I Think My Motor Mounts Are Bad... Vibration When Stopped

[90LS400Lexus]

Well, I never had mine replaced. Too worried about other things now. I need them changed ASAP, as I am giving the car to my mother, but I now may have a potential alternator issue now, caused by a leaky PS pump. When it rains, it pours. :( Its times like this when I love cars.

IF I had my way, I would simply sell the car and be shed of it, but my mom loves it and wants it, so I guess I will fix it up as I can. I think its the mounts causing my vibration, because even when in park it will vibrate at certain RPMs. Personally, I will never buy another one. Too much to buy, then too much to maintain. I paid $3200 for this car, another $350 for shipping, then another $400 in state sales tax. After that and fixing all that needs repaired, I will easily have over $5000 invested in this car.

Good luck with yours.

Hello how is going i have the same problem and i had my mounts replace BOTH tranny and motor i still have a the heavy vibrations. SO its not that i wouldnt waste your time on that. Cause if you notice that the vibration on begins when the car idle is below a certain level. take a close look at that. Cause min start to virbate at red lights when i the speed is all the way down and the idle level gets low. As long as the car ilde is a little high the vibration completely stops.

right now the only problem i have with my car is that it JERKS when you shift from D R N L and also the Gear Shifter gets jammed !

[SW03ES]

Personally, I will never buy another one.

Thats what you said last time ;)

[90LS400Lexus]

Personally, I will never buy another one.

Thats what you said last time ;)

Your right... I did! I forgot about that. :D

[SW03ES]

You'll have another one lol.

Get a newer one next time ;)

[90LS400Lexus]

You'll have another one lol.

Get a newer one next time ;)

Yeah a 2009 LS...... (in the year 2029). :D

Seriously, I want at least a 1995 LS (if within a couple of years), but really want to wait and go for a base 2001-02 LS430. White w/tan leather and with the standard wheels. By the year 2015 I may be able to afford one. :)

[fisher972002]

90LS,

Yeah, it's time to change those mounts, the car will be much, much smoother..

IF you can feel a vibration in the steering wheel and a little in the floor when you rev up the motor nad let it fall down the mounts are worn out.

For example on my 91 in the winter time, I would back out of the garage when cold out in the morning, and have a vibration in the door or hte side of the car at a certain RPM. I replaced the mounts, took me about 4 hours, then no more vibrations and soo much smoother...

I could also feel vibrations in the foot pedal a little bit.

Mine had 160K when I changed them, the tranny mount was a little flat like Glenmore's, I went ahead and reaplaced it, didn't do any different.

THe problem is you can't really visually inspect the mounts while they are in the car because of the aluminum head shilelda around them, unless you had a little mirror and a good flashlight maybe???? But they crack around the top screw/bolt and that position is almost impossible to see..

Mine weren't broken, as yours probably aren't either, but they will have stress cracks all around them.. Mine were cracked about 1/3 of the way through and the rubber was hard..

New ones soft and what a difference, loved this maintenance.. and must make sure you have everything unhooked before you start to jack up the engine, you'll be amazed how much higher you have to jack it up to get the new mount to fit in there,.. It's tight!

[90LS400Lexus]

Hmm.. thanks for that info. Well, I am giving the car to my mother soon, but still want to get these replaced. The vibration is getting worse! Its unpleasant to drive really. My 1984 diesel Mercedes has a smoother feeling engine than this Lexus at this time! :(

I am thinking of letting my friends dad (who is a certified Toyota mechanic) chenge them if he gives me a good price. I do not think it would be too hard for a Toyota tech, even if he has not worked on a Lexus. I am sure he can figure it out?

What all has to be "unhooked"? I never imagined it had to be raised that high. Wow.

When I had one of the regular mechanics (he does alot of work on imports) we use on some of our cars checked it, he did that raise the hood, place in gear and heavily accelerate and was looking at the engine. The motor was not moving, so he said, "your motor mounts are not broke", which I kinda assumed that, but I was thinking they were just worn out. He said he thought it was the harmonic balancer, but I do not think so.

