Vibration in my daughter's Focus

[mcate]

Hey guys,
There's a weird vibration coming from my daughter's 2000 Focus. It feels like the exhaust is touching the floorboard. I got underneath it today, & I don't think it's the exhaust. The exhaust system is hung really weird. There's a piece of flexible pipe coming off the manifold, & from there on back the whole thing hangs loose with lots of play. It seems to be designed that way. Anyway, the vibration is worse when I 1st start it up, & for 10 minutes or so. After that it's not nearly as noticeable. Any ideas?

[frdlvr30]

Sohc or dohc??? Im thinking engine mount grounding out at certain cold idle rpm. Hot idle rpm is gonna be a little lower? Sohc 2.ol is nothing more than a old escort 1.9l with a few head upgrades. The dohc zetec is a much smoother(and more power full) engine. The sohc is probably more durable, but they do idle rough. The escorts used to have a 8oz weight mounted under the air bag in the steering wheel to keep them from vibrating so badly at hot idle in gear. Id suggest loosening the front motor mount and see what you got. You could also try nuetralizing the exhuast system. Take it loose from the manifold and somewhere else down stream, wiggle it around a little and then tighten it back up....Just a few simple thoughts...Dave

[mcate]

Thanks, Dave. It's just an SOHC. I've got the ESP Base Care plan on it that expires in January. I was thinking motor mount, but I'm not sure whether they're covered with the base care plan. It doesn't just vibrate at idle. It does it at pretty much all rpm's until the car gets good & warm, like 10 minutes or so of driving.

[Toxic281]

the passenger motor mount and the trans mount located on the driver side were always a problem when I was at the dealer. the motor mount was liquid filled if i remember correctly.

[mcate]

How do I know if the motor mount is bad? Can it easily be visually ID'd? Same with the trans mount.

[frdlvr30]

If its broken(obviously), if not then try loosening them up one at a time and rechecking. You said it had basecare warranty, which im pretty sure doesnt cover motor mounts, right?

[frdlvr30]

If you dont know, i can make a phone call and find out about the mounts for you...I cant personally remember since it been a couple years since i left the dealer.

[mcate]

No, base care doesn't cover motor mounts. The car has also got an occasional slip when upshifting into 2nd or 3rd, so I'm planning on taking it in for that. I thought I might try to get them to see if they can ID which mount is bad, then I'll change it myself.

[mcate]

John said that the motor mounts are liquid filled, & I was wondering if they would look "deflated" or something if the liquid was gone.

[birds4us]

Or maybe you could see fluid leaking or seeping out, or where it had leaked out.

[mcate]

I didn't notice any leakage the last time I looked at it. I've got another Focus, an '04, that I can compare side-by-side with. The problem is having BOTH cars at home at the same time!

[frdlvr30]

No, they wont look deflated. If they are bad they will seperate in the center and the hydraulic vibration dampining fluid will leak out. Any one out there thats owned a ford taurus for any length of time knows all about this. This doesnt mean that you can visually see m mount problems either. Ive changed quite a few sets that were causing abnormal vibration and transmitting engine harmonics into the passenger compartment for no apparent reason...(1997-1998 4.0l sohc explorers had this problem). Ive had great sucess with nuetralizing the exhaust first in the past. Especially since they wont have to remove the exhaust to overhaul the tranny. The focus can actually be overhauled, with exception of the convertor, while still in the car. This is due to the fact that they have no subframe and everything is wideopen. However they will never admit that, i never did when i was working on them. If the ford man found out they'd cut the warranty labor time on that too. I used to always get them from hertz and budget rent-a-car with the planetarys ripped out of them...You know how they drive rentals!!! Dave

[Toxic281]

ya mike the weird thing about the engine mount is that it can be defective and still look new. Is that the focus I did the fuel pump recall on? Give me a call and I can swing out there and look at it

[mcate]

Yep, same car John. I've had it parked in the library parking lot behind the house with "For Sale" signs in it for a few weeks now. A guy called me today VERY interested in it. It's the 2nd time he's called, so I feel pretty good about it. He's coming over tomorrow afternoon to look at it. I told him about the vibration, & that I'll have it taken care of shortly. If you want to swing by tomorrow after work or Saturday that'd be great. I'm actually OFF from Best Buy tomorrow AND Saturday! I work tonight, so I'll call you tomorrow.

[mcate]

Well, John looked at it this afternoon & thinks it's the front right motor mount.
Pep Boys doesn't have it & can't get it.
Same with Advance.
Auto Zone doesn't have it but could special order it.
Same with Napa.
Car Quest on Mil Hwy doesn't have it, but their store on First Colonial has ONE.
Unfortunately they're closed until Monday.

Looks like this ain't my weekend to change a motor mount!

[Roadhawg]

Well, John looked at it this afternoon & thinks it's the front right motor mount.

Wow! ........................ a rare John sighting

[mcate]

Yep, his SC got vandalized. They broke into it at his place of work & trashed it. Looks like the business owner's insurance is gonna take pretty good care of things.

[mcate]

Drove over to Car Quest by Oceana & picked up the motor mount. Problem solved. Thanx for the advice, guys. Never really had to work on a front wheel drive puddle jumper before!

[nickleman60]

at least you don't have to look past the firewall for anything on a fwd....lol