hitsolid

I just had the trans and motor mounts replaced in my 93 SC300. OLT speaks the truth: the difference is HUGE. No vibrations can be felt from anything. The car is so quiet on the highway the only thing I hear are the tires. Got the parts from Carson (thanks Luis). The local Toyota dealer wanted 6 hours of labor at something like $95/hr. (Uh, no thanks.) Had a local trans shop do the install ($450). Not cheap, but money well spent. I had no idea these cars are this quiet and smooth.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

good to hear!

Blizzy

iTrader: (-1)

Luis is the man!

Hooked me up with a brand new 97+ front bumper for $90 less than the body shop was charging for a salvaged 96-.

The man single-handedly put money in my pocket.

EDIT: I never use exclamation points. I find them tacky. Clearly, I am a bit excited about Luis hooking me up like he did.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

yep he's a good dude.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

How exactly is changing out motor mounts going to eliminate you hearing the engine? I'm so confused by that. I had all 3 mounts changed out, yes all the vibrations are gone but you can still hear the engine when you're outside the car....

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

the tranny mount creates vibration and intensifies engine noise when there is no isolation.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

That's funny because my passanger side motor mount was all tore up and my tranny mount was split in half but didn't create any type of noise at all, just felt rough when starting the car up and engaging from P-R-D... I guess I was lucky.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

sounds like the one mount that was good was keeping it from torquing over far enough to vibrate.

fastdave

Great Info! Thanks! I tried the search option, but didn't get these results. I tried several "Google" searches too, nothing as good as this!

CptCrunch

iTrader: (1)

what you guys are saying does make a little sense. my car is having a vibration on a cold start and at 1500rpm where you can really feel the vibrations. did your car do this too? if this is the problem im considering changing my mounts too!

SLEXC400

O.L.T. is right. I have changed my transmission mount twice now and it really does make a huge difference in isolating vibration. I mentioned to my local lexus shop (not the dealer) that I thought I had a drivetrain problem because I could feel and hear some vibrations in the car and the guy said that he guaranteed that changing the mount would solve the problem. I bought the mount (about $80 then) and changed it myself and it made a HUGE difference. I drove the car up on ramps and used my hydraulic jack and a piece of plywood under the transmission pan to take the load off the mount while I removed it. It is an easy job. Side by side the new mount was at least twice as thick as the old mount --- it had compressed over the years that much! And I firmly believe that it helps bring the driveline back in proper alignment because it raises the rear of the transmission up so much (it doesn't take much to make a difference!). I later tried to change my engine mounts but I wasn't able to get enough clearance from the crossmember to get the old ones out. I ended up taking it to my local shop and they did it for me. They told me that they disconnect the crossmember when they do it. I couldn't really do that without a lift to take the weight off the wheels. The engine mounts also made a difference --- I could tell as soon as I turned the key because I couldn't even feel the engine turn over! But considering the expense of replacing the engine mounts, I would recommend going with just the transmission mount first.

aaronjz

im experiencing this now. ill order the mounts asap.

PERRYinLA

Can the existing tranny mounts be checked? Meaning, can I get under my car and look at the mounts and tell (without removing them) if they have deteriorated?

My car still feels pretty quiet and smooth, but everything is relative.

Also, when is someone gonna post how much these things cost?

SLEXC400

Perry, I don't if there is a way to check the mounts (unless they are broken of course). If you've never changed them, then I would at least do the transmission mount --- especially if you are experiencing any drivetrain noise like I was whenever I "floated" the accelerator. The transmission mount is easy to change and costs less than $100.00. The engine mounts are another story --- unless someone knows of an easy way to do it! I just couldn't seem to get enough clearance when I tried. I did a quick search for pricing on the 'net and overnightautoparts.com has the transmission mount for $60.95 and the engine mounts for $76.95 (you need 2 of these). I don't know anything about these parts or this company --- I just did a Google search and this is one of the hits that came up ...

Hope this helps!

--- George

SC400DAVE

I just had my tranny mount replaced. It actually didn't look that bad, however, I can really tell the difference in smoothness. A must do if you have around 90k on the clock.. I have 184,000 on mine. I can tell she has been well taken care of though from the condition of the mount. I would think driving the car hard would ruin the mount faster. I guess I'll be changing mine again after another 60k or so because I drive her as she was meant to be driven.