FAQ: Engine/Transmission Motor Mounts

Well I took it to a shop yesterday and they told me my. 1-4 coil is not responding and one of my wires is caught in the radiator fan. The guy said he couldn't diagnose the problem further until those things are fixed. My mechanic is supposed to replace the coil and wire on Saturday.

AND DONT FORGET TO CLEAN YOUR AIR IDLE CONTROL VALVE!!!!

Robotennis -1
Street Mechanic - 0

Albertj

Well, the IAC isn't going to affect you at 40MPH, but neither are the motor mounts... The mounts shift/lurch/make noise when the load is changed (like shifting gears.) Between your comments and your SES light and your plug wires and your DTC's, you have an ignition problem regardless of your mounts' condition.

My mechanic replaced the wire connected to my 1-4 coil because it was split in half due to the radiator fan and the car ran better however it still makes a rough noise and shakes when just sitting. My mechanic said the shaking is because I need motor mounts. Also my ses light is still on and I noticed I wasn't getting as much pick up as I should when pressing down the gas pedal so he changes the fuel filter and and sprayed cleaner in the air throttle hose and then reset the battery and the ses light came right back on. What else could it be? When I shift from p to r my car bucks really hard sometimes so imm certain I need mounts. I believe I found some for 37 a piece on this one website. I will post the link later because I would like to kno if they are the right ones before I purchase them. I am due for an oil change which I will get sometime this week but what other explanations can there be? I love my car! I don't want it to die on me.

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but if this mechanic was any good, now that the plug wire has been replaced he'd be scanning the DTC's (trouble codes) that are setting the light...

If he disconnected the battery to try to clear the codes, he obviously doesn't have a scan-tool. You need to find someone who has the proper equipment and is familiar with GM electronics.

with Eldo: The codes need to be read.

Please post a link to the motor mounts you found.

If you have a 96+ take the car to autozone and have the codes read (it's free).
let us know what the code is. I'd bet it's a P0300 or misfire code.

My guess is you still have an ignition problem. the car will drive surprising "fine" with one cylinder down.
Get a set of acdelco wires, AL605 plugs and install them making certain they are going to the correct coil pack. We'll go from there once you find the code.

I can't post a link to the mounts because my phone won't allow me to. However, the website is bestvalueautoparts.com . I have a 95 riviera sc. I put my vin # in and searched for the engine mounts but if you search 95 riviera sc they should come up under engine parts. They are like 31 bucks! But are they the correct ones? My mechanic does not have the engine diagnostic tool but he can repair any issue and is dirt cheap. I just need to know what the issue is. I dont want to pay another 65 dollars to find out a thing or two like I did last week w/ the wire and coil. I want to know everything. I saw a commercial for aamco on tv that said they will diagnose the check engine light for free til end of jan. I think I will go by there on Thursday.

I looked at that site and pulled up the engine mounts for the 1998 and it looks like they may actually have something for the fromt and rear trans mounts (what is referred to as left and right)
For the Front or Left it appears they have a replacement rubber center for our existing mount, around $30.00. Would just have to chisel out old one and urethane this one in.
And it shows a picture for the Rear or Right mount, just not sure from the pic if it's correct or not but it is just over $100.00 instead of the OEM price of $300.00
These are the ones that go bad most commonly and cause the rocking of the motor back and forth.

RivieraRyan wrote:

My mechanic does not have the engine diagnostic tool but he can repair any issue and is dirt cheap. I just need to know what the issue is. I dont want to pay another 65 dollars to find out a thing or two like I did last week w/ the wire and coil. I want to know everything. I saw a commercial for aamco on tv that said they will diagnose the check engine light for free til end of jan. I think I will go by there on Thursday.

You can't just throw parts at a code. It will cost you more in parts in the long run than finding out what the active codes are in the first place. I suspect AAmco's "Free Check Engine Light" scan may be only for OBD-II cars, which your '95 is not. Keep in mind that your 95 uses OBD-1.5, NOT OBD-I or OBD-II. The scan tools are pretty specific and only select shops have them. It will be great for you if aamco can scan your codes for free, but it's possible that they don't have the right computer.

So should I order the motor mounts? Are they the right ones for my car? And are u saying its just the rubber they are selling?

i purchased the mount and yes it is only the rubber and its not the right size!

the tube that goes through the rubber that you bolt on is too short and requires spacers either side! It fits into the bracket but is distorted. Ive not fitted mine yet.

