Hi All,

2006 ML, Navi, 5sp AT, I began to feel/hear some clunking noise from underneath, possibly from front? Sounded like one or more of motor mounts have failed or is failing.

My questions are
1) how to find which one has failed or failing
2) is OEM the best replacement, if not which brand mounts you guys would recommend?

TL has only 94k miles on it, it's pretty strange to have motor mounts fail at this early stage. I still have original motor mounts on my other car(1999 ML320) at @217k miles. If the OEM mount last only this many miles, I don't feel like going with OEM, unless it's still the best available. Please share your expertise and experiences.
Thanks for all of your advices.

Steve

 

Acording to Rock Auto, DEA/MRC A4526HY (More Information for DEA/MRC A4526HY) to be OEM for FRONT mount, but doesn't show OEM right for right, recommendation please!!

 

Go OEM. It probably even costs less in the long run if you plan to keep for a few years.

 

Any way to check which one's broken, short of taking them apart to verify?
OEMs are like $240 plus shipping vs $60 shipped for the after market parts.

 

OEM price doesn't sound too bad if you consider having to replace the front or rear again because aftermarket probably doesn't last as long. You'll have to remove the rubber shield on the mount to check but you might as well remove the whole mount at that point.

 

Thanks for the kind advice.
I read a few articles on this subject at the Azine forum, rear mount tend to last very long time, like 200k+ miles.
I'm hoping rear mount is OK, going to do front & side mounts now and see that fixes the clunking sound.

 

Visually inspect them

 

What to look for?

 

To find out which mount failed, open the hood, put the car in 'Drive,' and slowly press the accelerator while holding the brake.
You can see the engine through the windshield in the gap between the hood and the wiper cowl.

If the engine lifts up significantly then the front mount is the one that failed.

Do it in 'Reverse gear' to see if the mount closest to the firewall is the failure point.

 

That makes a lot of sense, much appreciated.
I read in many posts, the rear mount last very long, like 200K+ miles, how's that sound?

 

This seems like the consensus here. The side seems to be the first to go, then front, then rear.
look for leaking fluid from front and rear mounts.

 

Definitely take a good look at front & rear mounts, appreciated.

 

Can't see much through the cowl (maybe I'm not tall enough at 5' 9") but I had my wife rev the engine while I'm watching. Front is definitely gone, only a little shake on rear. I've got front and side mounts on order, hope those take care of the shaking and noise. Thanks much for all your inputs, greatly appreciated.

Steve

 

The side mount usually goes first, at least mine did followed by the front. Got the side replacement from rockauto, works fine!
There are good deals to be had on ebaY too, where I got my front and rear mounts.
.
.

 

Did they Ebay mounts have the vacuum line fittings? I'm guessing not... Link?

 

I could have missed my side mount went bad, but I didn't really have any symptom or feel for bad side mount. This just happened a few days ago, but I've been wrong before.

What brand of side mount did you get from Rock Auto?

 

Can anyone point me the DIY for front mount?

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=diy+...hrome&ie=UTF-8


Use google, add "site:acurazine.com" and whatever your search criteria is. That's the best way to search this site.

 

Thanks for the link.

 

YouTube is your friend. Just do a search for Acura TL engine mount and you'll find several videos for replacing them. If you're getting an "extra clunk" when you go over speed bumps or the like, it's probably your side mount. I ordered the genuine Acura part from Amazon:


I haven't done the front, but it's definitely more difficult than the side. The rear one is supposed to be the most difficult to replace. Good luck!

 

Has anyone here used aftermarket full or partial polyurethane mounts? Wondering why you decided to go oem.

 

I went with OEM because my first one lasted 125K miles and for the extra $40-50 I'm hoping to get another 125K out of this one. Wasn't difficult to replace, but would rather not do it again if I don't have to...

 

Yes, I've searched on YouTube videos, found a couple of them replacing side & front mounts on 3G TLs.

In both videos, neither had removed battery, just lifted engine a little to relieve pressure on engine mounts, and neither one on the jack stands. But the one DIY shown above on Azine had lifted on jackstands or ramps, removing the battery and heat shield as well. By removing more stuff out of the way, you'll get more room to work, but does it need to be lifted on jackstands?

 

Why wouldn't you do things to make your life easier

 

Are you saying that lifting on jackstands will make it easier?

Lifting on jackstands isn't a problem, but I'm asking if it makes replacing mounts easier.
Removing fans, radiator hose and battery tray are not that hard but a lot of work if not really necessary.

 

Anchor 9297, works fine !

 

I've only done the side mount and don't see any benefit to having the car on jack stands nor removing the battery. There might be some benefits to both in doing the front mount, but when you see people doing the work without, at least you know it's still possible. I recently replaced the rack and pinion on my TL and there were several steps in the service manual which weren't "necessary" to get the job done (e.g., removing the PS heat baffle). I'm really bad at this stuff, so the less I have to remove/reinstall the better!

 

I thought we were talking about the front/rear engine mounts.

 

In post #6 OP said he was just going to do the front and side mounts now. Maybe that changed later, but don't recall...

 

Yeah, so by doing the front, I can't see how you can do it without jacking up the car.

 

No, I'm still doing the FRONT & SIDE mounts, nothing has changed.
In this and another YouTube videos, they're not lifting the car on jackstands, only lifting the engine a bit to relieve pressure off at mounts. This is my question.

 

The only reason for using jack stands would be to make it easier if you needed to get under the car to attach the vacuum line. Otherwise, jack stands serve no purpose for this install. If you used jack stands, you still would need to jack the engine.

 

Thanks for clarification, exactly what I wanted to know. I have not had any experience doing this install. How hard is it to attach the vacuum line from above?
If it is almost impossible to do it from above, I would begin by lifting it on jackstands. It will be much more time consuming to lift the car on jackstands while installing the mounts.

 

Sorry, I have yet to attempt this install, so I can't answer that question from experience. I think it entirely depends on how small your forearms are.

 

Average size forearms . . . anyone?

 

Well . . . replaced both side and front mounts, took me about 2.5 hrs, did lifted TL on jackstands but only removed coolant reservoir and screw holding O2 sensor and other wires. Side mount was indeed ripped abut 1/3, but front was still intact, replaced it anyway and keeping the old front mount (for now).

After replacing front and side mounts, took it for short drive, didn't expect much of improvement, and I was right. Something else is making noise at low speed around parking lot or I don't hear the noise during highway driving. Immediately I suspected the front right ball joint, took the FL tire off, checked the area, guess what I found! Front left BJ was replaced about a month ago, after another guy ripped off rubber boot with pickle fork(long story). I honestly thought this shop was honest and did a great job at reasonable cost, I brought my own part, the shop charged $177 for replacing the BJ and 4 wheel alignment.

I try not to think the shop screwed me up, but it doesn't look right with rubber boot was taped a few times with black electrical tape, please tell me what you think. Would this damaged ball joint make the kind of noise like broken motor mount? Pictures of ball joint area attached.

 

Wow, that's pathetic. Hard to tell, is the boot itself torn?

 

I don't know. I haven't unwrapped the black tapes. Originally, the boot was good but was damaged by an idiot mechanic who used pickle fork trying to remove the BJ, the reason I had it replaced by shop.

I supplied the repair shop with brand new BJ from NAPA, boot shouldn't be cut, but looks like it was cut and leaking over the tape. What I think is, somehow the mechanic who did this job damaged the boot and trying to hide the mistake by wrapping up with tons of rlectrical tape. Sick!

 

Someone please suggest good honest mechanic or shop in Irvine CA area. New to this area, no idea who to turn.

 

That's not even a proper castle nut on that control arm, it could vibrate itself loose.