[silverbullit]

I was wondering if anyone knows how to adjust the motor mounts. My engine makes a loud boom whenever I put the car in reverse or drive when I'm parked. When the car had warranty they said it was the motor mounts and they adjusted them just fine. Do I just grab a wrench and wrench away or what. Thanks.

[tripleblack]

Originally Posted by silverbullit

I was wondering if anyone knows how to adjust the motor mounts. My engine makes a loud boom whenever I put the car in reverse or drive when I'm parked. When the car had warranty they said it was the motor mounts and they adjusted them just fine. Do I just grab a wrench and wrench away or what. Thanks.

The motor mounts on these cars (particularly the passenger side) tend to fail with high miles or strenuous acceleration - or just bad luck. There's no "adjustment" to fix this - the mounts would have to be replaced. Energy makes a good polyurethane set that bolts right in and should give better performance and longer life than the oe rubber jobs. I think the pair of motor mounts are around $75. Any garage can do this, or if you have a good set of jack stands and a jack, you can do it.

Before you go buying parts, you first need to determine if it is, indeed, the mounts, and just eyeballing what you can see from under the car with the full weight of the motor sitting there may not tell you much. Jacking up the motor (proper support is essential - a workshop Haynes manual would be a good idea about now) with a few blocks of wood just enough to see if you can spot the broken mount (strong flashlight needed here) should tell the tale. Pay particular attention to the rubber block sandwiched between the two metal mounts - it will be torn if it has failed.

The other culprit might well be the similar transmission mounts, which can also loosen up or fail. Energy makes replacements for them, too.

Finally, I think you might discover you have a bad differential or universal joint. The "motor mount" adjustment (which doesn't exist as a regular maintenance item) puzzles me - so I start to get paranoid. Rough treatment can make that old drivetrain out back real sick...

I'd take the car to a good garage and tell them your story and have them check it over. If its just the motor mounts, fine. If it ends up you need a u-joint or differential work, they can spot this.

Best of luck. Learn all you can about the car!

[tripleblack]

Just occurred to me you might have an automatic tranny.

Odds are that if you have an aod, this is the source of the "boom".

If you do have an aod, get the car to a good tranny shop (which, imo, is NOT Midas - Aamco or similar).

[FunkyBoss]

I am also assuming you have an auto, and IT'S A FORD, so get used to it. Every Ford I have owned with an auto has made some sort of noise when shifting, I have come to expect it. In fact, I would be worried if it didn't do it .

[silverbullit]

Well thanks for that excellent reply. I do acceleerate very aggresively from time to time so that may be the reason why they could go bad. But the rear end isn't abused that much. The condition was really bad a few months after I bought the car (((new))). So I think that it is the same problem. The problem went away after they adjusted it so thats why its so weird. Now that my Ac compresor is failing looks like Im going to have to spend more money on stupid broken partis instead of that suspension i wanted. Hmmm. I have a haynes ill look into jacking up the motor. And looking at the motor mounts. The car does it when the car is placed into drive when the torque of the motor hits the transimison and everything has a moment. Ahhh. I hope this is it on the car's quality problems.

[BlueStreak03]

A good preliminary check on the motor mounts would be to try and rock it back and forth by hand. Don't go jerking and pulling on valve covers or cooling hoses or anything like that. Find a good stron point on the engine somewhere and put your body weight behind it and see how far it moves. If it seems excessive, then proceed with what tripleblack said. Also, while you're under the car, grab the driveshaft and try to twist it by hand. If it rotates more than 20 degrees or so, then take a good look at your universal joint.