Nigel

the front trans mount is very easy to fill with some urethane. i use the 3M window fast weld from the local auto store. ($18) harder than the rubber and made a huge improvement in shifting shake. i also squeezed some of it in the rear mount as well.
wear gloves and let it cure at least 24hrs. you can pull the front mount easy just support the motor.

as for the side engine mount you can do the same with it, but i've yet to see one of them really get bad as it's pretty solid.

deekster_caddy wrote:

You can't just throw parts at a code. It will cost you more in parts in the long run than finding out what the active codes are in the first place. I suspect AAmco's "Free Check Engine Light" scan may be only for OBD-II cars, which your '95 is not. Keep in mind that your 95 uses OBD-1.5, NOT OBD-I or OBD-II. The scan tools are pretty specific and only select shops have them.

I would add that any GM dealer (Buick, GMC, Pontiac, etc.) will have an appropriate scan-tool, and I can't imagine a minimum charge of more than $50, worst case scenario...

Hmmm.....as far as these mounts go it seems very difficult to obtain them w/o purchasing them from the dealer at 300 a piece which I don't have and refuse to do so I guess my next question is what is the best possible remedy? I saw the hockey puck thing but that appears to be to difficult for me or my mechanic and apparantly the ones on the website are wrong as well. I dunno what to do but I need to alleviate this issue asap. My mechanic said he would replace the front and back mounts for 130 but I need the mounts! Damn gm! And I will see what happens w/ the check engine light on Thursday...

As Mr.Riviera mentioned above, you could fill the mounts with urethane. Anyone know if there is information or a write-up on how to do this?

I don't know if the hockey puck/LeSabre foot mount works on the '95/series 1. I have only seen it done on the series 2 motors.

Filling the mounts with urethane seems to be your best option. Remove the motor mount and see what you can do with it! I'm about to do the same thing to my car.

AA wrote:

As Mr.Riviera mentioned above, you could fill the mounts with urethane. Anyone know if there is information or a write-up on how to do this?

The only way I know is to either remove the mounts, clean the rubber parts very good with Brake Clean and/or acetone and fill the voids with Urethane and let cure for at least 24 hours before install, or Lift weight off engine and mounts by jacking on the oil pan slightly and carefully without distorting it, just enough to take the weight off the mounts and clean out the mounts as mentioned and fill with black urethane adhesive, let cure, without dropping weight on them, and then see if the vibrations stop.
By the way the Black Urethane that I was told to use is the same stuff as the Glass Shops use to seal windshields.
Maybe someone else can confirm or deny that this is the product to use for a temporary/permanent fix.

i still don't see how the vibration can be that bad? my riv has blown mounts and she shakes less than some new cars? sure the problem isn't elsewhere?

Oh, I'm sure he has another problem or two that is exacerbating the vibration issue.
But sometimes it just takes new guys a little time to understand.
I am not being condescending, I had both my front and rear mounts replaced while the Trans was out for rebuild to help solve an issue that wasn't solved by replacing the mounts. Even though they were very obviously shot and needed replacement.

Rick, i used the windshield urethane. it's pretty easy to work with b/c it comes in a tube for caulk guns.
i cant verify that the 95's have the same front mounts as the 96+ but if you fix only the front trans mount it should be quite an improvement. Only 2 bolts to remove, but you have to pull the lower plastic gaurd off to access one of the bolts. be sure to support the motor with a jack and block of wood too.

Mine is still holding up very well even with me racing it all the time. i didnt even clean out the old rubber, just filled the voids and cracks with the urethane and let it sit 24hrs off the car.

Aaron, no write up for this fix but i took a few pics a long time ago to make a write-up if needed. i'll have to find them and add them to the trans mount thread.

on another note, when i had the motor jacked up i tried to squeeze as much urethane in the voids of the rear mount as possible, but there is little to no room to work.
I did have the idea of shoving a synthetic cork in the space where the rubber has cracked, but i wasnt sure if it would hold up.

Found out why my Riv slams into Reverse when cold...Trans Mount. $100 at AutoZone... how much should I pay for installation? Thanks

Front or Rear mount.?
Makes a big difference in labor time needed to it.
Rear is much more involved than the front mount.

Rear, Rick.