Hiya,

I have been having some jumpy/jerky running recently - thought it was my driving to start with, but even I'm not this bad!

So, put it down to DMF on the way out. Symptoms are lots of vibration at low engine revs, i.e. 2nd gear onto roundabout at 1,500k revs, clunky gear change when accelerating, and not being able to drive smoothly in queued traffic (hit the accelerator in 1st after coasting causes big jumps).

Priced up the G60/VR6 conversion, but before spending my pennies I had another look around the engine bay, and just by chance decided to shake the engine! It moves all over the bloody place!

On closer inspection with my big screw driver, the o/s engine mount was relatively solid however the n/s gearbox mount had maybe 10/15mm movement both forwards and backwards. I assume here that this amount of movement means the mount has failed?

The dog bone lower engine mount is fine, as I have a Powerflex bush in that, and have checked it as being okay.

So, the options..

1) New mount from dealer. £76. One or both?

2) Used mount from ebay, £20. Unknown condition. One or both?

3) THS FR3 mounts, £155 from Awesome. Price for both.

Do I need to replace both of them? If one has failed, is the other likely to fail soon? I presume increased stress due to the uprated dog-bone bush is the cause, so would it be worth going for the uprated engine mounts?

I know its a lot of questions! If anyone has any advice it will be welcomed muchly

Correct diagnosis. The next question is "why has this mount failed?"

So I ask if there is any sign of oil having got onto that mount.

Having removed the airbox I was surprised that the area around the mount was actually quite clean, with no particular residues, oils, greases, etc around the mount.

I also torque checked the bolts and they meet the specs in the Haynes manual, so apart from the rubber ageing (with contributions from uprated dog bone bush), I can't think of anything else that would have caused this.

I don't drive the car particularly hard, and I try to be as smooth as possible generally..

Andrew

At that rate I think you may well be correct about the increased stress from the uprated dogbone, which suggests that uprated engine mounts might be a good idea.

I'd only change mounts that needed changing when changing stock for stock, but I'd change both if fitting uprated mounts. I've been entirely happy with service, prices etc any time I've bought stuff from Awesome.

At that rate I think you may well be correct about the increased stress from the uprated dogbone, which suggests that uprated engine mounts might be a good idea.

I'd only change mounts that needed changing when changing stock for stock, but I'd change both if fitting uprated mounts. I've been entirely happy with service, prices etc any time I've bought stuff from Awesome.

Ta for the advice

On a side note, would excessive engine movement cause any steering / tracking issues? I guess not, but could be wrong.

Ta for the advice

On a side note, would excessive engine movement cause any steering / tracking issues? I guess not, but could be wrong.

On an Octy it might cause geometry issues, because the dogbone connects the shell and subframe (maybe not directly, but do the component analysis before flaming guys). Even it it doesn't, the engine+gearbox is the heftiest component of a car barring the shell, and having it shunting around will affect the lateral weight distribution and hence the handling.

On an Octy it might cause geometry issues, because the dogbone connects the shell and subframe (maybe not directly, but do the component analysis before flaming guys). Even it it doesn't, the engine+gearbox is the heftiest component of a car barring the shell, and having it shunting around will affect the lateral weight distribution and hence the handling.

This is along the lines of what I was thinking, but wanted someone else to confirm my thoughts before posting!

New mount fitted today, this has got rid of the movement in the engine, car is much nicer to drive now, with no jumping and a much slicker gear change. It's one of those things you don't notice deteriorate over time, but when it's resolved you know about it!

You can see the rubber in the old mount has reacted or something, since it appeared sticky and tar-like upon closer inspection within the castings. Not sure what has reacted with it, or if this is just how rubber goes with age, but like I mentioned previously there was no evidence of contaminants around the mount.

Anyway, we appear to be all sorted now Thanks for the input Mr ONeill

Andrew.

Any time mate. Incidentally, it may have been clean when you got the car, but that description of the old bush sounds very much like it has had engine oil contamination at some time in its life.

If it was just old age, the rubber would be hard and cracked.