Anyone know about car engines and motor mounts?

Serendipity

If you can find a mechanic that allows you to bring your own parts, that would be good. Recently I found a very honest mechanic that is like that - he doesn't overcharge for parts and lets you bring your own parts for him to install.

MKZ

A quick and dirty fixed. Just insert a small hard rubber pieces(same material if it is possible) between the gap in mount. It will lasts for a few month. By the time being you can research more for cheap labors. As always try to get the genuine parts if it is possible. It usually happened in Diesel Engine which shakes a lot. Most of my Diesel cars has that problem. If you don't mind the sound, there is no danger. You could drive as long as the engine froze. IMO.

ohskigod

In this case I think the mechanic is playing you straight. he's gonna make a profit, its how he feeds his family.

500.00 for motor mounts in a mercedes seems to be on the low side (not too low mind you, but some I talked to have seen a little higher)

I hate to bag on ya, but you lament American car quality, so you bought a Mercedes ?!?!?! Dude, you must have missed a couple memos...>LOL

sucks2beme

European cars are crap for dependability. Sadly enough, they get high marks
in owner satisfaction. Odd paradox.
Cheap and honest aren't always the same thing. Neither is smart and
honest. Get the second opinion. Check parts prices. Part of the markup
may be the cost of getting the part there when neeeded. Those guys driving around doing parts runs aren't free. Also, if you get the killer deal on the part, and it's not the right one, that's an EXPENSIVE lesson. You're now
paying for his time and getting the right part.

heiney9

sucks2beme wrote: »

European cars are crap for dependability.

That's a pretty broad statement there. Perhaps not as ultra reliable as a Japanese compact car but I've owned European cars my whole life as well as my family and they have no more repairs than any other mark.

FWIW, older Mercedes are rock solid. No one can expect to drive a car especially an older car (no matter the make/model) and expect no repairs. If you had a brand new car every 2-3 years your cumulative car payment would be much much more than your repair payments (in general).

Car repairs always suck.............but it's part of car ownership.

H9

Early B.

After checking around on the various Mercedes forums, the quoted price for the motor mounts seems reasonable. However, I'll have to follow up and determine exactly what the quote entails. For instance, does it include replacing the transmission mount? I'm glad I inquired, followed some of the advice given here, and did some research.

Thanks for everyone's input.

heiney9

Early B. wrote: »

After checking around on the various Mercedes forums, the quoted price for the motor mounts seems reasonable. However, I'll have to follow up and determine exactly what the quote entails. For instance, does it include replacing the transmission mount? I'm glad I inquired, followed some of the advice given here, and did some research.

Thanks for everyone's input.

I know time is the least of what we have today but I have found utilizing the internet and the various forums, talk sites, rating sites, etc., etc., has been invaluable in gaining knowledge on a particular subject or problem. I am almost to a point where my internet connection is the most important thing I have. I do almost all my research, phone number look ups, event lookups, etc. on-line. I haven't used a conventional phone book in years.

By informing yourself a little bit about your problem really gives you piece of mind and a knowledge base with which to make a decision.

H9

ohskigod

heiney9 wrote: »

That's a pretty broad statement there.
H9

True, but that perception is fueled by the German Car Companies ABYSMAL reliability stats in recent years.

Mercedes, VW, BMW has been hammerred. actually dragged the German marque's general reliability ratings below American cars (as of a couple years ago I believe)

heiney9

It's very hard to change perception in the marketplace; it can be done but it takes the right plan and some time. I don't blame people for their general attitude towards European cars but they need have owned a few before passing judgment.

I have the same biases and perception of American cars and in some cases it's totally unfounded. The big thing for me is I just don't enjoy the styling (inside and out) or the feel of American cars that's ultimately what keeps me from buying them even though I have my biases against them (real or perceived).

Corvette; Viper, etc. are exceptions.

I used to HATE Saturns when they first came out. The styling and fit/finish and materials were crap. A very good friend she went from a Eclipse to a Saturn Vue and I have to say as many times as I have driven it and ridden in it; it's changed my whole perception of Saturn. I'm not a small SUV type person but if I needed a vehicle like this I might consider it. It's slow and boorish to drive. But it's comfortable has lots of features, quiet, solid well built and I don't mind the styling.

