How to detect a bad motor mount

More advice from Gary Morrell

Park the car on a level surface, firmly set the parking brake and, just for safety's sake, chock the rear tires. Raise the hood and start the engine. You will be able to see the intake manifold thru the space at the bottom of the hood. Select first gear and _slowly_ ease out the clutch, try to keep the revs around 1200. Watch the intake manifold, the engine will tilt toward you. It should raise level across the manifold from left-to-right. If the right (passenger) side of the manifold rises excessively (more than and inch) then your front motor mount is torn. Since this is the mount that takes all the abuse when accelerating forward, its the one that's bad most often.

Now, engage reverse and again ease out the clutch, the manifild should tilt away from you. Again, it should be level from side-to-side. If the right side rises up excessively, then the rear motor mount is torn, tho this rarely happens, as this mount is in compression during forward acceleration.

If, during either forward or reverse tests, the left side of the engine rises excessively, then the transaxle-to-subframe mount is torn, this is also a rare occurence.

Another sure sign of a torn front mount is a polished spot on the front-passenger side of the intake manifold. As the engine rises, it rubs against the hood insulation pad which leaves a mark on the manifold.

SHO Shop and Joe Scott have reinforced front and rear motor mounts, I strongly recommend them as Ford has not improved the mounts for the '89 to '93 applications. The post-'93 liquid filled mounts seem to hold up much better. I also suggest that both front and rear motor mounts be replaced at the same time.