I've searched many articles on engine mounts. I just came back from my mechanic (when it's too damn cold for me to do the job or if I'm too busy or don't feel like getting my hands dirty) for the alternator job. While he was working on the car, I asked if we could take a look at the engine mounts. I wanted to replace them for what I felt like "drivetrain backlash" when shifting. There's no "loud bang", but there definitely seems like there's some form of backlash.

So anyway, looking at the engine mounts and prying them with a pry bar, there were no cracks whatsoever. My mechanic said, "Looks good to me". The transmission mounts showed no signs of cracks or rips anywhere either.

So my question is, do I need to see cracks on the engine mounts for them to be bad? Or how else can I determine if they are bad? The car has 202k miles on it - mostly highway.

 

Your engine should move with the pry bar if they were bad. I got a buddy who has an impreza and when he revs his engine it moves back and forth. You can usually clearly notice. I would check the differential mounts if the transmission was appear to be good. Usually if the differential mounts are bad they can cause some kind of backlash or jolt

 

if you feel a lot of vibration especially on the pedals and steering wheel. if you see pink stuff on the mount. if your shifter moves around while you're on the gas. or if your engine shakes while it's idling or being revved slowly

 

ahhhhhhhhh i can't delete my post. lolz.

 

^^^^

it'll kinda look like jelly.

 

Does this "backlash" that you're feeling happen just when you shift or accelerate too? Reason I ask is that what you're describing could also be caused by the stock snub mount. It's pretty soft and produces that sort of feeling too.

As for the engine mounts, I dunno if there are any other symptoms to look for besides the jelly-lookin leaky stuff, but I would think they're ok if you don't see that.

 

200k miles? Um yeah, replace your engine mounts and check your snub to make sure it's still there and in one piece. Engine mounts usually start leaking around 100k, depending, and between 150-200k they are done for sure. No question. Mine were done at 170k and there was serious backlash during power transmission like you describe. Tranny mounts normally last a long time but if you're going to keep the car for a while you might as well just do those too and make sure the passenger side trans mount bracket isn't deteriorating like mine was. +1 for diff mounts too.

 

Yes, the engine did move, when using the pry bar. But I thought they are supposed to do that?!@!? I can move the engine myself if I push on the intake manifold. But again, I thought they were supposed to have that "give" to prevent any vibrations.


No vibrations on the pedals or steering wheel. And no pink stuff. They both looked clean. The shifter does not move around when on the gas. And no engine shaking when it's idling or being revved slowly.

I just notice it when shifting. I don't sense any backlash when accelerating or getting on/off the gas quickly. We did take a look at the snub mount. Looks good, too, although there was a "slight" movement from left to right when revving the engine. I didn't think it was bad. And I'm more worried about replacing that with a new one since everyone seems to have vibration issues when they put the NEW one in!


Not 200k miles... 202k miles Hmmm.... I'd hate to spend $400ish in parts and labor to get these done since I'm not seeing the "leaks" people describe or the other symptoms. The other part that could also do this "backlash" could be from within the clutch assembly also, do you think? I didn't check the diff mounts, but I surely will now. Thanks for that tip.

 

Mine showed no evidence of leaks either, but when I had them out they were completely hollow. I'm sure mother nature rinsed any of the evidence away. The clutch would either slip if it was badly worn or glazed and a warped or glazed flywheel/broken pressure plate fingers would sort of shutter on engagement. Start with the engine mounts for sure. They are about $75 for the pair. If you have no reason to believe they've already been replaced then just do it. You should not be able to move the engine very easily by pushing the intake manifold. That is actually one thing that i noticed before i replaced my mounts, of course. The engine was very easy to sort of shake by grabbing the intake mani. After the new mounts i really needed to use some effort to get it to budge by doing that. People only sometimes get vibrations from a snub mount when they use an upgraded one like APR's.

 

Ok, I'm sold. I'll get the engine mounts from ECS. Looks like $50 for the FEQ right and $40 for the FEQ left. While we're at it, I did want to put the APR snub mount to make the car an official "APR Stage 2". But how successful were people from preventing the vibrations even after following APR's instructions on shaving? Otherwise, I'm thinking OEM part...