to replace their engine mounts in a 997? My car has only 60k and my workshop is suggesting they need replacing. Anyone experienced an issue like this? I can’t imagine it’s common? thanks Ash

Geez only 60 clicks and they need it already, sounds strange. I'd get a second opinion on that and have a look at them myself. If you would change them yourself. advice from @dan_189 is your man. He's done the job on his 996.2 which won't be too different I wouldn't think.

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Reckon engine and tranny mounts degrade as a function of both  time and k's.  For a 10 year old plus car, I would do  tranny and engine mounts at  the same time  and regardless of degree of degradation of the mounts you should feel a noticeable improvement in gear shifts with new ones particularly with a manual as the drivetrain is stiffened up   Just a view but reckon stick with stock P parts but  go with the combination of 964rs semi solid engine mounts (need to get the right washers and install them in the a set order)  and 997  tranny mounts.

Yes I didn't consider the age, could be 13 or 14 years old I suppose.

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Hi Ash, What was the workshops reasoning that they needed to be replaced? Simply curious to know if it is something I should consider

I replaced mine recently due to vibrations at certain rpm and at idle. They weren't broken, just soft. Cars done 100,000kms. Pretty easy DIY if you've got the right tools. Mine had sagged about 5mm compared to the new ones. I suppose if you consider the engine has been hanging off them for 13 years, kms may not be as relevant as you'd expect.

Thanks @Troubleshooter did mine recently and went with semi solid 964 mounts - awesome! All you need is a good jack and I'd recommend a rattle gun (makes it easy) and then a decent torque wrench. Make sure you order new nuts - POSES (factory manual) states to replace them. Also the 997 mounts have been known to break (in the USA) where I don't think they treat their 911s like we do! Sooner the better IMO.

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And a deep 18mm socket. And undo them in the correct order...:)

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Ah yes! Something to attach to the end of the rattle gun/torque wrench! An extension helps as well. @Simonk did you end up DIY'ing it im guessing? daunting but actually not too bad IMO.

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Yes I did it myself in the end. Was kicking myself for being such a baby and taking so long to grow the balls to do it.

With the hydraulic engine mounts on the 996 & 997 , the engine "Hangs" from the mounts where as most other cars , the engine "Sits" on the engine mounts , there are two main symptoms of engine mounts going bad on a 996 or 997 A ) If the 996 or 997 has a tiptronic transmission ( automatic trans ) up to and including the 2008 year model , with the engine running , at idle in gear ( engine under idle load ) the car will exhibit far more harshness than what the same car exhibited when the same car was new , meaning the engine mounts are No Longer isolating the engine from the car chassis/frame , hence the harshness If the same car has a manual transmission , it may not be as severe at idle because the car is not in gear under slight load , but when pulling away from a standing start , the harshness comes through & at other load conditions as well Note  } Hydraulic engine mounts degrading is a gradual thing , meaning it creeps up on you over a long period of time & hence why owners know there is something not quite right , can can not put a finger on what it is B ) Because the engine "Hangs" from the engine mounts you will often see that the exhaust tips( either side of the rear of the car ) have different clearance to the body ( comparing left to right tips ) , sometimes you will see more clearance on one side only or when both mounts are as bad as each other the exhaust will just appear to hang lower on both sides Porsche chose to design in  differences in the hydraulic engine mounts on different 997 year models , to get desired results ( as smooth as possible ) The below is just talking about the 997 NA ( not the turbo ) 997 375 049 03    was used up to and including the 2006 Cabrio 997 375 049 05   was used from 2007 & to 2008  Cabrio 997 375 049 04  was used up to 2006 coupe 997 375 049 06  was used from 2007 to 2008 coupe Note 2 }   If the car is a 2007 or 2008 Cabrio with Tip transmission & if the new genuine engine mounts are still available from Porsche  , I would try to stay with these mounts to bring the car back to how it was new  & to use anything else looks bad on resale later Note 3 }  With road car engine mounts , they ( the mounts ) have to do two main jobs , to connect the engine to the body & to eliminate as much harshness as possible , hence why more expensive cars have sophisticated hydraulic mounts Note 4 }  Kms traveled has no real world relation to the life of hydraulic engine mounts , hard acceleration events from the standing start will always result in less life from hydraulic engine mounts , remember  the engine twists on acceleration & its the mounts trying to keep this twist under control , so in reality a car with no engine mounts at all ( not practical ) , the engine would want to spin leaving no drive to the transmission So because city / suburban cars do a hell of a lot more stop start traffic conditions as compared to a country car ( lots of standing start acceleration events ) , we have always seen hydraulic engine mounts in the Porsches ( all different models beginning with the 928S from 1983 ) fail long before the same models that have done much less ( standing start ) acceleration events ( same Kms ) but cruisey country driving by an owner who is happy to accelerate modestly

Wealth of knowledge Bruce, thanks

Great tutorial, easy for people to understand. thanks

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Hi Snake, nothing other than they’re screwed and need replacing. But I trust these guys, so I will get them done. As I hadn’t noticed any issues/ vibration, I just thought it was a bit unusual. But apparently not after reading my replies thanks Ash Thanks Bruce. I’ll book it in soon when I can afford it Thanks Simon, Im not sure I’d be game enough. But I can’t beleive how expensive they are! Cheers ash

Ash, check for after market options such as Corteco. Theyre a bit over $600 for the pair from memory