Hi Victor, Second opinions are an option, although be careful that you don't get charged a bunch for the inspection time. I do not know the practices up in your neck of the woods, but down here in California, dealership service departments charge to look at anything. You can find private garages that will do that basic kind of inspection for free.
It does not take long to diagnose bad motor mounts, so don't buy into any bull about how long it takes to check that out. For the repair itself, I do not know how much it should cost, because I do not know how Honda designs its motor mounts, assuming that is the confirmed diagnosis. However, once you know what the job is, it is then a simple matter to price shop, just call several shops and ask how much to replace the motor mounts on your specific make and model. For motor mounts, I would not be concerned about needing Honda factory parts, but I have also found strangely enough that after-market parts are not always cheaper than buying the factory parts. Oh yes, and motor mounts are not something that can be tightened, unless the problem is that the mounting bolts themselves are loose. It is possible that the bolts are loose, but not likely. Most often, the motor mounts are just worn, meaning that the rubber that they have, which isolates the motor from the frame, has just plain gotten tired, and it has more movement than it should. In the old days, motor mounts were nothing more than a slab of rubber bonded between two slabs of metal, each piece of metal having a bolt stud sticking out of it. So the motor would sit on this sandwich, rubber with metal bread, and that is what kept the engine in place, but stopped the vibration that would otherwise remove your dental fillings! The motor mounts on most modern cars are usually more complicated, but the purpose and basic principle is the same, holding the motor in place but with a way to isolate it from the car frame itself. For front wheel drive cars, at least the ones I have changed motor mounts on, the engine essentially hangs from two of the mounts, one at each end of the engine/transmission unit, and the third mount is on the side, and is there just to stop the engine from rotating. So here is probably way more than you ever cared to know about motor mounts. The symptoms you describe could be a number of problems, since anything that causes the motor to not run smoothly can cause a vibration type of feel. Best of luck and let us know how it turns out. Tim Ford ----- Original Message ----- From: Victor Gouveia To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2007 10:10 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Engine Question Hi Car buffs on the list, my wife drives a 1986 Honda Accord LX, and when she stops at a stop light or in traffic, the car shakes on and off. I would say that it was about to stall, but it never does. It just starts to shutter periodically, almost rhythmically. I took it to a mechanic, and he says that the engine mounts have become loose with time. He also advises that it's nothing to worry about. Is there a way to tighten those engine mounts so it doesn't shutter when we stop in traffic? Since he says it's nothing to worry about, I trust him on this, but I would like to get it fixed for my own peace of mind. The car does not do this when it is in idle, only when it's in drive and reverse. The car is an automatic four cylinder. Any suggestions? Any help would be appreciated. Victor Gouveia To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ Visit the archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ If you would like to join the Blind Computing list, then visit the following address for more information: http://jaws-users.com/mailman/listinfo/blind-computing_jaws-users.com For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
