HELP!!!

[Zombiesrock]

Ok, so I don't have a way to know if what my car is doing is normal or not, so I was hoping some of you who have 07 HBs could help me. I have posted about my car shaking and have been doing several things to eliminate this, but now i wonder if its really even a problem. Can any of you watch how your engine looks/moves while its running??? WHen my car is in park or neutral the engine does not move, just idles quietly, but when i put it in gear (any gear) it shakes rather violently. (i have to pull ebrake obviously to check this out, or have my husband put it in gear while i look at the difference.) I dont think it can be the power brake booster because using the e-brake and not using the brakes does not eliminate this. I just got a whole fuel system cleaning done using the BG products, and the motor mount (the engine torque mount?) is fine as well. I havent checked the other two, but i didnt think they would cause a rocking problem. I have NO check engine light on and my spark plugs look fine. My air filter is clean as well. So i am at a loss as to if my car is even running wrong or not? If any of you dont mind doing this test and letting me know i would love you forever:) oh my car has 141,000 on it.
Thanks!!!!!

[CTScott]

Why do you believe that the hydraulic dampened motor mount is fine?

[Zombiesrock]

I am not sure it thats the same one, but it was the motor mount underneath the engine towards the firewall, kinda hidden in the frame of the car next to the transmission? My husband and i took it out to replace it, thinking that it was the problem, but it was perfect. no tears or anything wrong with it.

[CTScott]

Check the big round one on the other side. It is filled with fluid to dampen the vibration.

[Zombiesrock]

If I am looking at the engine bay from the front of my car where would I look? And when I find it what should it look like? What are signs of it being bad since it's filled with fluid? Thank you for helping me by the way. You always answer my posts and it's always very helpful:)

[CTScott]

If I am looking at the engine bay from the front of my car where would I look? And when I find it what should it look like? What are signs of it being bad since it's filled with fluid? Thank you for helping me by the way. You always answer my posts and it's always very helpful:)

It's on the car's right side, just behind the headlight. It's a 4" round rubber thing. It is designed to absorb the engine vibration, rather than transferring it to the chassis. With the engine running watch it. It should move quite a bit. If it looks rigid then it has gone bad.

If it looks OK, check the area around the back side of the transmission for a small rock that flew up and jammed between the tranny and the chassis. Someone on here once had a similar problem to yours and ended up finding a little rock to be the culprit.

[Zombiesrock]

Ok, so its on the passenger side of the car. Its kinda tall, like a big round rubber thing and is 4 or so inches tall and has brackets going to the car and big one going to the engine. I pulled the e-brake and put my car in gear and the only thing that moved on it (the mount) was the bracket that was directly attached to the engine. (if i was looking at the right thing) nothing else on it moved. the big round rubber thing didn't budge at all. Also, my engine sounded a little clacky, but i think thats because it is so bouncy, it doesn't make clacky noises when its in neutral or park, when the engine itself isn't shaking. Is it supposed to be inflated or anything? The top of the big tall rubber thing was depressed inward.

[CTScott]

Ok, so its on the passenger side of the car. Its kinda tall, like a big round rubber thing and is 4 or so inches tall and has brackets going to the car and big one going to the engine. I pulled the e-brake and put my car in gear and the only thing that moved on it (the mount) was the bracket that was directly attached to the engine. (if i was looking at the right thing) nothing else on it moved. the big round rubber thing didn't budge at all. Also, my engine sounded a little clacky, but i think thats because it is so bouncy, it doesn't make clacky noises when its in neutral or park, when the engine itself isn't shaking. Is it supposed to be inflated or anything? The top of the big tall rubber thing was depressed inward.

The top big round part is attached to the part that bolts to the car and just the under part that is connected to the engine moves. The top rubber part is kind of saggy even on a new one.

If you just grab the engine (with it not running and try to rock it, you should really not be able to move it if all the mounts are good).

