yeah, i did that, and there does seem to be a nice amount of 'lift' or whatever you call it.

how much should the engine move?

 

I would not expect a motor mount to cause this type of issue unless it was broken. But I'd say anything more than an inch of movement at the mount would be cause for a closer look.

 

update:

well, my hopes weren't high, but the new motor mounts did NOTHING at all for the shaking while starting.

i know that it definitely didn't happen before i got the clutch / flywheel changed, and i know it could be caused by some mis-alignment of the clutch disk and what not, but a friend suggested that perhaps it's just that the clutch is so new and so tight that it's just gripping far more than my old one was, so i'm not used to the feel, and also that this would kind of wear in?

or is it just a problem that will require removal of the tranny to investigate?

...or i could just live with it. it's just annoying as hell.


plus side: grinding when starting has been absent lately...*crosses fingers*

 

How much shake are you actually talking about in the shifter?

Also for the grinding issue for the starter, one thing that could of been happening is that the motor would actually start turning before it fully pops out. This can be cause by bad connections as the magnetic field around the solenoid isn't power full enough to bring it out fast enough or hard enough.

 

i would say the shake is variable. could be nearly nothing if i start out with either low revs or high revs, but if i'm somewhere where i'd NORMALLY start out (1500 rpms?) there's quite a bit of shake. maybe an inch to each side.

 

not sure why nobody has mentioned this one yet ... but there's a plastic/nylon ushing in the shifter area worth checking out maybe? If they dropped the transmission they would of loosed it up I would imagine so it might not be in place. Its only suppose to go in one way where there's a slot for a stud sticking out. Another thing too does the shifter always go back to center? If it doesn't its an indication of the spring that brings it back it either out of place or broken. This will also result in play of the shifter.

 

hey dj,

well, the shifter doesn't automatically go to center, there's a spring missing or something so that between the 1-2 area and the 3-4 area there's no resistance. problem is, that's not the main problem with the shaking, cause it's violent enough that it can shake the whole car.

i'm going to have to take it in to a shop for the electrical problem i had in another threat (new alternator, no charge) so maybe i'll ask them about that as well. i'm just thinking it's a problem with the clutch, unfortunately.

 

You know what carey, I have the same exact problem... the neutral area between 1-2 and 3-4 allows it to just kind of jiggle around; no resistance is lame (which causes me to miss gears occasionally ).

We have some problem in common, that's for sure.

 

Clutch chatter can be caused by: Worn mounts, surface glazing between flywheel, disc and pressure plate, oil contamination, tranny not fully bolted/torqued to engine, clutch disc is failing due to loose/cracking organic friction facing. Mis-alignment isn't possible unless there are loose tranny bolts. Worn marcels and springs in the disc are also a possibility

Does the point of pedal engagement vary from time to time? If so, replace the clutch master, slave and soft line in the hydraulic.

Grinding can also be an indication of bad contacts in the ignition switch.

 

haha wow that's a good list.

only things left from that that i haven't investigated myself are oil contamination and tranny not fully bolted to engine, since the clutch, flywheel and pp are all new (well, flywheel resurfaced). guess i'll take a look at those bolts and see if it's tightened down. thanks!

point of pedal engagement is constant. no loss of clutch fluid since i've had it.

@ esmith - yeah it's a bit eerie lol. oh well. hopefully you're having more luck with these problems than i am.

 

AHA! i was thinking this too. i've begun starting the car / turning the key a bit differently, so maybe that's what's been really working? no incidence of grinding for maybe a week+ now.