96 Taurus Motor Mounts

[mynustheckat]

Hi

I bought a used 96 Taurus GL a couple weeks ago. It has 2 problems. One is that the engine moves when I put it into Drive and in Reverse. Is this supposed to happen? I took it to my mechanic and he replaced the Right Rear engine mount and the opposite engine mount. It did no good. The car also likes to jerk when accelerating around corners and sometimes going into 2nd and 3rd gears.

Is this due to the tranny or the engine ?

The second problem is the steering vibrates and the passengers side front makes a whirring sound like a spaceship in a movie from the 50's.

[brooster42]

I'm an ex-mechanic who now programs computers but still likes to work on cars. I am curious why you haven't taken this car back to your mechanic. First - he should have diagnosed the problem and checked for bad motor mounts BEFORE replacing them. He should take back the parts that did not need replacing if he's any kind of mechanic at all. But I assume he isn't. He's charged you for 2 repairs, neither of which fixed the problem. Don't go back there.

Secondly, yes, the engine should not be moving around and "thumping" about when you go from forward to reverse. The engine will move a small bit as it strains at the motor mounts, but not enough to lift off the mounts. I have seen both the front (right front side) and left side motor mounts "go south". Sometimes it can be tricky to where the rubber is broken. Put a jack under the oil pan (use a wood block) and start jacking it up. After the weight is lifted off the front suspension struts, you will be able to see if any of the mounts are broken or sloppy. My guess is that it is your left mount. It connects to the transmission "crossmember" piece and is a bit tricky to remove. You will have to support the engine/transmission assembly with a jack while lowering the sub-frame a little bit. Not as hard as it sounds. There are 4 long bolts that hold the sub-frame to the unibody. Loosen the 2 on the passenger side of the car about 5 turns. Then you can remove the 2 bolts on the left side and lower the sub-frame till the motor mount will come out.

Better yet have you mechanic do it.....FOR FREE!

[mynustheckat]

Thanks

I was just looking underneath at the drivers side front mount. The plastic is cracked and there is rust coming out of that. How many mounts are there anyways? The mechanic did 2 so far.

[RexNfx400]

The car also likes to jerk when accelerating around corners and sometimes going into 2nd and 3rd gears.

You desribe this very well actually. The drivers side (Transmission mount) never breaks. The others do. Just not as often as the previous model years. Most likely it is a transmission issue. Mainly in the valve body area. There are a couple valves that wear out. (boost valve and 1-2 transition) also the pump shaft. Or sometimes the VSS(vehicle speed sensor) is bad and you will still have a speedometer but the computer doesn't see a signal. It really is amazing how well these trans works with no signal. Anyways, you need to monitor the data stream with a scanner. If you have VSS then problem in valve body. Its not always a good idea to just go into the valve body cause its usally about a $500 to $800 repair. Then in the next year or two when the rest of the transmission fails your gonna pay to overhaul the valve body again along with trans overhaul. As the burnt parts have now contaminated it. Its a hard call sometimes. Go see a real transmission shop!!

Stay cool.

[brooster42]

Actually Rex, the left motor mount ODES sometimes go bad. I replaced the one on my 98 Taurus. It didn't allow the engine to bounce around, but instead, gave the car a rough feel.....vibration in the floor pan and the accelerator pedal. I didn't even know it was broken until I dropped the sub-frame to service the trans valve body. When I removed it, it was 2 pieces instead of 1. The ruber had cracked all the way around and it let the weight sit on the "hard" parts, rather than being cushioned by rubber. The change in driving feel was substantial. I actually like driving the car now.

[brooster42]

Errr....ahhhh......DOES, not ODES. Duh....

[mynustheckat]

Well.....

To update my situation; We brought it back to the mechanic who replaced the motor mounts. He did this manipulative salesman skit about how the engine is supposed to lurch when put into gear. He blamed it on the transmission. So we took it to a Ford dealer and they wouldn't gives us a diagnosis unless we gave them 80 bucks. They said a new tranny was 4 grand. So we took it to a tranny shop. The owner was down to earth and seemed pretty honest. He gave us a flush (first one in 140K) and sent us on our way. He said the Ford transmission suck in the first place but ours will last a few more years.

Next free day I have I am going to replace the Left mount as the plastic is cracked and rust pours out of it. I know the basics about car repair and it is obvious the left one was the mount at fault.

Cars just suck in general. We bomb other countrys to get their oil, killing our soldiers and their civilians. The pollution from the exhuast is seriously damaging our planet. You buy a new car from these assholes too lazy to work real jobs. Then when it breaks you bring it to a bunch of slimeballs ..