The engine mount snapped on my 2009 Ford Focus back on 12/17. The dealership looked at it and said the timing belt cover caused everything to go: engine mount, drive shaft and axle (passenger side). The manager even said this doesnt happen every day (not normal wear and tear) and after he looked at it, he thought the engine mount cracked from previous accidents (which happened in March/Aug 2015). I called up in insurance and someone looked at it and of course the damange that just happened has nothing to do with previous accidents from 2015 (from their findings of looking over all accidents and I provided this guy with all of my repair orders for review too).
I did take the car to the dealer and got a lot of work done from Dec 2015 to April 2016. I did tell them of issues with my car shaking during the time I brought it in. During that time they replaced the driver axel, bone mount, new tires, new battery, new wipers, oil changes, spark plugs, gasket cover, steering core pump and arm.The dealership is saying that none of the work they did would have any affect on the engine mount snapping. I think they might have meddled with the engine mount when they replaced the bone mount or should they have caught a bad engine mount when they were checking all mounts? Also, the insurance guy thought I may have had a bad passenger side axle and with that breaking it caused all of this damage? I don’t know what to do.
I’m fairly familiar with that EXACT motor mount, because we have several Focuses in our fleet
It’s not best design out there, nor is it the strongest design
It’s hydraulic, meaning it’s fluid filled
When the car was shaking, that was a clue that the engine mount had already failed . . . and it sounds like the dealership missed that clue. Had they replaced the mount at that time, it probably wouldn’t have snapped off later, causing other damage
I think they did a lousy diagnosis, because they were told of the shaking, and they didn’t discover and replace what I consider to be the real culprit
Had they done their job properly, it would never have gotten to this point
Seeing as how the car was already way out of warranty at that point, they may technically be off the hook, but part of the blame definitely lays with them
I had a feeling they missed it. On the repair order it said to check all engine mounts, but I dont think they did. I told them back in Dec but declined some of the work till April. They had two times to catch it but didn’t. I think I even brought it up again in June/July. Now the insurance guy told me to open a new comprehensive claim as he thought road debris could have been a culprit too. So thats what I did, opened a new claim and waiting for someone to go look at it to decide if they will approve the claim which means I will have to pay a deductible (even though this is not my fault).
I think the dealership knows they messed up but doesnt want to take claim to it. It’s going to cost $2600 to fix everything and my car in good condition is only worth $3K. So that’s where I stand at the moment.
I guess I’d try taking it to a local mechanic for a look see and second opinion on all the dire news you have received. The engine mount may indeed be broken, but that alone is not a $2500 job, and all the other damage sounds a little unlikely. A fresh set of eyes can help.
However, if when the motor mount broke, it tore off part of the timing case cover, block, head, etc., then it IS going to be quite expensive
And I suspect that is indeed what happened
Think about it, if the engine mount completely breaks off of the front of the engine, it will suddenly drop,and there might well be considerable and expensive damage
This is under the car. Even the tow guy said the axle and drive shaft was gone in addition to the dealership and insurance looking at it. So $2600 makes sense to fix ALL of the damage done from the engine mount snapping. I already dropped $$ on two tows. I can’t afford to pay more money for another tow to get another opinion, hence me coming here as well as asking my friends who deal with cars to provide insight. I took a bunch more pics of the damage.
I don’t see a broken engine mount in the picture. [quote=“jamierdoyle, post:1, topic:98231”]
The dealership looked at it and said the timing belt cover caused everything to go: engine mount, drive shaft and axle (passenger side).
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The studs are broken or pulled out of the timing chain cover. That engine mount has a part number label on it suggesting it has been replaced, check your invoices for part # 5S4Z-6038-CB. The studs may have unscrewed from the front engine cover while replacing the mount and were not fully inserted before installing the nuts. The damaged studs and threaded holes in the cover should be closely examined, this looks like a workmanship problem.
Impact from below can cause damage to the mounts and brackets but I see no evidence of damage below.
This is from right after it happened, nuts/bearings came off somewhere.
Regardless, the engine mount broke. These things do not break on the regular. In the process of the engine mount breaking, other things broke too…I was in the middle of driving when this all happened.
I feel as if the dealership is to blame based on I had them look at my car a bunch of times, not sure if they touched that mount that snapped to fix other issues or just didn’t noticed that mount was bad and needed to be replaced.
The mount is disconnected, not broken. Over-tightening the mount studs and nuts caused the mount to become disconnected, the engine to drop and the axle joint to come apart.
From inspecting the engine one cannot predict that stripped bolts will soon come out. The person who damaged those studs and threaded holes in the front engine cover is to blame.
Can I guess that in the past 12 months the timing belt was replaced? Or the water pump, or even the accesory belt. If so reinstalling the motor mount would be the likely cause for the failure indicated in the photograph.
I can’t tell for certain what happened of course, but my guess is that at some point the engine was purposely disconnected from the mount for a repair or timing belt service etc, and then it wasn’t properly reconnected. This is easier to do that it sounds, and the engine can get a little cocked from the direction it is supposed to be during the time it is disconnected from the mount, then upon reconnecting it the shop has to lever the engine a bit into place and the correct orientation. If that doesn’t go like it should, the mount can appear to be connected correctly to the engine, but in fact it isn’t. Then over time wiggling from the road bumps causes it to come loose and drop. I expect the cause of all the damage was the mount coming loose. ie. my guess is the timing cover damage was a symptom, not a cause.
I should add that while it looks like a big mess now, it might not in fact cost that much to get things working again. I’m thinking less than $1000. It just depends on what a visual inspection shows. Cross your finger the crankshaft and camshafts weren’t damaged. Likewise the transmission output splines. If not, the repair bill might be fairly reasonable.
I’m curious as to how many regulars here are familiar with removing and reinstalling such mounts? I recall that after securely supporting the engine all the nuts and bolts holding such a mount are removed, then the mount is easily lifted off the studs. Reinstalling is simply a matter of dropping the mount into place, applying a thread locker to the threads of the nuts and bolts, installing them by hand, then tightening to spec. Has anyone ever had a problem with removing and installing such a mount?
The front mount to cylinder head stud appears to have been cross threaded and then forced in stripping the threads while the rear stud was over tightened, possibly in an effort to make up for the stripped thread on the front stud. After seeing such a botched up mess with the mount I would be concerned about everything that was done by the mechanic while the mount was off.
