97 Camry- Bad Engine Mount?

[78kitty]

I've been working on my '97 Camry CE 5-Speed with 196K miles that I recently bought. After getting the clunking in the front end straightened out (bad stabilizer bar end link) I noticed the car shakes when you lift off the accelerator. It's especially noticeable in like first or second and less noticeable at higher speeds in a higher gear or at lower RPMs. When it happens you can really feel the gear shift moving back and forth and my wife really noticed it when she rode along for a test drive last night.

If anyone has any ideas let me know what it might be or how to diagnose the problem. Thanks!

[parimento1]

sounds like how mine felt I had a five speed Mazda where that happened. To check the motor mounts on a manual- pull the parking brake open the hood, then get back into the car and give it gas and apply the clutch but not all the way. If the engine shakes around like its dancing your mounts are bad. you can also check this while moving slowly with the hood open (somewhere where there is nothing to hit) by going slowly in 1st gear then flooring it for a second and letting off the gas. If the engine jumps around violently you have bad engine mounts. You can also check some of the engine mounts (such as the rear ones and the dog bone mount) by visually inspecting them for rips, tears and other stuff. Same goes for the transmission mounts. If your engine mounts are in bad shape, your tranny mounts might be as well from picking up the extra slack of the weak engine mounts. Good luck, PM me if you need any more help!

[78kitty]

Awesome thanks man! I bet that's it! I'll try those checks . Another thing I forgot to mention was that the engine at idle seems to shake around more than what I'd consider normal. I guess 4 cylinders do it anyway, but I really think this one moving around too much!

[78kitty]

Well the tranny mount is fine. As for the rear and front engine mounts, they are hydraulic so you can't visually inspect the rubber or anything. I'm pretty sure one of them is bad. Now, how can I tell which one it is?

[78kitty]

Update- Well my bro came over and helped me by us taking turns putting it in gear and moving it forward and back. We now think the motor mounts are OK. It could be that I'm not used to driving a manual transmission front wheel drive car. I'm used to the stick in my Super Duty and Mustang. The upper mount, or torque strut (I belive also known as the "Dogbone") could use replacing b/c it does have a few cracks in the rubber but is not split all the way through, and it should be fine to drive.

Does anyone else with a 5 speed notice that if you let off the accelerator quickly that you can feel it in the gear shift if you're holding onto it?