90LS,

New ones soft and what a difference, loved this maintenance.. and must make sure you have everything unhooked before you start to jack up the engine, you'll be amazed how much higher you have to jack it up to get the new mount to fit in there,.. It's tight!

[Bali26]

Motor mount replacement DIY: http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=348679

[oldskewel]

I have a 91LS with ~160k miles and replaced all 3 mounts in March. Made a huge improvement - the car felt like new afterwards.

The prices you listed earlier are about what I paid, after checking things out, so you're good there.

The transmission mount is a very easy job as compared with the engine mounts. If you want to try something easier as a first step, I'd say replace that. All you need is a torque wrench. Nothing tricky at all with that job.

The engine mounts are significantly more challenging. By the time you get to the mounts, you may as well replace them. At your mileage, you are due. I followed Glenmore's writeup, plus the other follow-ons (I researched this a lot before diving in), and had great success doing that, along with the following modifications to the procedure (which all made it a lot easier, and perhaps less intimidating):

I used a pivoting socket wrench (where the ratcheting head can pivot with respect to the handle) with a standard depth 17mm socket on it to get the upper nuts on the mounts. No problems. Passenger side first - used craftsman 17mm open end wrench with big long second wrench to add leverage when breaking it free. Came easily. On driver side, the pivoting socket wrench was essential.

I removed the wiring harness + PS line as instructed, but none of the other stuff (did not touch AC, no PS return hose hold down). I just jacked the engine carefully, checking for stress buildup as I went. I did remove the air cleaner, etc. since that seemed to be getting stressed as I lifted the engine carefully.

Removed both wheels and splash pan cover for clearance. I removed the oil filter (and did an oil change), but that may have not been necessary.

Lowered crossmember nuts until only about 2-3 threads were engaged.

I did the job 5 months ago, but took these notes for myself back then - am planning on having the car for a few hundred thousand more miles.

This was all done solo, in my driveway, on jackstands, at night, in a driving rainstorm (kidding about that last one).

It took a couple of hours and the driving feel improvement afterwards made it a very satisfying effort.

[90LS400Lexus]

Finally getting around to changing the transmission mount this weekend.... hard to believe that in 2008 I was mentioning this and just now getting around to changing it. I hope it lessens the vibration issues. The car has 222K now. It had 208K when I was complaining of this before. However, I am afraid that the engine mounts are probably shot to heck as well, but those are more costly, so those will have to wait a few more years. ;)

I have found pages and pages of step-by-step how-tos to change the engine mounts, but nothing on the tranny mount. I will try to figure it out though... hopefully the tranny wont fall out and crush me.

[arnage]

Hi,

Could someone kindly provide me with the part #s for the motor mounts (front and rear) as well as the transmission mount for a '99 LS400?

I tried searching the park place auto parts site and was only able to find the Front mount and the Rear mount -- but I couldn't find any search results for the Transmission mount.

Also, if I were to bring this to an independent to perform the change, do I need to purchase the mount brackets?.. I presume not, but I figured I'd doublecheck.

So far, the front and rear ($110 / $40 respectively) mounts are totaling to $140.

[curiousB]

Hi,

Could someone kindly provide me with the part #s for the motor mounts (front and rear) as well as the transmission mount for a '99 LS400?

I tried searching the park place auto parts site and was only able to find the Front mount and the Rear mount -- but I couldn't find any search results for the Transmission mount.

Also, if I were to bring this to an independent to perform the change, do I need to purchase the mount brackets?.. I presume not, but I figured I'd doublecheck.

So far, the front and rear ($110 / $40 respectively) mounts are totaling to $140.

Look here for exact part numbers for your model/VIN

http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/

[arnage]

Thanks, curious.