H9

billbillw

Early B. wrote: »

The real reason I brought this issue up is because I'm challenged with the prospect of spending $500 right now on my car. That's why I'm exploring other alternatives. I just spent almost $400 on the car in the past week. So I'm not trying to be a cheapskate here; I gotta deal with my own economic reality and juggle a few things that take precedent over the motor mounts. I obviously want to get the work done, and if I can get it done cheaper, then that's what I'm gonna do. If not, then I have some decisions to make. That's life. No big deal.

I know what you mean bro. My 8 year old VW has been nickel and diming me to death lately. I paid the sucka off in Aug '05 and have been payment free since then, but...cars cost money no matter what.

Since last February of last year:

Timing belt/water pump/main belt/tensioner/etc-$1300 (local VW mechanic)
CV joints/axles- $400+5 hours of my time installing them (mechanic wanted more than $800)
Plugs/air filter(s)- $60+ 2 hours of my time (mechanic wanted about $200)
Tie Rod ends-$50 for parts+$60 for an alignment+3 hours of my time. ($300 from Mechanic)
ABS Module-$150+shipping to rebuild my unit+4 hours of my time to uninstall and reinstall the unit. ($500+ from mechanic)

So you can see, despite doing my own repairs for the most part, keeping this car going is costing me quite a bit in time and money. Hopefully, when I'm done with this last job (the ABS unit), the car will be good for awhile, but I'm not going to count on that. I always look for the cheapest repair option. As long as I know I can do a particular job safely and I can find parts that are equal to OEM, I will do the job myself. If the job requires special tools or more than 5 hours to complete, I will take it somewhere to get done.

EDIT: For the record, I believe my VW has been very reliable. Its 8 y old, w / 120,000miles and it has never stranded me. I had a few repairs done early under warranty (leaky water pump, valve cover gaskets, and fixed and a couple of minor recalls), but other than that, nothing but brakes (only 1 set so far!), tires, oil/filters, and what is listed above. Everything still works perfect on the car, down to the last switch/dash light. The car still has excellent power and is very smooth.

heiney9

billbillw wrote: »

I know what you mean bro. My 8 year old VW has been nickel and diming me to death lately. I paid the sucka off in Aug '05 and have been payment free since then, but...cars cost money no matter what.

Since last February of last year:

Timing belt/water pump/main belt/tensioner/etc-$1300 (local VW mechanic)
CV joints/axles- $400+5 hours of my time installing them (mechanic wanted more than $800)
Plugs/air filter(s)- $60+ 2 hours of my time (mechanic wanted about $200)
Tie Rod ends-$50 for parts+$60 for an alignment+3 hours of my time. ($300 from Mechanic)
ABS Module-$150+shipping to rebuild my unit+4 hours of my time to uninstall and reinstall the unit. ($500+ from mechanic)

So you can see, despite doing my own repairs for the most part, keeping this car going is costing me quite a bit in time and money. Hopefully, when I'm done with this last job (the ABS unit), the car will be good for awhile, but I'm not going to count on that. I always look for the cheapest repair option. As long as I know I can do a particular job safely and I can find parts that are equal to OEM, I will do the job myself. If the job requires special tools or more than 5 hours to complete, I will take it somewhere to get done.

EDIT: For the record, I believe my VW has been very reliable. Its 8 y old, w / 120,000miles and it has never stranded me. I had a few repairs done early under warranty (leaky water pump, valve cover gaskets, and fixed and a couple of minor recalls), but other than that, nothing but brakes (only 1 set so far!), tires, oil/filters, and what is listed above. Everything still works perfect on the car, down to the last switch/dash light. The car still has excellent power and is very smooth.

1.8T I take it by the repairs? Parents have 2000 Passat 1.8T with 78K and they are now needing to do some repairs and my dad isn't happy because he's old skool and thinks cars should run forever and never break or need repairs. Their ABS ECM needs to be rebuilt as well as some other little nagging things. Overall it has been repair free other than maintenance items.

A note about the Bosch ABS ECM, because I've research the **** out of it for him. It's not specific to VW it's every American, Japanese, European car that uses a certain run of these Bosch supplied modules. They fail; PERIOD! It's not VW's fault. It's a design flaw in the pc board inside the unit.

My VR6 has had (2) things go wrong one is common; the coil pack. The other I was pissed about but got over it and that was the head gasket failed which required a complete engine removal as well as the tranny because while my mechanic was in there he checked all the clutch components, and the big one for higher mileage VR's is the the timing chain tensioner's and guide rails (upper and lower). You can only access the lower timing chain by pulling the trans.

