Q: What would cause an engine mount to shear off?
Of all the things on my 2008 Mazda3 that could fail, the engine mount was one of my least expected. Seems like an easy thing to do right, just make something that holds the engine to the frame and doesn’t break off. Oh well, car was at 60,000 miles but it was never driven that hard. Repair wasn’t too expensive, I just worry more about the quality aspect. Now that I have repaired the motor mount, is there anything to look out for? Maybe vibration or noise? I want to make sure the new one doesn’t break as well.
Hello, motor mounts have a big job to perform. Think of a motor mount as the cushion insole of your shoes, and how the shoes feel after 3 months of continuous use. The motor mount is piece of rubber that is used to insulate engine vibration from the chassis. The mount has to deal with temperature, engine movement and weight. Mounts fail over time just from use. Mazda has issued a technical service bulletin (TSB 01-003/10) for motor mount number three collapsing causing a vibration in the chassis. If motor mount number three was replaced with the updated mount per the TSB then you should be ok for a while. Motor mounts in front wheel drive vehicles don’t last as long as mounts in most rear wheel drive vehicle. Motor mounts are part of maintenance and all of them will eventually will need to be replaced.
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