1996 Taurus engine movement!

[Bilko1448]

Hello,
I purchased a 1996 Taurus with only 54,000 miles on 11/23/08.
The right front tire was flat and I would guess it had been setting for some time, but not sure on the length of time. I got it on the road today and noticed the engine seems to be moving a lot in my opinion and around 40 MPH I hear quit a loud humming noise but seems to quite down past 50 MPH. I know this is kinda a vague description but any ideas to get me started.

[shorod]

Welcome to the forum!

What do you mean by "I got it on the road today and noticed the engine seems to be moving a lot?" Do you mean if the car is sitting still with the hood up the engine is shaking?

Not being able to hear the sound, I would guess the humming to be due to either bad tires or bad wheel bearings.

-Rod

[Bilko1448]

Originally Posted by shorod

Welcome to the forum!

What do you mean by "I got it on the road today and noticed the engine seems to be moving a lot?" Do you mean if the car is sitting still with the hood up the engine is shaking?

Not being able to hear the sound, I would guess the humming to be due to either bad tires or bad wheel bearings.

-Rod

Rod,
I got insurance and plates on it today and went for the first real drive. And I noticed the engine moving while sitting stationary and shifting through the gears and just seems to move more then what I believe it should. The tires are in great condition but I thought maybe the one that had been flat for some time might be making the noise but like I said it gets loud around 40 and seems to quiet down around 50. Also it feels like it pulls one way under hard acceleration can't remember which way it pulls. I got the car from a great great aunt and uncle that are in their 90's and they were the second owners and put less then 10,000 miles on it since 2002.

[shorod]

If it has bad engine and/or transmission mounts, that could explain the engine rocking and torque steer under acceleration.

The noise running down the road could be due to tires or wheel bearing. Closely inspect the tires for dry rotting. If you notice dry rotting, you really should consider replacing the tires anyway. If you have a shop mount, balance and install the tires, they may notice if you have loose suspension parts or a lot of play in the wheel bearings at the time of installation. If you go this route and the tires fix the noise, you probably had a flat spot on one from it sitting flat for so long. If the noise is there, you'll need to inspect the front suspension, steering and wheel bearings along with the rear wheel bearings.

-Rod

[Bilko1448]

Rod,
Later today after some turkey I am going to jack it up and get under there and check the motor/tranny mounts and see what I can come up with. And then look at the rest of the suspension and swap the front tires and see if the noise moves or not. I will report back and let you know what I come up with, thanks for your thoughts and time.

Mike

[Bilko1448]

Rod,
Just wanted to let you know I got it up on jack stands and promptly found the cause of the engine moving so much!! Yep you guessed it, on both sides where the body mounts to the frame is all rusted out. So now I don't know what is going to happen. It is a real clean car, runs great, and is low miles so is that something that you feel could be fixed by the right person? Thanks again for you help and time.

Mike

[shorod]

You may check with a local body shop to see if that's something they would be willing to try. If it's too bad, they'll likely let you know that it will either cost a huge amount of money or they won't be able to do it and consider the car safe. If it's not too bad, they may do it for relatively cheap.

Back when I had my first car, a 1988 Escort EXP, I had a similar issue where the uni-body split at the cradle. This caused some severe torque steer and pulling to one side during heavy braking. The local body shop welded it up for $65. That was around 1994.

-Rod