So he killed essentially 3 birds with one stone (head gasket, clutch, timing chain components), as well as motor mounts and all associated parts with the removal of the engine and tranny. The car only had/has 92K on it. Some of the VR6's have had head gasket problems because of the "lifetime" G11 pentosin based coolant VW specified for my model year. They later found it's not "lifetime" and switched.

$325 for coil pack installed
$1295 for head gasket; engine removal; tranny removal; ball joint replacement; upper timing chain guide rail replacement; clutch lining/pressure plate/disc inspection and to put it all back together including replacing all other gaskets removed upon disassembling the engine also included removing a small amount of carbon build up.

H9

Sorry for the off mildly off topic discussion.

heiney9

Bill, PM me about your rebuilt ABS ECM. My Dad is looking to send his in soon and I'd like to see who you used and how it turned out. There are a few companies that do the rebuilds.

H9

billbillw

heiney9 wrote: »

1.8T I take it by the repairs? Parents have 2000 Passat 1.8T with 78K and they are now needing to do some repairs and my dad isn't happy because he's old skool and thinks cars should run forever and never break or need repairs. Their ABS ECM needs to be rebuilt as well as some other little nagging things. Overall it has been repair free other than maintenance items.

A note about the Bosch ABS ECM, because I've research the **** out of it for him. It's not specific to VW it's every American, Japanese, European car that uses a certain run of these Bosch supplied modules. They fail; PERIOD! It's not VW's fault. It's a design flaw in the pc board inside the unit.

My VR6 has had (2) things go wrong one is common; the coil pack. The other I was pissed about but got over it and that was the head gasket failed which required a complete engine removal as well as the tranny because while my mechanic was in there he checked all the clutch components, and the big one for higher mileage VR's is the the timing chain tensioner's and guide rails (upper and lower). You can only access the lower timing chain by pulling the trans.

So he killed essentially 3 birds with one stone (head gasket, clutch, timing chain components), as well as motor mounts and all associated parts with the removal of the engine and tranny. The car only had/has 92K on it. Some of the VR6's have had head gasket problems because of the "lifetime" G11 pentosin based coolant VW specified for my model year. They later found it's not "lifetime" and switched.

$325 for coil pack installed
$1295 for head gasket; engine removal; tranny removal; ball joint replacement; upper timing chain guide rail replacement; clutch lining/pressure plate/disc inspection and to put it all back together including replacing all other gaskets removed upon disassembling the engine also included removing a small amount of carbon build up.

H9

Sorry for the off mildly off topic discussion.

My VW has the 2.8 V6. Its been great. Sounds like you got off somewhat cheap on the head gasket considering all that your mechanic did. You should be good for another 100k on that motor. PM sent on the ABS module.

heiney9

billbillw wrote: »

My VW has the 2.8 V6. Its been great. Sounds like you got off somewhat cheap on the head gasket considering all that your mechanic did. You should be good for another 100k on that motor. PM sent on the ABS module.

So you have the 30V V6 (the same one Audi uses). Not the VR6.

Yes, I did get off easy as he really went the extra mile for me. Again he's a VW/Audi specialist and I've know him for 20 years. But he made a good point to me. He said as much as I hate paying to have the work done he hates to do it more than once even more. So he just went ahead and looked at the other items since almost the exact same procedure would need to be followed for the clutch replacement as well as the timing chains. He stated it's a **** to do and he only wants to tear it apart ONCE.

H9

billbillw

heiney9 wrote: »

So you have the 30V V6 (the same one Audi uses). Not the VR6.

Yes, I did get off easy as he really went the extra mile for me. Again he's a VW/Audi specialist and I've know him for 20 years. But he made a good point to me. He said as much as I hate paying to have the work done he hates to do it more than once even more. So he just went ahead and looked at the other items since almost the exact same procedure would need to be followed for the clutch replacement as well as the timing chains. He stated it's a **** to do and he only wants to tear it apart ONCE.

H9

Yep, its the longitudinal 5V/cylinder V6 that was developed by Audi. All of the 1998-2005 Passats used the Audi motors. I've been told that those Passats use more than 75% of the same parts as the Audio A4/A6. Same suspension, same drive train, same electronic, etc.

sucks2beme

heiney9 wrote: »

That's a pretty broad statement there. Perhaps not as ultra reliable as a Japanese compact car but I've owned European cars my whole life as well as my family and they have no more repairs than any other mark.
Car repairs always suck.............but it's part of car ownership.

