engine mount question, lots of vibration *PIC*

[hootymo]

hi guys, can someone take a look at this pic and possibly tell me why im getting bad vibration when idling and just in general? it definitely feels like an engine mount, and the engine is clearly tilted in the pic, anyone know which mount is bad so i know ahead of time so i can get the right one? my 88 never idled bad at all and it was an lx-i like this, both 5-spds too. this ones an 87. thanks!

http://www.diplomathotel.info/accord/DSCF0001.JPG

[my86dx4dr]

holy crap thats one hell of a dirty bay.
Do you really need 2 alarm sirens?

[BlueBead]

from the slope I'd say its one of the tranny mounts.... if you had pics of each mount that would help.
So far I haven't done any 3G mounts, but they usually break out around the center of the rubber
maybe all of that dirt was too heavy for the mounts!

[frankie89]

first off it seems ur engine is about to fall off and get runned over second u need 2 clean the engine to see what u working wit. the vibration could b either an engine mount or just poor maintnence for example = bad plugs,bad cap&rotor, bad fuel mixture, but form da pic it might b your engine mount. thats my opinion. but i aint no mechanic..

[NXRacer]

looks like your front motor mount by the radiator is broke and your driver side mount is boke or braking.

[AccordEpicenter]

looks like your bottom mount and front and or rear tranny mount are either not there or fuxored...

[Strugglebucket]

i'm thinking the bottom mount, too. if it's been like that for a while the rear mount will be tearing and maybe the side as well.

[hootymo]

lol yea i know its a bit dirty i just got the car yesterday and havent cleaned it up yet :uh: but i definitely know its the mounts, you think its multiple mounts and not just one? also, anyone have a pic or diagram of where all the mounts are located so it would beasier to find and diagnose the bad mount? thanks for all the quick replies!

[BlueBead]

do you have Pauls manual yet? Download it here: http://www.pauldesign.ru/honda/shopmanual.html
get the PDF one....(86) and look at pgs 5-8/5-9
The zipped pictures are the same
here is a part diagram from majestic:
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/catimgs/13SE00_J35.gif
you'll probably need to replace one or all of #3,#8,& #2
You can attempt to fix #3 and #8 using this idea:
http://www.3geez.com/showthread.php?t=40574
But #2 I'd buy new.. I beleive that one is oil filled

[A20A1]

Dang I just checked my front mount by the radiator and the nut was loose. :(

[hootymo]

yea i have pauls manual, but couldnt find much of anything about the engine mounts. this looks good though, now being such a compact engine bay like we have in our cars, how easy are these to get to? cuz i have very limited tools and definitely dont have an engine hoist or anything, so i can imagine this might be a bit of a challenge for me. also its pretty cold out there so i dont want to be outside longer than i have to. thanks!

[snow_man_20]

looks funky, never seen a mount brake before, i have seen them cracked and the rubber braking in your hands after doing a motor swap but never with the motor still in the bay. i bet that motor bounces all over the place when you try to drive it, every shift a big culunk.

[hootymo]

actually shifts fairly well, a little rough but not bad. ive never seen anything like that before either... should i be worried its something worse?

[A20A1]

You'd need a jack and jack stands... the more the merrier.

basicly you lift the engine so it's no longer putting weight on the mount you're replacing then replace the mount one at a time... you probably only have one broken mount but the others might not be in good shape if you've been drivng around like that for a while...

I actually like the car ramps that you drive up onto so you can change the oil... I'd use tose then lift up the motor and place the jack stand under the motor in a few places to hold it steady...

the car ramps are usually about $30 jack stands are fairly cheap too.

When I replaced my motor I had to use jack strands cause I needed to remove the axles. so I couldn't use the tires to support the car any more.
http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4013
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[A20A1]

Just don't go under the car with a jack as the only thing supporting the weight... jacks can slide or tilt and then whatever it is supporting may fall on you. So you need stands.

[snow_man_20]

You'd need a jack and jack stands... the more the merrier.

basicly you lift the engine so it's no longer putting weight on the mount you're replacing then replace the mount one at a time... you probably only have one broken mount but the others might not be in good shape if you've been drivng around like that for a while...

I actually like the car ramps that you drive up onto so you can change the oil... I'd use tose then lift up the motor and place the jack stand under the motor in a few places to hold it steady...

the car ramps are usually about $30 jack stands are fairly cheap too.

When I replaced my motor I had to use jack strands cause I needed to remove the axles. so I couldn't use the tires to support the car any more.
http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4013
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dude that pick looks like a widowmaker!

[snow_man_20]

i would try to use jackstands on the frame and rent or barow a cherry picker

[A20A1]

Widowmaker?

