Is this ENGINE MOUNT problem?

[iskoos]

My engine shakes alot especially when it comes to stop and when it is on Drive with brakes on. If I put it in neutral, it feels better but still not that smooth. If I turn the A/C on, or if I start turning the steering wheel, it gets worse. And the level of vibration/shake changes time to time. Somedays it is managable and somedays, it gets so bad that I would put it in neutral.

A little background the car is 95 Contour GL auto Zetec @ 170k.
When I bought it 10 years ago, I had vibration issue and a mechanic friend replaced the rear(by the firewall) engine mount. It helped but not that much. Then in a friend's garage we changed the front mount(by the radiator). Changing the front mount made a good improvement. Both mounth used were OEM. But this was about 5 years ago. Now I started dealing with excessive vibration for the past year and it is getting worse.

The problem is that there are 4 mounts and parts itselft would be $500+

 

[Lord Stanley]

Okay, just a technicality here, but there are not four motor mounts... There are only two motor mounts; one is by the coolant tank an the other is by the air filter box... The two "mounts" that you have replaced in the past are called roll resistors...

Does your engine shake or does it buck? I know with my MTX, if I leave it in gear when coming to a stop and the revs get down to like 1,500 the engine will normally start bucking because my two roll resistors are bad...

 

[amc49]

Sounds like a mount. You gotta get in there and check them out. Sometimes the replacement ones don't last so long. Just because someone told you they were OEM don't buy it unless you saw the box, a Ford dealer by me routinely subs generic lower cost parts and doesn't hesitate to charge the official Ford price and claim it's Ford quality part. It's lie city there.

 

[iskoos]

Okay, just a technicality here, but there are not four motor mounts... There are only two motor mounts; one is by the coolant tank an the other is by the air filter box... The two "mounts" that you have replaced in the past are called roll resistors...

Does your engine shake or does it buck? I know with my MTX, if I leave it in gear when coming to a stop and the revs get down to like 1,500 the engine will normally start bucking because my two roll resistors are bad...

Well some people go even a bit further and call the one by the air filter box as tranny mount since it is attached to transmisson(auto in my case).
I used the generic term engine mounts. But thanks for the info. I heard about roll resisters but didn't know what they were. Now that you mentioned and it makes sense total becase both of those I replaced were very similar to each other: a round metal frame and a rubber insert.
Yes, I did replace both of these in the past and the real difference came after replacing the front one. (Maybe because both needed to be replaced for a real result)

Does my car shake or buck? It is hard to answer. I cannot say one or the other only. I guess a bit of both. I don't know... Like I said it changes. It gets worse sometimes and other times it feels much better but never perfect. It is most felt at stops while in gear but it is also not very smooth at cruise speed. Say you are going at 50mph even if the road is super smooth, it gives you the feeling you are driving on a bad road.

 

[iskoos]

Sounds like a mount. You gotta get in there and check them out. Sometimes the replacement ones don't last so long. Just because someone told you they were OEM don't buy it unless you saw the box, a Ford dealer by me routinely subs generic lower cost parts and doesn't hesitate to charge the official Ford price and claim it's Ford quality part. It's lie city there.

amc, I got both from the dealer and one(the front one) looked OEM. It was the same as the one I pulled out. But the rear one looked very different. It had a shiny light aluminum frame as opposed to the heavy cast iron looking frame. And of course I paid the catalog price.
At the time I didn't know I could buy some of these as aftermarket, so I went to dealer directly.

Now I want to take care of this issue but how do you check it? How do you make sure it is the mount before throwing money on it?

 

[BrApple]

Okay, just a technicality here, but there are not four motor mounts... There are only two motor mounts; one is by the coolant tank an the other is by the air filter box... The two "mounts" that you have replaced in the past are called roll resistors...

actually if you want to be technical about it there is only one engine mount, on the passanger side. the mount on the drivers side is the trans mount since it bolts to the trans. the other two are roll resitrictors.

it could be a mount or maybe its something with the t/c. not really sure.