Engine mounts, also called motor mounts, are crucial to your vehicle’s proper functioning; providing a strong grip upon the engine is part of what makes the vehicle function as the damage that would certainly disable the engine if the thrust were unrestrained. Engines are strong: creating horsepower at high enough levels to move several tons of metal forward at fantastic rates. The thrust that is the byproduct of all that strength would cause the engine to buck and shift violently inside the compartment that houses the engine were it not firmly gripped by the engine mount.
There are a couple different types of engine mounts:
Solid mount: The engine mount itself is composed of solid steel and includes a tough rubber insert that is meant to dampen the engine’s vibration and isolate the vibration from the chassis of the vehicle to reduce component stress and overall shifting.
Hydro-mount: Some vehicles have different kinds of engine mounts: hydrolastic, hydro-mounts with hollow chambers filled with a hydraulic fluid, or hydraulic. Hydro-mounts in particular absorb vibrations like a jelly-filled donut – these vibrations would otherwise be passed through to the chassis of the vehicle.
When looking for engine mount replacements keep a few things in mind to make sure you’re getting a good quality engine mount:
Meet or exceed manufacturer’s specs: A quality engine mount will match the type of mount needed for your specific vehicle, and will conform to the original equipment manufacturer specs.
Quality remanufacture: If you are considering a remanufactured part, it should not have any cracked, loose or broken brackets, all bolts should be accounted for and in good shape (not rusted) and for a hydro-mount, you need to visually confirm that the rubber is in good shape and there is no leakage of the various fluids.
Choose your style: Since hydro-mounts are quite expensive, you can find a more reasonably-priced solid mount; however, these two parts are not analogous – and your expensive car may not have quite as smooth of a ride or you may have additional engine noise with a different type of mount.
Having a good-quality motor mount that is appropriate to your car’s style will help keep the sound levels down and also make sure you’re enjoying the smoothest ride possible.
