[p0le]

hey guys, all of a sudden this morning on my morning commute, my 91 SER just started to thump. I can feel the vibration through out the whole car, include the windows, shifter, steering wheel... etc. The tachometer is also going up and down (+- 20rpm) with the vibrations. From what I found so far, this thread is the closest thing to what I am experiencing. Is my engine mounts just gone as that post describes? Can it happen all of a sudden? I noticed the exhaust sounding very thumppy so I recorded the sound from the engine and exhaust. Please listen to the files and tell me what the heck is going wrong with my SER!!! Is it OK to drive around?

exhaust #1 (176 K)
exhaust #2 (262 K)
engine #1 (89 K)
engine #2 (262 K)

 

[Storm88000]

Probably the mounts. Do you still have the stock mounts with high mileage?

 

[p0le]

Probably the mounts. Do you still have the stock mounts with high mileage?

Yes, it has 112k miles and I do not think the mounts have been changed... Would bad mounts cause the trottle to go up and down a little? Would it be a lot of work to change them? How would I replace them? Would the engine need to be removed?

 

[Storm88000]

Yes, it has 112k miles and I do not think the mounts have been changed... Would bad mounts cause the trottle to go up and down a little? Would it be a lot of work to change them? How would I replace them? Would the engine need to be removed?

I'm not sure about the throttle... I suppose if your engine is shifting around so bad it could be messing with the accelerator cable....

 

[Stirpicult]

no way its mounts. you would have to have one fall completely off, and the engine be sitting on one side for that much to be happening. shaking at highway speeds is usually a good sign of needing an allignment. if its at lower speeds it could be your tires are out of round. throttle? is 20rpm that noticable?
i know my tires were bad and the tire shaking come all of a sudden. how old are your tires?

 

[gottabfast]

It could be the mounts...I had one that was completely ripped and it messed with shifting gears and acceleration. It sounds like it's in need of some TLC too. The exhaust is intact right, no major leaks, etc? Do you have any play in your shifter? Also if the engine mounts are bad, it will mess with the axles, so vibration can be from the axles too. Inspect where they go into the tranny and for any fluids.

 

[gottabfast]

oh, and you don't have to remove the engine to replace the mounts, you'll need a jack, jackstands and basic tools. Search for more detailed instructions, they're out there.

 

[Stirpicult]

It could be the mounts...I had one that was completely ripped and it messed with shifting gears and acceleration. It sounds like it's in need of some TLC too. The exhaust is intact right, no major leaks, etc? Do you have any play in your shifter? Also if the engine mounts are bad, it will mess with the axles, so vibration can be from the axles too. Inspect where they go into the tranny and for any fluids.

ive had bad mounts before. if it is busted enough to make the car shake (windows and all), then he probably has more problems now than just new mounts. they do mess with shifting.
i also didn't think about it, but bad motor mounts could also be a problem.
does the car pull any way? left or right? if it doesn't, and your tires are dirt old, i would not drive it. anything caused vibrations like you describe is far from a good thing. i honestly cannot imagine it being mounts, but who knows.

 

[gottabfast]

when mine went bad, they tore a one inch hole in the frame by the tranny mount, so it was vibrating like crazy. Hopefully his isn't that bad if that's the problem. I would hope he inspects the tires first though, but the exhaust noise makes me think axle for some reason, it sounds like the engine is fighting itself.

 

[1810]

Check your mounts bro if I had a host which I don't now I would upload some examples but basically thats my guess. Not to hard to check if the rubber mounts is sagging.

 

[Justin]

That is EXACTLY how my car sounded when my spark plugs were bad. I had just put them in liek a week earlier, and they somehow got messed up. It sounds like you are running on 3 cylinders sometimes. Do you feel a power loss at all? I would try replacing your spark plugs, thats what it was for me.

 

[NateSR20]

that definitley sounds like the engine is "missing". or misfiring, or something. i dont think its your mounts, or it could be a combo of both.

if you put your hand behind the tailpipe so the exhaust hits it, does it have a very noticable pulse, or is it a smooth flow?

 

[Justin]

that definitley sounds like the engine is "missing". or misfiring, or something. i dont think its your mounts, or it could be a combo of both.

if you put your hand behind the tailpipe so the exhaust hits it, does it have a very noticable pulse, or is it a smooth flow?

Yeah, I dont se how mounts alone could be that bad. Like I said that is EXACTLY how my car was when my plugs went bad and I was firing on 3 cylinders periodically.

 

[p0le]

that definitley sounds like the engine is "missing". or misfiring, or something. i dont think its your mounts, or it could be a combo of both.

if you put your hand behind the tailpipe so the exhaust hits it, does it have a very noticable pulse, or is it a smooth flow?

well, I took it to a friend of a friend who is a mechanic and he figured out it was the injector on the 4th cylinder that went bad. there was still spark, but no gas. anyone know which fuel injector i can use and where i can get it?

i am looking around for some ES motor mounts to replace the ones currently on my car, but cant find any. anyone know where i can get the whole mounts, not the inserts?