I have a 2017 Ford Escape. I begin to notice a vibration during our winter storm here in Texas a couple of weeks back in the front wheel area, specifically the right front wheel during acceleration. I took the car and had the wheels balanced and rotated and this did not remedy the situation. I have checked the motor mount above the passenger wheel and do notice the mount (rubber part) shifting when the car shifts through gears and the engine can be seen clearly dipping down and back up. I can’t see any obvious tears or breaks in the rubber of the mount. I have seen broken mounts on previous cars and it was obvious. Am I looking in the wrong spot on the mount and the mount is broken, or is there another mount I am missing somewhere? Could the mount be bad and not have any visible signs until it is removed? I have looked down the front of the engine and did not see another mount where I have normally seen them in the past.
Any check engine light?
For a motor mount?
Engine missing can often be confused for nut and bolt problems, thus the question.
Harmonic balancer?
CSA
No, there is not a check engine light. The reason I suggest motor mount is I did notice (1) of the (3) bolts very loose on the mount and as I stated earlier, the engine is definitely dipping down and back up when I sit in the drive way and have someone shift from park through drive. The car vibrates during acceleration, which leads me to believe it is a motor mount issue.
Have you checked all of the motor mounts?
That is my question, does this car have any other mounts that I can’t see? I know the main mount on top, but can’t see any in the front where there normally would be. I am not clear if there are any lower mounts in an unusual place. The upper mount rubber does move, but I did not see any obvious visible cracks in the rubber.
Two points: RockAuto displays your motor mounts. It depends on which engine you have. Certainly, one mount will not hold up an engine.
Secondly, my Miata has just had a similar sounding symptom (vibration at one wheel). It turns out to be a brake dragging.
Well if there’s some misfire or other issues then it may not be the motor mount at all. Couple this with the fact that some people miss very obvious things, and it’s really a good idea to ask.
Check the transmission mounts while you’re at it considering between them they’re holding everything up.
There’s generally gonna be 3 to 4 mounts. An engine side lower mount, tranny side lower, and 1 or 2 uppers.
I put this in the shop now, and they kept it for over 3 weeks. The local Ford dealership. After a week, they called and said the lower mount was trashed and they replaced it, come get the car. I didn’t get it off the lot and turned around because the car still vibrated during acceleration. Service manager test drove the car with me and told me the problem still existed to bring it back in, so it was left there for 2 1/2 weeks. I finally demanded a loaner car and suddenly they listened to me and checked the axles since the lower mount was so damaged and I was right, the axles were damaged. The tech told the service writer the “axles were over torqued damaging them”, so they took it as the engine had been replaced and whoever did the work “over torqued the axles” when they installed it and now 5 months after I have the car the damage appears. The Mopar warranty I was sold declines the claim as preexisting due to the way it was reported. I pick up the car, still with bad axles, and get copies of the paperwork. The tech noted “engine was torqued to tight causing axles to be in a bind”. Correct me if I am wrong, but the engine put the axles in a bind due to the bad motor mount and had nothing to do with the axles being over torqued during a repair? The dealership took that as an engine was changed and due to shoddy work, someone “over torqued” the motor. I have never heard of over torquing and engine during an installation, so this to me sounds ludicrous. When I attempted to rationalize this with the dealership supervisor and ask how they determined a motor was installed, he couldn’t answer that question. He also agreed a bag motor mount can cause axle damage, but argued he could not “prove” one lead to the other or which came first. I am right to fight this and continue to pursue the warranty? I was standing in front of them when they contacted the warranty and they told them the axles were over torqued, they did not report what the tech put down or attempt to get clarification from the tech at all.
End of story. Car still has mild vibration. And you have major aggravation.
Why do you have a Mopar (Chrysler) warranty on a Ford?
I bought the car from a Dodge dealership an hour a way. They sold me an extended warranty, which was through Mopar. I did get some good news today. I went by and spoke with the service manager. He spoke with the tech, who changed his story of what he thought was wrong and caused serious doubt in their minds now since what he is now saying, which was the axles were not in a bind but had been at some point by the motor, is not what was reported to the warranty company that denied the claim. They have agreed to take the car back in the shop to re-examine the vehicle to try to get it fixed. The service manager agrees with my theory, the lower engine mount that was trashed allowed the engine to over torque the axles putting them in a bind. We shall see.
How did you get a Mopar warranty on a Ford Escape?
When I worked at Chrysler dealers I repaired many Ford, Hyundai, Nissan etc. vehicles that were sold as used cars with a Chrysler service contract, they break, someone has to repair them.
That’s what they told me when they sold me the contract, just bring it to any Dodge/Chrysler dealership and they would fix it. But, when I take the car to my local dealership after making an appointment, the Dodge dealership calls me after I drop off the car and tells me I have to take it to the Ford dealership because they don’t work on Fords. Never knew they couldn’t work on other makes of cars at dealerships (I know they can).
I never knew Chrysler sold service contracts for other makes. I never bought a used car at a Mopar dealership that was not a Chrysler product. I just think that dealerships keep and sell the best trad ins themselves and sell the rest to used car dealers or auctions. I always wonder if I see a 3 year old car at a different make’s dealership I assume it is there because the owner was not happy enough with it to trade it in at the dealership he bought it from.