Help!

[chessboxer]

My girlfiend's got an 89 lx and sometimes, not all the time, when you take off from a dead stop it shakes really bad in the front end. If you take off like a turtle however, it is and doesnt shake. Also once you hit about 20 it stops doing it completely. She has an automatic and it only does this sometimes and only when its in about 1st gear before it shifts. It did it once or twice when stopping as well. I have no idea what is wrong, any one have any ideas? i believe the tranny is fuct, but i dont know exactly what. anyone?

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Could that be an engine mount? Mine car kinda shakes when I'm stopping I think it could be a mount too.

[chessboxer]

where exactly is the engine mount?

[zero.counter]

The engine mounts sound like a prime culprit. They normally have but two purposes besides being dangerous if they are broken sometimes causing involuntary acceleration, and even the jamming of the throttle in the open position which can lead to that kind of acceleration.
1) To help insulate the rest of the car from the engine's shaking and vibrations.

2) And most importantly, they position the engine and hold it in its proper place in the engine compartment so that it won't shift around, such as your case, causing the car to shake sometimes violently.

There is an easy diagnostic test to tell if you need motor mounts, which will require some assistance. The assistant will sit in the driver's seat with the engine running and the parking brake applied. They will depress the brake pedal and, at the same time, put the car in drive and give it some gas.

Next, you watch the engine compartment from the side. The engine will want to turn in the opposite direction. If the engine twists and lifts up by more than a couple of inches, the mounts are really broken. To check the mounts on the other side of the engine you perform the above steps with the transmission in reverse

Also, if you locate the mounts, they are easy to visually detect. The polyeurethane looks cracked.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Umm yeah I guess that's what is wrong with mine. At the Niagra Falls meet starter wiggled that dog bone looking mount and it was loose. And the bushing looked like its was in pretty bad shape. That's the easiest one to replace so check that one. It's kinda off the pass. side of the motor. It's pretty much a bar connecting the motor to the firewall.

[thundertank]

hey make sure you dont have an out of round front tire. sometimes when the tire starts to bubble it will cause this. my car was doing the same thing i also have an 89 LX. deffinantly check the front tires and make sure they arent out of round or bubbling up in a spot. it could be that or it could be the mounts. but mine was doing the same thing and it was the tire. good luck man! let us know!

[chessboxer]

Thanks for all the help everyone. It looks like it is the motor mounts after all. I will check the tire here in a few, but when we did the little partner test thing it looked like the engine was raising up about 2 inches and twisting a little bit as well. Hopefully my dad can fix it for free for her. SHe just got 4 new tires less than a year ago so i hope that its not htat. ANyways, thanks for all the help. Now i have to go get some glass put in my 93 accord, damn theives.