95 E250 Drivetrain shakes under load

[n0superman]

I have a 95 e250 extended with a 4.9l I-6 and 150k miles on it...It just started shaking on the highway and it seemed to be related to the speed but now it shakes at any speed when I am accelerating even the slighest bit. As soon as I take my foot off the pedal it stops. Ever since I bought it I noticed the motor or some part of the drivetrain seems to shake when I start it up and this is exacerbated by the fact that it is hard to start sometimes. Basically when I am driving, the steering wheel, dashboard, and pretty much the whole van seem to be shaking. I am thinking motor mounts...anybody experienced this before?

[brbjim]

It could be that your engine mounts are shot or your tourqe converter may not be engaging all the way. you can test the tourqe converter by brake tourqing the vehicle and seeing if it shakes and while you do that watch the engine- none of the hoses and wires should be geting tight. if they do your engine mounts are shot. it could also be that your timing is off so check the timing with a timing light.

[n0superman]

Originally Posted by brbjim

It could be that your engine mounts are shot or your tourqe converter may not be engaging all the way. you can test the tourqe converter by brake tourqing the vehicle and seeing if it shakes and while you do that watch the engine- none of the hoses and wires should be geting tight. if they do your engine mounts are shot. it could also be that your timing is off so check the timing with a timing light.

Turns out it was the universal joint in the back. Two of the bearings werent getting grease and they rusted and disintigrated, the needle bearings had fallen out and the cap was jammed and started to crack. This caused the driveshaft to shift and be misaligned which caused the shaking. Took a couple hours and about $20 for the universal joint, not a bad deal.