This was what I was able to come up with:

12311 BRACKET, ENGINE MOUNTING, FRONT NO.1 RH

12311-50021 1UZFE..UCF20 1 $121.80

12315 BRACKET, ENGINE MOUNTING, FRONT NO.1 LH

12315-50011 1UZFE..UCF20 1 $121.80

12361 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING, FRONT

12361-50100 1UZFE..UCF20 2 $197.28

12371 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING, REAR NO.1

12371-50060 1UZFE..UCF20 1 $69.37

12381 STABILIZER, ENGINE MOUNTING

12381-50080 1UZFE..UCF20 2 $32.45

12391 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING FRONT, HEAT, RH

12391-50040 1UZFE..UCF20 2 $18.31

I believe the insulator engine mounting (front and rear No.1) would be what I need for the engine mounts (again, I'm assuming brackets don't need to be replaced?..).

I'm still having a difficult time locating the transmission mount. Does anyone know what particular section it might be located in? I've checked Engine --> Mounting; but there doesn't seem to be a corresponding section for Transmission -->Mounting?

[curiousB]

Thanks, curious.

This was what I was able to come up with:

12311 BRACKET, ENGINE MOUNTING, FRONT NO.1 RH

12311-50021 1UZFE..UCF20 1 $121.80

12315 BRACKET, ENGINE MOUNTING, FRONT NO.1 LH

12315-50011 1UZFE..UCF20 1 $121.80

12361 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING, FRONT

12361-50100 1UZFE..UCF20 2 $197.28

12371 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING, REAR NO.1

12371-50060 1UZFE..UCF20 1 $69.37

12381 STABILIZER, ENGINE MOUNTING

12381-50080 1UZFE..UCF20 2 $32.45

12391 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING FRONT, HEAT, RH

12391-50040 1UZFE..UCF20 2 $18.31

I believe the insulator engine mounting (front and rear No.1) would be what I need for the engine mounts (again, I'm assuming brackets don't need to be replaced?..).

I'm still having a difficult time locating the transmission mount. Does anyone know what particular section it might be located in? I've checked Engine --> Mounting; but there doesn't seem to be a corresponding section for Transmission -->Mounting?

There are three mounts.

Two - 12361 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING, FRONT

One - 12371 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING, REAR NO.1 (this is the rear or sometimes called transmission mount)

[arnage]

There are three mounts.

Two - 12361 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING, FRONT

One - 12371 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING, REAR NO.1 (this is the rear or sometimes called transmission mount)

Thanks again, curious. The word interchangeability of that rear / trans mount was thoroughly confusing me. I thought 12381 was going to be the transmission mount through process of elimination.

I think some of the pictures provided here also confirm what you're saying:

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400/4500...eplacement.html

Could you opine on whether $250 in labor is a pretty reasonable fee to swap these out?

[curiousB]

There are three mounts.

Two - 12361 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING, FRONT

One - 12371 INSULATOR, ENGINE MOUNTING, REAR NO.1 (this is the rear or sometimes called transmission mount)

Thanks again, curious. The word interchangeability of that rear / trans mount was thoroughly confusing me. I thought 12381 was going to be the transmission mount through process of elimination.

I think some of the pictures provided here also confirm what you're saying:

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400/4500...eplacement.html

Could you opine on whether $250 in labor is a pretty reasonable fee to swap these out?

Not a bad price. The rear (transmission) mount is easy, 30 minutes tops. Good DIY project. The motor mounts are tricky. A lot of people just swap the rear mounts themselves and see if it makes enough difference not to bother with the other mounts.

[arnage]

Not a bad price. The rear (transmission) mount is easy, 30 minutes tops. Good DIY project. The motor mounts are tricky. A lot of people just swap the rear mounts themselves and see if it makes enough difference not to bother with the other mounts.

hmm, well i already ordered all 3 mounts online -- tot was around $258, shipping inc. so i hope either way, the vibration / noise alleviates once this is done. the last major maintenance that was performed was the timing belt / water pump about 7k mi ago (at 97k right now).. and the strut rods at the same time -- and those certainly helped eliminate some clunks.

again, thanks for your help.

[RandySC400]

I just ordered from mybushings.com you get 10% off for being first time buyer...my tranny mount with shipping was $46.84