H9

Son #1 is an extended automotive warranty underwriter. He has the stats. Now, that
does include the Jaguars, which, believe or not, improved greatly while under Ford. They
were pure crap until just a few years ago. Electrical problems galore.
The other half is that those repairs are far more expensive than most
Japanese cars, due to higher parts cost and higher labor rates.
Like all cars, some European cars are good. It varies greatly by brand
and model. But overall, U.S. cars are better made. That is why it drive me nuts
when someone driving a European car says it.
Honda and Toyota(especially LEXUS) are the quality standards right now. You want
economy and dependability, those are go to brands.

Regardless, car ownership is not cheap. I fix my own whenever possible.
I doesn't matter if the mechanic is honest or not, you will always save
a bundle DIY. That said, it's still a PITA.

Early B.

sucks2beme wrote: »

Son #1 is an extended automotive warranty underwriter. He has the stats.

Those stats may be skewed if European cars are on the road longer than American ones.

sucks2beme

Early B. wrote: »

Those stats may be skewed if European cars are on the road longer than American ones.

He only needs the first Six years. They don't care about them older,
since they extend auto warranties. It's their business to know what
breaks, or they take a beating on claims.
The old diesel Mercedes ran forever. Everything else might fall apart, but the
engines kept right on going!
My real point is, the cost of owning one isn't cheap, even after the
payments are done. I love the look and feel of many European cars, but
My money goes on the sure thing. I had a couple of VW Rabbits in my younger days.
Fun to drive, good luck under the hood.
My next car will be an import from Japan.

disneyjoe7

I fix my own cars also, but I don't use cheap parts. I firm believer in doing it once, and forget it. And I will never buy a rebuilt alternator, carburetor, or just about anything from Discount Auto, Autozon, Pep Boys. Look for supplies around who deliver parts to local garages in town. Napa, and dealer is needed at times as some parts are best from the OEM.

Other then that I think it's important to know something about a car, so you never feel you're at the mercy of the guy with a wrench in his hand.

sucks2beme

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

I fix my own cars also, but I don't use cheap parts. I firm believer in doing it once, and forget it. And I will never buy a rebuilt alternator, carburetor, or just about anything from Discount Auto, Autozon, Pep Boys. Look for supplies around who deliver parts to local garages in town. Napa, and dealer is needed at times as some parts are best from the OEM.

Other then that I think it's important to know something about a car, so you never feel you're at the mercy of the guy with a wrench in his hand.

Ditto on NAPA. It's a little more up front, better service and quality

PolkThug

Early B. wrote: »

I had to take my car to the shop because I needed a new crank position sensor.

Did this change the behavior of the car at all after they replaced the sensor?

candyliquor35m

PolkThug wrote: »

Did this change the behavior of the car at all after they replaced the sensor?

The only time I had to change one of these was on a 4 cyl saturn and the car wouldn't start. I knew the parts manager at the dealer and he told me this could be the problem. The part was $20 and I put it on myself.

As far as rebuilt alternators and starters from autozone, I prefer rebuilt over new and have never had a problem with them including the ones from autozone. Water pumps and AC compressors I prefer new over rebuilt.

disneyjoe7

candyliquor35m wrote: »

As far as rebuilt alternators and starters from autozone, I prefer rebuilt over new

All my cars are on the original Alternator and Starters some over 200k miles on them. When I ever head someone who replaced one of those from Autozone they continued to replaced them over and over again. I prefer to find a rebuilder shop who will rebuild the one I bring in, that's if I need one.

Only buy wax and at one time oil, but since I only use Amsoil now I don't even buy oil from them

Oh I was going to add don't even go in there as I even brought wax from wally world but can't say that as I bring my old oil there.

sucks2beme

candyliquor35m wrote: »

The only time I had to change one of these was on a 4 cyl saturn and the car wouldn't start. I knew the parts manager at the dealer and he told me this could be the problem. The part was $20 and I put it on myself.

I have had a timing sensor rubbing on the ring. I made the mistake of letting a Firestone guy do my AC(r12 crap). A couple of days later, it would die after about 15 minutes of running. No code, just quit. When this was discovered, my thoughts went immediately to fact the sensor was mounted a couple of inches away from the ac compressor. Since coming to Texas 16 years ago, about 50% of the time someone else works on my car, they break something somewhere else on my car. That's the main reason I'm a DIY guy.
The list goes on and on.
Once in a while I get stupid and take the car in. Then I am reminded why
I've got that big roll around in the garage.