Classic Mini Engine mounts?

[pmendozav]

I have a Mini sidewalk 1996, mechanically it is very sound and it drives beautifully, but Saturday I dived into a pothole in the north of Italy, and 5 min after I started listening and feeling something was bumping below the car every time after I changed gear. Clutch seems to be fine, but when revved and car accelerating, the inertia of the movement makes the back of the engine (I guess) bump into the cockpit.

Has anybody had the same issue? is it an engine mount? everything else seems to be fine, I thought it was an exhaust mount problem but checked bottom of the car and couldnt find anything moving... Differential problem maybe? I am a bit clueless any leads will help, I have tools and both the haynes manual and the mini workshop manual..

Many thanks!

Pablo.

[FWDRacer]

Check engine steady - bar that ties engine to bulkhead on clutch housing side....

[qdos]

Here's one from an earlier Mini. Yours will be a little different

[pmendozav]

Thanks a lot guys, I will check on it this afternoon when back at my flat.. Is it on the side or on the back (when looking inside the engine compartment?) and how accessible it is to be able to change it myself?

Many thanks!

[m6rk]

easy to change, just make sure the bulkhead it attaches to isn't too rusty as this is common failure point. It's just two bolts assuming everything else is ok..

[pmendozav]

Hi all, Many thanks for your help, I found one of the bolts connecting the top steady bar to the engine was gone, fortunately, it fell on a little recess in between some hoses and I was able to find it and put it back in place. That solved the problem, although I have a few questions:

1. There supposed to be 2 bolts connecting this steady bar to the engine block, and as far as I could see the bolt connecting to the block was the one I put back in place which is not the one with the rubber mount (e.g. held by the steady bar itself)
2. Mini runs perfectly fine, really like nothing ever happened, is this it? Or do I have to check the rest of the mounts?
3. Any ideas why this bolt could have fell off besides normal running and vibrations? (is a 1996 model so as far as I understand this is the first time this happens...

Thanks for your input it really helped!

Pablo.

[FWDRacer]

There should be two bolts attaching the engine 'end' of the tie bar to the engine block via the bracket (as per the helpful photo above). Yours 96 Mini is a later A+ engine but in principle the attachment is exactly the same.

[GraleEvo]

Hi Pablo,

You don't live near Lake Como do you? On our last Road Trip in 2011, we drove up the Lakeside and passed an enthusiastic Italian Mini driver! We were in our 1995 Sidewalk, could it have been yourself?

[pmendozav]

GraleEvo said:

Hi Pablo,

You don't live near Lake Como do you? On our last Road Trip in 2011, we drove up the Lakeside and passed an enthusiastic Italian Mini driver! We were in our 1995 Sidewalk, could it have been yourself?

Gralevo! I recently moved to Lago Maggiore (from London)! but just recently (1 month ago) and brought with me my 1996 Sidewalk! I can tell you its a magnet here in Italy!

Next time you are around the lakes let us know!

Pablo.