G60 Vibra-Technics engine mounts - Bad Vibes

[rickdonald 10]

Hi all!

 

I spent my Sunday replacing the engine mounts on my G60 in preparation for fitting a 4-branch stainless manifold.

I went with the Vibra-Technics pack from C&R Enterprises, all fast-road as opposed to competition (to avoid them being "too" stiff).

 

After fitting it feels like the engine is bolted to the firewall, at idle the steering wheel vibrates and the windows rattle like crazy when they are down. Off idle it smooth’s out a bit, but still get a fair amount of vibration through the steering wheel and the pedals, up to about 4K where it really peaks, then at higher RPM it settles down again.

 

My first thought was perhaps I twisted one of the mounts while jacking the engine to get the other mounts in, then I bolted it up while it was still twisted and under tension. So last night I loosened all the bolts, revved the engine a little and shook it about, just to try and get it to settle properly. Then tightened them all up in the order the Bently manual says (rear first, then gear-box, then front), but no real difference!

 

If I’m honest I was expecting a similar feeling to a set of Jay’s poly engine mount inserts I fitted to my old VR6. I know the VR is a much smoother engine, and the poly inserts were not much stiffer than the OEM rubber, but I think the difference between the standard G60 mounts and these VT mounts is crazy!

Any ideas whether it is just the fact I have replaced all 3 mounts, and that it’s to be expected? Or if I have done something wrong?

 

The mounts all seemed to go in ok, the only issue I had was needing to remove the rear engine mount bracket front he block in order to get enough room to get the engine out. But it all went back in fine and lined up ok.

 

Just looking for other peoples experience & opinions, I was under the impression that there would be a little more vibration but nowhere near this much. It’s like going on one of them fun-fair (uncle fester) rides when you hit 4k!

[tom_rob_89 10]

I put a VT gearbox mount on my 8v last month and it already had the front VT mount. At first after fitting the box mount the vibration was awful, everything in the car shook lol. But because I did the job on a sunday and had to drive it to work monday, I had no choice but to put up with it. Over the week driving it to work it got better so i just left it and now it still vibrates abit more than oe mounts on cold start up but once it warms up it seems ok. It dosnt vibrate when driving and dosnt when it idles once its warm. So maybe just try and let them settle and wear it abit?

Hope this helps dude

Tom

[rickdonald 10]

I know what you mean, they do seem to soften up a bit after you have been driving. Had a look at the gearbox mount last night to see if I had fitted it wrong, but all seems fine.

 

Will suck it and see for a while, planning on fitting a non-adjustable steering column at weekend anyway, so at least that should help with the vibration on the column and cowling!

 

cheers for the response!

[davidwort 0]

The engine sits on the two rear mounts (main block and GB mount) on top of the subframe, which is then bolted right under your feet, with the less than smooth 4cyl engines you just transmit everything to the body and steering, to make it worse the rear mounts compress slightly under power so any give is even less, although idle tends to to feel the worst.

Time and time again people have advised not to use VT or similar mounts on anything but the front mounts but I can see it's tempting to go for mounts that hold the engine very firmly.

As for the fixed steering column, removing the height adjuster joint will probably just make vibration worse, I'd recommend the best quality standard hydraulic mounts you can source, possibly with a VT front mount on the more powerful/torquey engines as the strain is in the lifting of the front mount and that seems to be where the standard rubber/hydraulic ones fail.

I also think the 2L 8v engine is probably the smoothest so probablt feels the best out of the 4cyl cars on hard mounts

[fendervg 32]

I just go with VAG OEM mounts every time - have done this on a Golf GTI MkII, Audi Coupe Quattro and now the VR6 and have had no problems - you'd be surprised at the improvement new OEM mounts make versus 20+ year old perished rubber, and in many cases nothing more is needed. Uprated mounts always come as a compromise, the original design was carefully thought out to be a good middle ground and is not bad at all. Keep the uprated stuff for racing/track use only I'd say. Beware that the additional vibration transmissions and harmonics will now make lots of things rattle and loosen as well. Just my opinion.

[rickdonald 10]

Yeah, the only reason that I went for the VT mounts was due to the stainless 4 branch manifold I was going to fit. I read a lot of posts saying you needed to stiffen up the mounts (most people fitting a solid front mount) to prevent cracking the manifold. Whether or not its really needed, I don't know, but read a few reviews of guys that had fitted the VT mounts and had no complaints over any excess vibration.

 

I'm going to have a play around at weekend with the OE gearbox mount, and then the OE rear engine mount, see if I can find a good compromise. With the amount of messing I have done in the last few days, I'm getting pretty good at accessing the bolts and maneuvering the mounts to get them out!

[dr_mat 0]

I noticed significantly more noise from the gearbox just by switching the VR6 to a VW OE solid gearbox mount compared to the original fluid filled mount, so I dread to think how it winds up sounding with a vibratechnics mount..

[rickdonald 10]

I noticed significantly more noise from the gearbox just by switching the VR6 to a VW OE solid gearbox mount compared to the original fluid filled mount, so I dread to think how it winds up sounding with a vibratechnics mount..

 

Yeah, I have noticed a significant increase in gearbox whine too, but compared with the vibration, I can put up with it. To be honest, I thought the box or diff was on its way out anyway before I fitted the mounts, as there is a huge amount of backlash, so it will probably just finish it off. So that may force me to go down the CTN box route a little sooner than planned.

[stuarttaylor37 13]

I noticed significantly more noise from the gearbox just by switching the VR6 to a VW OE solid gearbox mount compared to the original fluid filled mount, so I dread to think how it winds up sounding with a vibratechnics mount..

 

Is the Oe fluid damped gearbox mount still available?

[fendervg 32]

Not sure - many people go for a MkII Golf diesel gearbox mount - I'll see if I can dig out the part number.