Car=Automatic 2001 SE 9-3 HOT
So every Tranny/Engine mount installed is 8 months or newer. I have to really go back on my records, but I believe the trans mount went in 8 months ago, then the engine mounts about 2 months ago. I have not checked the trans mount, but I'm curious if it is already broken somehow???
Here has been and here is what continues to haunt me and my car:
1) SEVERE engine vibration at speeds of say, 10ish-mostly in the 20-35mph range. By severe, I literally mean that it feels like the engine is going to come out of the car. Ok, maybe it's not that bad, but during my trip yesterday, there were times I either wanted to strap a chain to the thing and somehow get it under control at the lower speeds OR just run it off a cliff. At higher speeds, this vibration is there, but it's not so bad...really negligable, though I know it exists and this fact alone, especially the vicious vibrations at lower speeds tells me the engine is not in control at higher speeds, hence, not making the stable and solid power it should be able to make.
2) I learned yesterday that my tie rod bushings were shot. I knew something was wrong in the steering section, but I didn't have a chance to get around to it until yesterday. So the new bushings went in, along with some new tie rod ends and some endlinks (just replacing older parts with newer for future prevention). After the bushings were installed, car aligned, the wheel still has play, not as bad as before, but it's entirely irrelevant because there's play and going around say turns or just normal driving for the matter, involves this play that makes the steering parts/handling not synch up to the way the wheel moves.
For example, say I am going around a turn, the wheel feels very loose while the suspension feels quite tight and in control. The steering "should" feel tight with the turn and not loose. I know how the car has felt in the past and when doing turns, it never felt this good going around turns which is a positive, but the negative is the steering play is so horrid that it has never felt so loose and not in synch with how it should feel when going around turns.
Also, say I am driving in a straight line, hands on the wheel, then let go of the steering wheel, the wheel will just throw itself a bit over to one side. It will sometimes start to pull to one side in particular (seems like a bad alignment job), but on a perfectly straight line, it maybe only pulls a very tiny bit, but the wheel literally throws itself off to the side (not near as far as it did prior to bushing install), but still there when it shouldn't be.
Questions:
1) Can trans mounts break or wear down after such a short time? I'm having a feeling that maybe the trans mount is broken already. I wanted to have a look at it yesterday but it was dark. Today my wife has the car.
Also, in terms of trying to get this engine under control, can I use this stuff here to make the mounts tougher: http://www.importnut.net/motormount.htm
2) Is there anything else that leads to severe engine vibration besides the mounts that I should be investigating? Again, it happens primarily in the 20-35mph or so region that I feel the engine literally feels like it's going to jump out of the car. Maybe I'm over-exaggerating, but I know what my highly modded Subaru with every poly bushing on the car brand new, every suspension part one can think of bolt on wise, along with coilovers feels like, and the car feels smoother than this Saab that is super smooth BUT with an engine that needs serious tie downs to keep it from moving/jumping, doing whatever kind of dancing it is trying to do especially at the lower speeds)))
3) With respect to the steering, is it possible the bushings were not torqued down correctly and is there something else I should be looking into that will produce a wheel that doesn't do the symptoms listed above and will actually feel like a normal wheel that remains centered, doesn't just flop to the side when I take my hands off of it, and doesn't feel like it is on its own while the suspension is taking a turn?
Thanks for the help!!!!
Sometimes I just want to burn this car to hell, but I cannot help but love it more than anything else I have had, even much faster and 1000X better handling cars. It sucks for handling and other things, but has something about it that other cars do not.
So every Tranny/Engine mount installed is 8 months or newer. I have to really go back on my records, but I believe the trans mount went in 8 months ago, then the engine mounts about 2 months ago. I have not checked the trans mount, but I'm curious if it is already broken somehow???
Here has been and here is what continues to haunt me and my car:
1) SEVERE engine vibration at speeds of say, 10ish-mostly in the 20-35mph range. By severe, I literally mean that it feels like the engine is going to come out of the car. Ok, maybe it's not that bad, but during my trip yesterday, there were times I either wanted to strap a chain to the thing and somehow get it under control at the lower speeds OR just run it off a cliff. At higher speeds, this vibration is there, but it's not so bad...really negligable, though I know it exists and this fact alone, especially the vicious vibrations at lower speeds tells me the engine is not in control at higher speeds, hence, not making the stable and solid power it should be able to make.
2) I learned yesterday that my tie rod bushings were shot. I knew something was wrong in the steering section, but I didn't have a chance to get around to it until yesterday. So the new bushings went in, along with some new tie rod ends and some endlinks (just replacing older parts with newer for future prevention). After the bushings were installed, car aligned, the wheel still has play, not as bad as before, but it's entirely irrelevant because there's play and going around say turns or just normal driving for the matter, involves this play that makes the steering parts/handling not synch up to the way the wheel moves.
For example, say I am going around a turn, the wheel feels very loose while the suspension feels quite tight and in control. The steering "should" feel tight with the turn and not loose. I know how the car has felt in the past and when doing turns, it never felt this good going around turns which is a positive, but the negative is the steering play is so horrid that it has never felt so loose and not in synch with how it should feel when going around turns.
Also, say I am driving in a straight line, hands on the wheel, then let go of the steering wheel, the wheel will just throw itself a bit over to one side. It will sometimes start to pull to one side in particular (seems like a bad alignment job), but on a perfectly straight line, it maybe only pulls a very tiny bit, but the wheel literally throws itself off to the side (not near as far as it did prior to bushing install), but still there when it shouldn't be.
Questions:
1) Can trans mounts break or wear down after such a short time? I'm having a feeling that maybe the trans mount is broken already. I wanted to have a look at it yesterday but it was dark. Today my wife has the car.
Also, in terms of trying to get this engine under control, can I use this stuff here to make the mounts tougher: http://www.importnut.net/motormount.htm
2) Is there anything else that leads to severe engine vibration besides the mounts that I should be investigating? Again, it happens primarily in the 20-35mph or so region that I feel the engine literally feels like it's going to jump out of the car. Maybe I'm over-exaggerating, but I know what my highly modded Subaru with every poly bushing on the car brand new, every suspension part one can think of bolt on wise, along with coilovers feels like, and the car feels smoother than this Saab that is super smooth BUT with an engine that needs serious tie downs to keep it from moving/jumping, doing whatever kind of dancing it is trying to do especially at the lower speeds)))
3) With respect to the steering, is it possible the bushings were not torqued down correctly and is there something else I should be looking into that will produce a wheel that doesn't do the symptoms listed above and will actually feel like a normal wheel that remains centered, doesn't just flop to the side when I take my hands off of it, and doesn't feel like it is on its own while the suspension is taking a turn?
Thanks for the help!!!!
Sometimes I just want to burn this car to hell, but I cannot help but love it more than anything else I have had, even much faster and 1000X better handling cars. It sucks for handling and other things, but has something about it that other cars do not.