Maybe someone can give me some ideas. My car 98 SE, auto ,113K miles has been vibrating when stopped at a light. The engine also seems to be running rough. I checked the injectors, coils and plugs. all appear to look good and checked OK with an ohmmeter. The car is not giving me any codes.

I took it to a repair shop and they said it could be engine mounts. I inspected those but could not find anything unusual. The engine does not appear to bounce around very much when shifting into gear or giving it gas with the brake on.

I am now noticing that the car vibrates quite a bit under hard acceleration at about 3000 RPM. It feels like the engine or a driveshaft may be the cause of the problem. I'll probably end up taking it back to the mechanic but if anyone has any ideas/suggestions I would appreciate it.

 

At 113K your motor mounts are probably worn out. The passenger side mount is usually the one that wears out the fastest. You could aslo try cleaning your air intake and fuel system, to see if that helps.

 

Thanks! I think it's more likely a mechanical issue. I just took a closer look the passenger side mount is fairly easy to see and it looks intact. Other then looking at it is there a way to tell if it's bad? Is it relatively easy to change?

 

I thought the front and rear motor engine motor mounts were the first ones to go? Check those first.

 

The engine rear mount is always first to go. Check that specifically and examine it good. This should not give you vibration though. I would check your inner tie rods.

 

I have auto mounts in front/rear, the rear was in the best shape of all four mounts. The Passenger side and tranny mount had cracks and were torn. Front and rear were worn with very few cracks. It may be that manual front and rear mounts wear out faster than auto mounts.

 

The mounts are not that easy too see. If you take a good look is it usually pretty obvious, such as cracks missing pieces, when they are worn?

 

are you automatic? if so...thats your mounts....i'm betting 80-90% on that...as far as accelerating vibrations...your axles maybe going bad, they may not be busted, but they could still be going/bad

 

my money is on the mounts, then axles

 

How can I tell if the mounts are shot. The engine does bounce a little when I shift from reverse to drive or step on the brakes and give it gas. I don't know how much movement is normal. I have tried looking at the mounts but they are kind of hard too see. What I can see does not appear to be cracked, worn or damaged.

 

Well I figured if I looked under the car enough times I would eventually find something. Turns out my front passenger side spring is broken at the top about 8-10 inches before it ends. Looks like its broken due to rust eating through it. The springs have a cover on them to prevent squeaking, this can trap water. I have never hit any curbs or jumped any large objects with the car. The car has just not felt right the past 6-9 months and has not been much fun to drive. I thought the suspension was just older/worn.

I'll probably change it tomorrow and I am almost certain this will take care of my issues and I will have a nice ride again.

Anybody in the Chicago area have some SE springs they want to get rid of?

 

Installed new springs, did not fix this problem so I kept at it. Got the tires balanced, no help. Noticed the boot of the passenger side axle was torn (1 year old axle) changed that still had bad vibration on hard accel. Took my car to my mechanic. He did not have time to fix it but suggested that I change the drivers side axle (2 years old) also. Changed that and finally fixed the problem.

The mechanic said when they have cars come in with vibration during acceleration they change both axles because it is difficult to tell which one is bad. I hate when my car is not running right, good to have it driving properly again.

The vibration during idle is another issue but that I can live with. Thanks to all for the help/suggestions.

 

Did your old axle have the weight in the middle of the axle??

 

Yes, the bad one did have weight.

The OEM original had a weight, the first replacement one did not, the next replacement had a weight and now this latest one does not have a weight. All replacements were from Carquest and under warranty.

I figured the weight is used to balance the axle should not matter? Why do you ask?

FWIW I'm getting good at changing axles. Replaced both in a couple of hours. I think it's much easier to change the axles if you remove the strut. Removing the spring/strut assembly only takes a couple of minutes more and makes the job easier because you have more room to work.