[Zombiesrock]

How much strength is required for that test? I am a fairly small woman and tried to rock it back and forth and was able to move it just a little, but it feels pretty sturdy, I will try to find a rock this weekend in the place you talked about when i can have my husband help me get it up on ramps. Do you think new spark plugs or anything would help? I read on this forum that weak coils could be a problem, but if the coils were out wouldn't I have a light on? Man o man it is hard to try to diagnose a car on the internet:)

[CTScott]

How much strength is required for that test? I am a fairly small woman and tried to rock it back and forth and was able to move it just a little, but it feels pretty sturdy, I will try to find a rock this weekend in the place you talked about when i can have my husband help me get it up on ramps. Do you think new spark plugs or anything would help? I read on this forum that weak coils could be a problem, but if the coils were out wouldn't I have a light on? Man o man it is hard to try to diagnose a car on the internet:)

I think if your problem was engine related that you would see it even when not in gear. I think it is more of a mechanical issue. Does the engine sound like it is running rough?

[Zombiesrock]

i can hear the engine, and it kinda makes a clackedy clackedy sound when its running, but it is really quiet in park and in neutral, just louder in gear. My car use to be quiet though, this has been ongoing for probably over a year now, the shaking started when i took a trip to see my family in new mexico almost 2 years ago, and i thought it was from crappy gas and high altitude, but it never went away, then i just chalked it up to being older. I didnt think anything about it till i saw the difference between how my engine was running in neutral vs in gear a few months ago, when i started trying to figure out what was wrong with it.

[Zombiesrock]

Does your engine shake at all when its in gear or is it still mostly smooth like it is in park or neutral? (other than when it drops in RPMS to save gas)?

[CTScott]

Does your engine shake at all when its in gear or is it still mostly smooth like it is in park or neutral? (other than when it drops in RPMS to save gas)?

I just tried it on one of mine and there is no discernible difference in the engine vibration between park, reverse, neutral or drive.

[Zombiesrock]

Thanks for checking, mine is quite obvious, it goes from smooth and purrs like a kitten to growling and bouncing in the engine bay. Do you think it could have anything to do with the transmission since it only does it in gear? like something going from the tranny to the engine is not working right?
I am going to have the mount looked at, it could be that still possible, but when you said it may not be the engine , it could be mechanical, what other things would that entail? I thought it all was mechanical:)

[Zombiesrock]

I don't know if it matters or not, but when i had this car for about a year (i did buy it brand new off the lot) i hit a dear and did significant damage, like 8k worth, to my car. It only had 23k on it then and I haven't had any issues after i got it fixed. Is there anything that could have broken faster or anything like that because of a big fat dear hitting my car?

[Exiwolfman]

Do u have a YouTube account if so post vid and share link here with us


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Zombiesrock]

I don't but I can make one tomorrow, then try to take a video, not sure if my I phone will be able to capture it, but i will try and if so i will post it!

[CTScott]

Thanks for checking, mine is quite obvious, it goes from smooth and purrs like a kitten to growling and bouncing in the engine bay. Do you think it could have anything to do with the transmission since it only does it in gear? like something going from the tranny to the engine is not working right?
I am going to have the mount looked at, it could be that still possible, but when you said it may not be the engine , it could be mechanical, what other things would that entail? I thought it all was mechanical:)

I was looking at the AT service manual earlier to see if there is a symptom listed like what you are seeing (I was thinking that it may be torque converter related). I didn't see a symptom like yours, but I still would not doubt that if it is not something simple (like a bad mount or something jammed between the tranny and chassis) that it could be transmission related.