[BlueBead]

killer.. ie gonna fall on yo head

[snow_man_20]

the car looks a little slanted and looks like it might fall, smashing the person under it. It just don't look safe to me.

Widow, A woman whose husband has died.---widower

so you have a widowmaker :D

[snow_man_20]

killer.. ie gonna fall on yo head

damit, you beat me to it! :lol:

[hootymo]

I actually like the car ramps that you drive up onto so you can change the oil... I'd use tose then lift up the motor and place the jack stand under the motor in a few places to hold it steady...

the car ramps are usually about $30 jack stands are fairly cheap too.

cool i have a set of ramps and jackstands, that sounds like a good idea. i will have to be careful too when jacking up the engine that i dont dent the oil pan, ill put a piece of wood in there to protect it. thanks for all the help guys! now i just have to un-bury my parts car out of the snow to take the mount off that one and go to it.

[A20A1]

killer.. ie gonna fall on yo head

lol, no way I'm so clostraphopic under cars.... I jumped around and pushed on the car just to make sure it wouldn't fall... it just looks odd cause the whole driveway is slanted... which is why my engine rolled down the driveway when I put it on the cherrypicker. Someone has a quote I made of that incident in theri sig.

[shepherd79]

looks like your front motor mount by the radiator is broke and your driver side mount is boke or braking.

i have to agree. your front mount is shot.
replace the front mount and rear mount at the same time to make sure that this problem won't happen again.

[Strugglebucket]

hey if you replace more than one mount it might be worth it to re-torque all of the mounts. honda has a very specific sequence for tightening the mounts to give the best overall bushing alignment and vibration damping.

there is a diagram in the shop manual that shows the order. it's in the, uhhhhhh...'89 supplement i think.

[NXRacer]

looks funky, never seen a mount brake before,
when i did the motor swap on my old coupe, my front mount was broken clean in half.

[danronian]

Before you jack up the engine at all you'll need to loosen all of the mounts. My tranny mount bolts wouldn't come loose and I ended up not being able to replace the front mount, the rear and side mounts could have come out but the front one required the bottom mount to be loosened. THis spring I'm going to clean all the grease off and heat the bolts so they can come off and hopefully get that mount in and the rest filled with polyurathane (which is an alternative to buying new mounts since they cost much more than a tube of sealer).

[hootymo]

well i found out why the engine was tilted. wasnt the mounts at all, the front frame is bent bad and cracked! thats also why the alignment is way off, because that torsoin bar thing that is up there goes into a part of the frame that is bent. lets just say i took that car off the road as quick as i put it on the road. anyone want a good running 87 lx-i with a bent frame?

[frankie89]

damn!! thats some fu@ked up luck!!!

[AccordEpicenter]

just get another front beam... should take maybe less than an hour to change if youre good

[hootymo]

seriously? could i take the one off my lx and put it on the lxi? how hard is that? got any pics to help me out? like is it just bolts and such or do i need to remove the front bumper and shit too?

[snow_man_20]

well i found out why the engine was tilted. wasnt the mounts at all, the front frame is bent bad and cracked! thats also why the alignment is way off, because that torsoin bar thing that is up there goes into a part of the frame that is bent. lets just say i took that car off the road as quick as i put it on the road. anyone want a good running 87 lx-i with a bent frame?

wow, i just read this and that sucks. well it sounds like it's going to be a little harder to fix but not too much i hope. I don't have any pics. but if the lx and the lxi are the 87s (same year) then thay will change over, (even if there not the same year thay should fit) if not you could get one from a junk yard and pick one up. good luck

[hootymo]

yup they are both 87s, just unbolting and bolting shit? doesnt the front thing hold the engine in?? im scared...

[BlueBead]

You should be able to use the parts off of your Lx, but if its as bad as it sounds you might have to rip the front end apart to get them swapped.
There is a frame repair chart in the e-manual, but you might be better off posting some pics so we know exactly what you are talking about
G'luck man

[hootymo]

hmm ill try to take some. it might be better that way, that way u guys can tell me what im in for :(

[snow_man_20]

a headache and a car that drives, picks would be nice but i would say to remove everything that is going to be in the way and i would use a motor jack that goes across the the top and holds your motor up. i wish i had a pick of one, it sits across the engine bay on the inside fenders and holds the motor in the middle.

[hootymo]

so wait a minute the motor DOES sit on that front beam? its just the front mount that sits on it though right, so i can just take that mount off temporarily and replace the front beam and put it back on? i really dont want to remove the front bumper i hate taking off bumpers, seriously do you guys think this is worth it to take the one off the lx and put it on the lxi? cuz its cold out and i dont want to freeze my ass off for nothing :sad2:

[hootymo]

bumpity bump bump... any and all help would be appreciated, its gonna be nice out the next few days so i gotta know if this is something that is do able or not. thanks