Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all,

I have a 1.6TD that vibrates and keeps breaking the end muffler mounting bracket. I've had it welded three times now. One mechanic said the engine mounts were old and had lost their flexibilty. I've adjusted the idle to 1200rpm to reduce the shake but thats a temp fix. Should I replace the mounts? Has anyone had this problem?
Tim

I would imagine the mounts are old and have probably gained in flexability, not lost it. Get hold of engine by hand at top and try to give it a good waggle (technical term!). If it moves around quite a bit then its probably time for new mounts.
To be honest though, the engine shouldn't be vibrating that much. Could be a slight misfire causing the vibration.

how come you have not replaced the mounts.do you not trust this mechanic.for some reason...

After the mechanic welded the bracket the second time I asked why it kept breaking. He said as an after thought "The engine mounts may be old" and "It's a poor design". The third time I was on the road and just wanted a quick fix so I could continue my trip. So, no, I don't particularly trust the mechanic, he's not a VW expert like you guys on the forum.

I gave the engine a good waggle, seems solid to me.

smroot

how is the exhaust mounted? on the petrols its connected to the engine only so it just happily waggles with the engine? engine mountings dont really go hard, they go soft and cause more violent waggling than normal so that may be a good place to start perhaps.

Smroot wrote: no, I don't particularly trust the mechanic, he's not a VW expert like you guys on the forum.

I gave the engine a good waggle, seems solid to me.

smroot

He has done a lot more mechanical work than you and yet you dont trust him???? Im a mechanic by trade and like him find it funny when people carry on blindly welding stuff up and not listening !"!! Oh and giving it a waggle wont prove a thing!

jamesc76 wrote: Oh and giving it a waggle wont prove a thing!

So you're telling me if I can move the engine around on it's mountings thats normal?

Jamesc76,
Sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect to the trade.
It was more the way the mechanic said it than what he said. The message was more like..... I welded it and fixed it but if it breaks again maybe it's just old rubber mounts. That's all I can do for you.... I didn't get a serious diagnosis of old motor mounts. More of a brush off. If you told me my motor mounts were bad, I'd believe you!

yes ..
I have just replaced mine with new
and the engine, gearbox, exhaust moves about 10mm when ticking over.

10mm when running is fine, virtually all engines will move that amount but I suggested moving it by hand which is completly different!
If you have old and possibly soft engine mounts, this is a definitive test to find out if they are any good. If you can 'waggle' (possibly for want of a better word!) then engine by hand, then there is a problem with the rubber mounts.
I know when I could move mine around on the mounts I had to replace them... And I did too! Things had turned to jelly!

yes they tend to come away from the steel too.
I could waggle my old mounts a fair way.. made the clutch judder worse too

Clutch judder was why I replaced mine! Getting it back a bit now though so think it may be time to replace the gearbox one as well as I didn't do this when I did the engine ones (doh!).

VWCamperfan wrote:

jamesc76 wrote: Oh and giving it a waggle wont prove a thing!

So you're telling me if I can move the engine around on it's mountings thats normal?

No it aint normal its just that some mounts colapse on themselves and dont really show it up! Best way is to use a pry bar and really give um some movement!

Smroot wrote:Jamesc76,
Sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect to the trade.
It was more the way the mechanic said it than what he said. The message was more like..... I welded it and fixed it but if it breaks again maybe it's just old rubber mounts. That's all I can do for you.... I didn't get a serious diagnosis of old motor mounts. More of a brush off. If you told me my motor mounts were bad, I'd believe you!

That makes a lot more sense sounds more like he bodged it up and couldnt be arsed to find out for sure! Sorry if my fresponce came over a tad strong!

Just to complete this string, I replaced the muffler with new brackets and decreased the idle speed. It purrs like a kitten with little engine vibration. Thanks to all for the help.

smroot

does anyone know what causes the vibration [mine is around1100rpm] something in the injection pump?.