Comfort in the car interior largely depends not only on properly made high-quality noise and vibration isolation. Even if there is such discomfort, it can still occur. Often motorists are faced with vibration of the motor. They can occur due to violations in the engine or as a result of breakdowns of the fasteners of the motor. Most often, car owners from AvtoVAZ complain about these problems, where sixteen-valve power units are installed. Car owners are faced with a strange knock in the engine compartment. He is fickle. It may appear, then disappear during acceleration or when driving on rough roads. The reason for this is a malfunction of the engine mount. Signs of this phenomenon are vibrations. But that's not all.
Typical causes of engine noise
If during the process of driving a car you can clearly hear the characteristic knock from under the hood, more precisely, from under the lower part of the engine or in the transmission area, if during the process of switching from 2nd to 4th gear the noise and vibration increase, then this may be associated with a malfunction in the suspension or with the engine. Depending on the condition of the road surface, these sounds may increase.
Engine mount
A pillow is a gasket between the engine and body elements. On Soviet-made cars, this product looked very simple. This is a durable rubber insert with places for fasteners. The modern support of the power unit can be in various designs. Allocate hydraulic pillows, rubber parts. Often, the engine and gearbox on vehicles with front-wheel drive are fixed using four or five of these supports. So, two of them are under the gearbox, and the rest are under the motor. The rubber mount may look different.
Often this is a cylinder made of steel or aluminum, inside of which there is a rubber silent block. Also found is the so-called lamp made of aluminum alloys with an insert of rubber.
Standard pillow layout
The right support is located on top and is attached to the side member of the car body. The front one is fixed most often on the motor beam, you can see it from below.
The rear cushion can be found fixed on the bottom or on the front subframe. As for the rear support, then on certain engines it may not exist at all. The
gearbox mount is common. It is installed closer to the rear of the motor.
Typical Malfunctions
If the car is operated for a long time under severe loads or temperature extremes, then all this does not affect the condition of the engine mounts in the best way. Over time, rubber loses its elasticity. In addition, the pillow may delaminate or crack, or even collapse. But it is worth considering that the service life of these parts is quite large - more than 100,000 km. The bearings are exposed to high load at the moment of starting the car and during braking. If the car owner likes to drive fast enough, with sharp jerks at the start, then the supports will not last their specified time. Among the typical malfunctions, one can also distinguish the breakdown of a metal aluminum bracket. This often happens when hitting obstacles. If there are oil leaks in the engine, then it will surely fall onto the rubber part of the support. This grease can corrode the silent block, and the support will fail. Also, the coolant does not affect the rubber part of the cushion in the best way. Breakdowns in the system must be immediately eliminated.
Do not
overheat the engine. In addition to the cracked cylinder head, also antifreeze from the expansion tank will fall on rubber parts. This will not affect their resource in the best way. It is important to remember that operating cars with broken supports is not only unpleasant, but in some cases unsafe.
How to determine that the unit support is out of order
Often, novice drivers do not know how to diagnose a malfunctioning engine mount. Signs of such a breakdown are often confused with something else. The first signal about the breakdown of the support is unpleasant sounds like clicks or knocks in the front of the car at the beginning of movement or when braking. Another sign is detected when driving on rough roads. Such a ride is necessarily accompanied by characteristic bumps in the front of the car. Also, a sudden appearance of vibration can tell about a malfunction of the pillow. Sometimes when driving on bad roads it can give the gearshift lever. This all indicates that there is a malfunction in the engine mount. These signs must be taken into account and then run a diagnosis. Sometimes it is very difficult to determine the breakdown of a support. Usually motorists attribute vibrations to the fact that the motor is not warm enough and often they simply do not pay due attention to them. A characteristic sign that tells about the failure of a part is a creak.
Diagnostic Methods
So, the owner believes that the engine mount has failed. Symptoms of malfunction are confirmed.
Next, you need to check the condition of the supports. In order to verify the integrity of these parts, you will need a jack and any supports - stumps made of wood, pallets, tires. Anything will do. It is also advisable to prepare a mount or a thick stick. Let's look at how to determine the malfunction of the engine mount. To do this, it is recommended to install the car on the most even surface. Then the machine must be lifted using a jack, then under the engine should be prepared support. It could be a log or something else. It is better to remove the jack.
Visual inspection
Check in what condition the support of the power unit, can be visually. To do this, the owner must lie under the car and inspect the supports. On examination, hardened rubber, cracks and gusts can be detected, delamination - this is actually a detachment of the metal from the rubber.
Backlash Check
This option is used if there is a malfunction of the engine mount, there are signs , but visually something could not be found. It is necessary to check the presence of backlash on the mounting of the engine mounts to the body.
For a full examination, experts recommend using a stick or a mount to shake the pillows from side to side. If you managed to find a big backlash in places where the engine mount is attached to the body, then you can perform an independent repair. But you can also go to the service station and fix the problem there.
Signs of failure of the engine mount "Lada Priora"
VAZ cars are practically no different from the cars of any other manufacturers. The same goes for the arrangement and arrangement of parts such as engine mountings. Symptoms (including the Priora) can be detected by the characteristic vibrations of the motor. This is manifested at idle and at higher speeds. The engine will twitch unnaturally.
This is a signal to the owner about the need to check the supports or replace them. The second sign is the twitching of the steering wheel. Fluctuations in the steering wheel depend on the frequency of operation of the power unit. Another about the failed pillows can say gearbox. When driving, gears will be knocked out.
Ford
Vibrations on the car body at idle and during movement indicate that the engine mountings are out of order or damaged. Symptoms (including Ford Focus 2) may be different. Ford Focus uses two supports. Right - hydraulic, left - transmission support. In case of damage, it is recommended to replace both elements.
Naturally, it is possible to replace only the damaged one and the vibrations will pass, however, the new support will be subjected to significantly greater loads and will fail much earlier than its term. As a replacement, it is worth purchasing original parts. Inexpensive analogues serve less than 20 thousand kilometers.
Mazda Demio
Signs of malfunction of the left pillow of the Mazda Demio engine are knocks and vibrations. The supports have a serious load. It is worthwhile to carefully monitor the condition of the pillows, a defective part can damage the motor. There are three pillows in this car: left, right and bottom. The second is located near the oil filler neck of the motor. Under the battery is the left support. The lower one is located directly opposite the junction of the engine and automatic transmission. The methods for diagnosing a malfunction in this case are the same as for any other cars - this is a visual inspection and check of backlash.
Engine mounts and automatic transmission
Novice car owners often wonder why the automatic transmission twitches when driving. There are many reasons for this. Can automatic transmission jump due to malfunctioning engine mountings? Yes maybe. Sometimes the behavior of the car changes. Therefore, if extraneous vibrations, shocks, hum, characteristic noise are noticed, then it is best to check the supports.