Do engine mounts go bad? What is the symptom of bad ones? How do they fail? Is there a cylinder of shock absorbing material around the center bolts of the mounts (inside the metal parts I can see) or are those two pancakes of spongy stuff at the ends the only soft parts?
--VARam1500...

 

Its possible for them to wear but unlikely I would think. They usually just break. Is you're engine moving on acceleration or..?

 

I get a chatter or shuddering feel when I engage the clutch. I thought I had an oil leak into the clutch that was making it feel like that. After a new clutch, new flywheel, and new rear main seal, it is a lot better but not totally gone. Since I know I don't have any engine or clutch issues, the next thing I was looking at were the mounts.

The frequency of the pulses feels like it could be the engine hopping up and down. I know the transmission mount is solid. I can't budge it with a crowbar. Harder for me to inspect the engine mounts, though.

Does anyone have a picture of a failed mount? Did the rubber break down or did the metal brace crack? I can see I don't have any problem with the metal bracketry, but suspect that the 16 year old rubber cores in the mounts have dried out and cracked..... like my dashboard.

Opinions?

 

Open the hood, have someone stomp on the gas. If a mount is gone, you will see undue movement of the engine as it tries to rotate around the crank.

 

^agreed.

Also check control arm bolts, body mount bolts, leaf spring ubolts, etc. Anything that would particular respond to loading the drivetrain from shifting. lol yeah