606 motor mount diagnosis??

[Carleton Hughes]

My '98 E300 turbo diesel has a vibration problem that has gotten progressively worse.

When cold it will vibrate so the whole car seems to shake,it will do this in park and drive,where it is worse.

When in reverse it almost disappears which leads me to conclude the passenger side engine mount is bad since it also goes away on righthand turns when the force is on the driver's side mount,same as in reverse.

Gets slightly better after it's warmed up.

What do you guys think?

[Carleton Hughes]

Bump,{or rather Hump}

[jcyuhn]

I can't convict the mounts based on your description of symptoms. But I do know from experience the mounts in the 210/om606 are prone to early failure. I had the mounts in my '98 replaced under warranty, so before the car was 4 years old. I think it had 35k or 40K miles at the time.

It's been a few years, but I think the symptom I had was a funny graunchy noise during hard left turns. I hadn't noticed any excess engine vibration or noise. But on getting the car back, engine vibration was noticably reduced.

- JimY

[Carleton Hughes]

Yeah, difficult to accuse the mounts,I mean they APPEAR ok,no sign of lost glycerine,but then I don't know what to look for,seems simple enough to replace them and the symptoms I've described incline me in that direction,anybody out there who has experience with this????

[foxden]

Did you ever resolve this problem? I have a similar situation with vibration stopped at idle in D, R not bad. Otherwise runs great. I wondered if it were mounts.

[Parrot of Doom]

Simple to diagnose. Remove the top bolts, loosen the bottom bolts, jack the engine up a couple of inches, and pull them out.

At your mileage, chances are they'll be dead. Replace both at the same time.

[sokoloff]

I agree - if they are original, replace them. Do a search here or on the diesel forum for motor mounts. Lots of recommendations to replace them.

Len

[TMAllison]

Shine a bright light down on top of the drivers side mount and see if the top most rubber ring stands 1/2" higher than the next lower ring or if any cracks are visible. You wont be able to see the top of the pass side mount from the top because of heat sheilds and the exhaust/turbo.

You can also click on Parrots recent posts and see photo's of good and bad mounts too I believe......sounds to me like you will find yours are bad.

[michakaveli]

I have the EXACT same symptoms on me E300. I bought the mounts but am waiting for an opportune moment to do them. Anyone know on the NA606's what is the easiest way to R&R the driver-side mount? The passenger-side looks straight forward.

[TMAllison]

Rick - The drivers (left) mount will be the one with the rubber boot.

It should be the same as the turbo. Pull bottom and top bolts (use a stubby rachet or be very careful of the starter motor leads), lift engine +1/4" and pull out. You will have to lift a bit higher to get the new ones in. Be careful not to lift too high and put stress on the exhaust or MAF connections and pay attention to fan clearance.

The Pass side (right) upper bolt can be gotten to from the top on the turbo.

[Bodgit2]

I cut down a Craftsman socket to fit. The socket was cheap and I zipped it off to half its height to fit on my lathe. The vibration is bad motor mounts for sure.
Steve

Replaced mine last week on a 94 300D.
Before replacement - up to ca 1000rpm the car shook like a mother cold and warm, , when breaking from 50 to 0 it seemed as if the front end was doing the pogo.
After replacement - It was so quiet and still I thought it had stalled.
Change the tranny mount as well
Cheers
Adrian

[chuck95e300d]

Time to replace the motor mounts. My car had the shakes...replaced the motors mounts...smooth sailing.

[Parrot of Doom]

Originally Posted by michakaveli

I have the EXACT same symptoms on me E300. I bought the mounts but am waiting for an opportune moment to do them. Anyone know on the NA606's what is the easiest way to R&R the driver-side mount? The passenger-side looks straight forward.

Get underneath the car. The bottom bolt is easily reached. Use a ring spanner to get the top bolt off. Angle the spanner downwards (presuming its an angled spanner) for good leverage, theres plenty of room.