I've been trying to hunt down the causes of my car being very sloppy to drive. Changing between gears is not crispy and can sometimes be difficult, I get a very annoying wheel hops in 1st gear if I let the clutch out a little too quick - feels like the whole rear end shudders similar to when a car bunny hops.

Anyway someone suggest my motor mounts were toast. Today I popped the hood and standing on the side of the car I rocked the engine back and forth. No surprise there was movement there.

Is it normal to move like this or should the engine be rock solid and stiff?

 

You shouldn't be able to move it with your hands.

 

Should be solid. Have you checked the motor mounts out Leighton? Your motor mounts could be soft causing your engine to shake.

 

There are 3 things that restrain the engine.
1) motor mounts
2) diff mounts
3) powerplant frame.

Given what you describe I think you should look at motor mounts.

 

I would trace the problem backwards too though, bad motor mounts can quickly lead to a cracked PPF and worn diff. mount. I had a similar problem and was told to replacec my motor mounts, and I did and it cleaned it up alot, however the crack in the PPF that I didn't knkow was there kept getting worse, because it just transfered the problem to the weakest point in the driveline. I bought motor mounts from Banzai racing for $150...shipped and installed them in 2 hours, and bought a used PPF for $60.00 shipped and got it inistalled in less than 30 min...now the car is solid all the way back...Fix these, you'll be glad you did...

 

A cracked powerplant frame will cause vibrations, and shakings of the transmission, but its not enough to shake the engine as described... i'm heading towards motor mounts. Jack the car up and compare the condition of the mounts.

 

i think its pretty obvious that its the engine mounts if it rocks abit. Ive heard about the cracked PPF too, mite be good to fix this too.

 

I was looking at the Banzai motor mounts but I'm a little confused. Can you purchase just the mounts on their own? Or do you need to send in your current ones and get them swapped?

Obviously sending something over to the States is a bit of a hassle.

 

The original drivers side mount is aluminum. It is weak, and is prone to failure. Mazda later changed to mount to a steel mount (like the passenger side). The passenger side mounts are pretty good, and are not likely to fail. You probably only need a new driver side mount.

My friend replaced both of his mounts with solid polyurethane mounts. Now the engine vibrates his entire car. It's awful . Don't get solid mounts.

 

So your saying that apart from OEM, there are no aftermarket mounts that don't increase noticeable vibration to the car?

 

that sucks dude...is this an fd you just bought?

 

I didn't say that. Read it again. I said what I said.

 

Get new motor mounts ,check the ppf and the dif bushings then get a Garfinkle Engine Torque Brace to keep the motor mounts from stressing . Then you will not miss 3rd gear and screw 5 th .

 

I have a Garfinkle Torque brace if you are looking for one. PM me if needed.

 

Garfinkle, you'd get much more business if you have a web front. Heck, I would have ordered one of your engine braces months ago if you had one up.

 

Ok I've ordered new motor mounts from Banzai and placed an order for the torque brace. I think with these two combinations it would be overkill, as suggested by Goodfellas in another thread.

For those who have looked the Banzai site, it mentions that you need to send in your current mounts to be used as a core. For future reference, people with 2 steel motor mounts don't need to do this and can simply purchase the mounts on their own. If one of your mounts is aluminum (as per earlier model FD's) then you need to send it in for them to fabricate the mounts on.

One last question, how do you check the PPF? I remember looking under there a few months back and trying to see if I can find any cracks. Obviously the PPF is black already which makes it a bit harder to see but it can be done without actually taking it off?