Recently, a vibration developed in the SDL that has me puzzled. At idle there's a fairly strong vibration of the entire cabin that lessens as engine speed increases and seems to disappear once engine speed exceeds 1200 RPM or so.

At first I assumed that I had lost an exhaust hanger or 2 as I have had that happen before and this 'felt' the same. A look under the belly didn't show any missing donuts but I did find a missing bolt and worn bushings on the exhaust clamp that mounts to the transmission so I replaced with new. Alas, this had no affect on the vibration.

Next suspect, engine mounts, were replaced with new. The right side was a bit collapsed but the new rubber did nothing to reduce the vibration. For the heck of it I also replaced the engine shocks and had the same result. Nada.

The transmission mount was also replaced with new. Same story, no affect on the vibration.

The engine starts and runs fine just as it always has and I don't see any visual indication of extraordinary vibration from the engine.

Chatting with my Indy mechanic he suggested that a cracked flex plate could be the cause but I have not yet taken the car by for a stethoscope check yet and frankly am hoping to find a simpler answer..................

He also suggested popping off the serpintine belt to see if by chance there's a flaky bearing in the PS pump or something along those lines. Haven't tried that yet.

Any suggestions where to look next? Are there other possible engine to body contact points I have overlooked?

__________________
Joe

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1980 300SD - 495k miles - 'The Ambassador'
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Former Family Members
95 C280
73 280SEL
90 300D
87 300SDL (X2)
86 560SEL
84 300D
80 300SD

take off the belt and see if the noise departs.
the tensioner pivot and pulley are known to cause odd noises.

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

This is not a noise. It's a solid vibration of the vehicle. The pivot and pulley are nice and quiet.

__________________
Joe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1980 300SD - 495k miles - 'The Ambassador'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Former Family Members
95 C280
73 280SEL
90 300D
87 300SDL (X2)
86 560SEL
84 300D
80 300SD

is it misfiring?