Re: Main air duct loose

[dwmartin@domain.elided]

My 87 Spider's main air duct comes loose too often, and
Fred Di Matteo succintly said: "Replace the motor mounts Dave."
Lance Dong suggested the same.
I had not thought of this, but the reasoning was instantly clear -
excess engine movement allowed by weak/broken mounts is more than the 
bellows molded into the duct can handle, and causes the duct to be
pulled off of the AFM.

Hmmm - is there any way other than replacement to check the condition of the 
mounts?

The reason I ask is that I have had this problem for a very long time,
both before and still continuing after replacing the engine mounts.
(The mounts were replaced for the reason mentioned by Lance - once,
upon accelertion, the engine lifted up off the broken mounts allowing the
fan to contact the shroud.  Fan blades broke off and dinged the hood from the
inside out.)
That mount replacement job was 5.5 years ago - fall 1996 - but only 37,000
miles since then.  Shouldn't I get more then 37,000 out of them?
So I ask, is there a way to check the condition of the mounts?

Dave Martin
Endwell,
NY
pop-server.stny.rr.com
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