Hardcoded

Hey All.. I am new here and cant find any exact information regarding my issue.
My car is an automatic with 157k miles on it. Car runs great. I have noticed lately that when I come to a stoplight or stopsign and apply the break, I can feel a vibration through the steering wheel and its enough to rattle items in the ash tray. It appears to be coming from the engine compartment, but it goes away if I put the car in nuetral. It seems to be worse when the car is cold, but is noticably persistant at all times. The car has no miss when accelerating and is not at a loss for power. This is the only issue I have noticed. Today I had the valve cover gaskets replaced due to a leak and had the timing belt replaced as well. Problem persist. I didnt think to ask them to check the motor mounts, but that is my first suspect. Anyone know how many the es300 has?
Thanks for any advice and input. I am at a loss here.

R

ASG14

iTrader: (1)

Almost sure it;s your engine mount(s), very common, espetially at that age/milage.

1st one I;d check is the DogBone mount. It;s located in the engine bay, right top strut tower. You'll easily be able to see it. Check to see if the rubber is ripped.

The other one that at your mileage may very well be bad is the front mount, located under the exhaust manifold. If you are at a stop and do a quick acceleration, do you feel/hear a "clunk" right when you hit the gas?

Ariyanna

Wow I have the same issue its been happening for the past week I'm going to have my mounts checked out I have 133K on the clock.

HekkaFlush

Unbalanced wheels causes vibrations while driving, motor mounts being shot causes vibrations, warped rotors causes brake vibrations.

Hardcoded

Thanks guys.. yes the front passenger side dogbone mount is ripped in the center. I have put the Emergency brake on and left the car in drive and i can tell the center of the mount is in a different position than when the car is turned off or in park. How hard is this to replace? does the motor have to be supported or can I just pull it out and put another back in?

Thanks again.

ASG14

iTrader: (1)

For that mount, all that is needed is the car to be on level ground, and a 14mm socket. Nothing needs to be supported. SOMETIMES you need to pull the motor a tad to put the bolt back. So have someone handy to help with that IF needed. But you'll still likely be able ot do it yourself.

Hardcoded

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate the information. I plan to change it as soon as possible.

Hardcoded

Update:

I replaced the the front torque mount (Dogbone) in the parking lot of Autozone in about 1 minute. It did slightly help with the startup vibration and some of the idle vibration, but not completly at all.
I then put the car in park with the emergency brake on and lightly hit the accelerator under the hood. I noticed that the engine lifted about 2-3 inches. This is with very light acceleration keep in mind. It seemed to be more on the side where the transmission connects to the engine. What i am expecting at this point is that the other mounts are bad as well.
My question is this:
How many motor mounts do we have on our cars? I am aware of the dogbone and the front and backs, but is there a transmission mount as well?

I went to my local mechanic quoted me $180 in labor plus the mounts.

Any advice is appreciated.

ASG14

iTrader: (1)

You are right, 4 mounts from what I know, one on the tranny side. $180 labor for all the 3? Dayam! Take him up on that! Thats good.

k93

any pics ?? i just had a motor dropped in my sc and had to change motor mounts. two were changed however between 0-10 mph and even at idle i can feel a litte vibration. over 15 mph no vibration. HELP!!!