[Zombiesrock]

So, should I go ahead and replace the mount? When do they usually go out? I figure i have to start doing one thing at a time to narrow it down, and I figure the tranny, if it is the issue, will be more costly, and probably something I cannot figure out how to do at home. I will try to post a video tomorrow, and get sound too. I will also check for (fingers crossed) a rock wedged between the chassis and transmission. (not really sure what i am looking for there, but i figure if i find a rock anywhere around the tranny that might be it). When getting replacement parts i usually get them from toyota, when i bought the mount (the torque dampener?) from NAPA, it wouldnt even fit in the spot where the toyota one came out of. So if there is another brand that actually gets it right and is cheaper that would be awesome

[CTScott]

So, should I go ahead and replace the mount? When do they usually go out? I figure i have to start doing one thing at a time to narrow it down, and I figure the tranny, if it is the issue, will be more costly, and probably something I cannot figure out how to do at home. I will try to post a video tomorrow, and get sound too. I will also check for (fingers crossed) a rock wedged between the chassis and transmission. (not really sure what i am looking for there, but i figure if i find a rock anywhere around the tranny that might be it). When getting replacement parts i usually get them from toyota, when i bought the mount (the torque dampener?) from NAPA, it wouldnt even fit in the spot where the toyota one came out of. So if there is another brand that actually gets it right and is cheaper that would be awesome

Someone else on here recently purchased an aftermarket one of the large round mounts and it turned out to not have the hydraulic dampening, but rather acts like a solid mount, so I would be careful with aftermarket ones.

I have a good OEM one of the hydraulic mounts that I could do $50+shipping for. If you bought it and it did not help the problem, I would be willing to take it back and refund all but the shipping cost.

[Zombiesrock]

Oh my! That would be awesome! The one i bought from napa that i didn't need was 129.00 dollars. (they let me return it) . We are still talking about the big beastly one on the passenger side of the car right?
And how would I pay you for it?

[CTScott]

Oh my! That would be awesome! The one i bought from napa that i didn't need was 129.00 dollars. (they let me return it) . We are still talking about the big beastly one on the passenger side of the car right?
And how would I pay you for it?

Correct - That's the one. It actually weighs 7 lbs.

PM me your zip code and I will check the shipping cost. Paypal is typically the easiest method of payment. If that works for you, I can email you a paypal invoice.

[Zombiesrock]

Ok so I have my two videos. The first is when the engine is in neutral, the second when it is in drive. I had to use a chip bowl to capture the shaking, Iphones aren't high def enough on their own to pick it up. The sound you hear in the first one is a drill in the back ground, so disregard. I moved my phone around on the second one so you could hear the clackedy I was talking about. I picked up the bowl so you would hear the right sound. Also I tried to capture the engine mount that is in question, so maybe if it looks wrong you guys would see it :)


http://youtu.be/AiYE3c05OIg
http://youtu.be/XLkY_vwMBlo

[CTScott]

Hmmmm. The engine sounds the same in both, but she's definitely slinging that bowl with the tranny in gear. I am still not sure if it is a lack of dampening or something else.

[Zombiesrock]

Well, once I get the mount replaced, and check for a rock, and change my spark plugs this weekend I can eliminate those being an issue. What in the world can make a transmission make an engine do that? It doesn't ever feel like there are issues with that, but then again SOMETHING is making that engine shake and my whole car with it.

[CTScott]

Well, once I get the mount replaced, and check for a rock, and change my spark plugs this weekend I can eliminate those being an issue. What in the world can make a transmission make an engine do that? It doesn't ever feel like there are issues with that, but then again SOMETHING is making that engine shake and my whole car with it.

Does you feel it even when you're moving or just when stopped?

[Zombiesrock]

when i am driving the car seems fine, i only feel it when i am stopped, and now I just throw my car in neutral all the time because its annoying.

[CTScott]

when i am driving the car seems fine, i only feel it when i am stopped, and now I just throw my car in neutral all the time because its annoying.

OK. In that case it really could be the dampening as the engine basically acts like a mechanical gyroscope and becomes more stable at speed.

[Zombiesrock]

So it was the mount. It barely vibrates now:) thank goodness!

[frambach]

Wow, that is the strangest little symptom! Who'd thunk (other than CTScott) that it was an engine mount.

I know it had me perplexed. Thanks for sharing and glad you got it straightened/figured out.