96 es 3.5. expensive, but just got a great deal on all 8 cradle bushings and a new factory trans mount and all i can say is WOW after driving the car.the two rear lowers were mushrooming out the bottom, but by the time the mechanic showed me all eight-they were all toast-tranny mount was in bad shape too almost broken in half. car was shaking, clunking when put in gear, clunking on acceleration, bad on rough roads, bogged down while accelerating, and i was getting clicking that sounded like a bad driveaxle when making left turns that i could not figure out. well:
-car idles way smoother, almost as smooth as my 3.3 minivan which i do not even know is running
-no more rattling on bumpy roads
-no clunks when changing gears or at acceleration
-car takes off better from a stop
-and amazingly that damn clicking is gone when making left turns. many have been mystified by this noise that is not fixed after changing axles, bearings or ball joints. check those bushings, as they apparently can be a cause. looks like the looseness in the cradle can also absorb alot of energy as well, affecting the way the car takes off and can shake/shift the entire engine/trans when turning.
i got all this done for close to $400 in cash-all oem dealer parts-car rides almost like new.
Nice! Did u pay retail for your mounts/bushings or did ya get a deal? I have a new rear transmission mount waiting at work, I just need to put it in. I guess that is suppose to take care of a rough engagement when shifting from park or neutral, but I never really thought about the rest of the mounts... (d'uh) did u have the fluid filled ones? Apparently my LHS has the hydraulic or fluid or whatever they're called mounts, which are suppose to be a lot quieter and more smooth, but at the same time, more expensive... Great. lol
Anyways, thanks for the tip!!
my motor mounts were fine-what was replaced were the eight-four upper and four lower-cradle bushings and the tranny mount. there is a good thread on these bushings with pix. search "subframe bushings" its like 3 pages. you will notice the bottoms musrooming out and in bad shape.
the motor mounts are fluid filled, i guess and are usuallu ok unless leaking fluid, i understand. mine were not leaking.
yes i got a very good deal with actual dealer cost on parts and $100 on labor. i suppose i could have tried this on my own without that much difficulty, but for price and in chicago winter-why lay on my back and ass and get bloody knuckles and frustration. i am very grateful for the acquaintance that helped me with this deal. car rides so much better.
Thats exactly the problem I'm having on mine!!! 93 though but what the hell with 260000 there probably gone too.... Gonna get this checked when I get the puppy aligned... badly in need, needless to say...
I'm looking into this, too...I had an odd wear problem with my front tires, which my mechanic attributed to a broken sway bar. I had all this fixed, and a fresh alignment on new tires, yet I still get the left-turn clunk. Thanks for the point in another direction!
Neko
I never heard of a broken sway bar - the only thing that would break it is a collision with a dump truck. Sway bar bushings go bad, sway bar links go bad but never a sway bar unless it was in a wreck. Make sure the lower ball joints aren't worn which would also make a clunk on turns. To tell if the cradle bushings are shot, crawl up under the car and look at them. Check to see if they are all squished out or cracking into pieces.
agree on the swaybar. i do not know that the swaybar bushings ar as much as an issue on these cars as on the minivans-i'm on my third set on my minivan. will do these on my own on this car along with links-aftermarket/greasable/moog-they're good on the van.
two things. you can even good a good look at the cradle bushings without the car jacked up. look at the rear lowers. they are the most obvious. regards clunking, there can also be several other causes. what surprised me here is that i had clicking while turning left-usually a dead on for a bad driveaxle. but-its gone. i am sure tranny mount helped with clunk in reverse and accelerating. these seem to be a target bad part on these cars too. i know my van pretty well, but i am still learning about this one. forum guys here are great.
My sway bar did break in my LHS after a collision into a Right front tire with a Verizon Repair Van. So, yeah, collisions into a tire may not yield damage to the body of the car, but swaybar and swaybar bushings will break. |
You have to be careful, cuz I saw that after the swaybar cracked, CV joint somehow managed to get itself "massaged" out of the tranny!
Also remember that an oil leak from an engine will get various bushings soaked with oil over time. This will result in swelling and softening of the rubber and subsequent failure. I had to replace my sway bar bushings due to a long time minor oil leak that made its way to the bushings. I have since replaced every seal in the engine including oil pan/windage tray gasket, front crank seal, cam seals (they were the culprit), oil pump gasket, valve cover gaskets (also leaking badly) and especially the rear camshaft thrust plates on the back of the heads (the small o-ring seals were the consistancy of concrete resulting in a large 'hidden' oil leak I could never pinpoint). (3.5L with 140k miles).
AFter talking to my ex-brother-in-law (and still only trusted mechanic), he did clarify that the bushing was what was worn on the sway bar, not that the bar itself was busted or broken. This one gets chalked up to my mechanical illiteracy.
After a quick peek, my bushings are a bit distended, but I'm not too sure what's "bad" in this case..there again, I've never had to deal with anything of that sort. I usually buy a car every few years and whatever goes wrong, stays wrong until it's someone elses' car. That was before my Intrepid, which I want to keep. Unfortunately, it's beginning to show it's miles (247,000 and counting) and nickel and dime me to death. Thus far the front tires have been fixed, but the noise continues from the front, along with the pinhole in the side tank of my radiator, the bad O2 sensor, the non-working dims headlights, the gas gauge that changes it's mind every so often, and the blown driver's side front tweeter. Anyone know of a reasonable yard near Richmond, IN? I can't afford new parts (my ex-wife gets all my money ) but haven't been able to find a trep the same year that wasn't an utter basket case in a yard yet.
Where are my manners? sheesh! I don't know what I'd do without the big brains in this forum, men after my own heart in caring about our choice of vehicle. Thank you, one and all, who've taken the time to educate us all on how to fix damned near anything.
Neko
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