...what could one expect, as far as noise, vibrations, or whatnot, if one of the 4 motor mounts on a 96 toyota corolla sedan were broken?

I took the car into a local Toyota dealership and they told me it was an engine mount that was causing the vibration on acceleration on flat pavement. The vibration only occurs in the front left wheel and it feels as though the tire is very badly balanced (but it IS balanced). I'm not sold on their answer and thought I would check in with you guys to see what your thoughts might be.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

Well I guess the question is what do you think it is? Seems like you have an idea of what it is and want someone to confirm it. The only reason why I say that is because you're doubting what the dealership told you. They've got the advantage because they've actually seen the car and made their diagnosis. I work at a dealer and can tell you that the techs AND service writers do NOT like to be wrong. Maybe you can post pics of the bad mount?

 

Well, here's the story behind it. I moved to Seattle at the end of May but before I left I had two tires replaces because they were balding and my alignment was out of whack. I had the work done at Toyota of Tampa Bay.

After I got out here, I started to feel a vibration in the front left wheel and steering got really mushy when I would turn right. Tire wasn't flat, and the wheels were just balanced, so I was at a loss of what it could be. So I took the hub cap off and found a missing nut, and a nut that had seized half way down a stud that was grounded down (apparently putting a wrong thread nut on - probably the same nut). Which I know for a fact was NOT there before Toyota worked on it. The vibration was coming from the fact I only had two nuts holding the damn thing on and they were both on the same side of the wheel. So the wheel was bascially moving about on the axle because it wasn't completed tightened down.

I had the Toyota dealership up here replace the studs and asked them to inspect the axle to make sure nothing got broke or warped from that incident.
About three weeks later I started to get a different vibration, the kind I described above.

So I took it back in, they bascially told me the vibration from the stud issue broke the top mount of the left strut from the strut mount. I was skeptical of that diagnosis and it took them about 45 minutes to explain it to me with spare parts from another car this happened to that was in the shop a day earlier. So after much hesitation I said yes.

They called and said my car was fixed. The tech took it on a test drive and the issue was gone. I went and picked it up, got home and then went back out again to get groceries and the issue came back again.

I took it back the next day and the service writer I had literally saw me and bolted off somewhere. Which is fine cause I know the Service Manager from when I worked for Lexus a few years ago. I took him on a drive and agreed there was no possible way that the tech could have missed that sound.

They basically told me I could have the struts and strut mounts and get what I paid in a credit towards whatever the actual issue is and get the difference back. I gave them the okay to proceed with the engine mounts cause that work is about half that of replacing the struts, so if anything I get half my money back and free struts.

They've had my car two weeks (when I posted this thread) and they JUST called me yesterday and said it was done. Eventhough they had the parts already in stock. I'm really skeptical of the issue now since it took them two weeks to do a three hour job.

I personally think it's the bearings in the front left axle myself. I guess we'll see this next week when I go to pick it up. If anything, I do know the dealership owner. I used to work with him personally when I worked for Lexus because he also owns that dealership as well.

 

So low and behold, I picked the car up on Monday. Car seemed to be okay, would hear an occasional click or squeek. Wasn't the same sound as before, and the noise/rattle/clanking was gone. The next day (yesterday), I'm driving to the store and BAM! issue is back again.

I took it back into the dealership again this morning. The first service advisor I had came out and was hoping to god it wasn't the same issue and was hoping I just forgot to have the oil change done at the same time. The service manager came around the corner about a few seconds later. He immediately saw me in the service drive and came over. No emotion on his face, head lowered, asked politely and hesitantly why I was back.

So now maybe they might actually inspect the damned axle like I had suggested 26 days ago and see if it's the bearings that are bad. I should hear back tomorrow or the day after what they think the issue is now.

If this keeps up, I should have everything replace on the car somewhere around Labor day weekend. It sure will up the resale value, thats for sure. Maybe I should take it in after it gets fixed and use it as a trade in.

Salesman: "Car is only worth $2000"
Myself: "Well this dealership just dumped $5000 into it trying to fix an issue with the front left tire. It only took them three months to find a dead cat stuck in the engine subassembly that was causing the issue."
Salesman: "Uh huh..."

 

cliff notes?

if one mount is broken go to the junkyard and find a replacement or buy another one from autozone or something. it really depends on what mount it is. you could poly the front and rear mount and i dont think you would have anymore trouble with it.

 

I'd do the work myself if I had the tools and the time.

The dealership called today, gave the car to a different tech. He found the issue with the front left axle and hub. It appears the tech drove it around for an hour after tightening down the retaining nut on the hub and the issue went away. The spline evidently is all worn and chewed up, so they're replacing it for free since this is the third time back for the same issue.

Looks like I might actually have the issue fixed this time!

 

mounts dont cause that kinda issues, and I woulda bene pissed at 3 weeks to replace, 3 of those are cake to change