You don’t really seem to know that the engine wasn’t vibrating at 700 rpm before the rebuild, you only know it didn’t feel like it was. Now you are feeling it. I still think a redo of the mounts is worth a try.
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Here is a before and after. It’s hard to see, but it definitely sounds different.
Before rebuild: Does this sound ok? - YouTube
After: How does this sound? - YouTube
I can not see a vibration in either of these videos, is this discomfort really worth you time?
You wouldn’t see much vibration in the video. They were mainly to demonstrate the difference in sound.
This post came up during a search for my own problem on my Pontiac Vibe twin the Toyota Matrix and I figure i’d help out any future owners that do a search. Nearing 300k miles I’ve replaced just about everything and somethings multiple times. PART STORE ENGINE MOUNTS ARE JUNK FOR THESE CARS. Now as a mechanic with 20 years experience i’ve used engine mounts from anchor, dea, amazon, and whatever else I could get my hands on quickly and never had an issue that I can remember.
I bought the car with busted mounts so I had installed anchor brand mounts immediately. The car vibrated bad enough that it felt similar to still having bad mounts only the motor wasnt hanging uneven like it was when I bought it. I delt with that for about 50k miles until the Anchor brand mounts had cracked bushings and got even worse. I replaced them again with Anchor brand mounts which left me with a different but more irritating vibration. Took those out and replaced with DEA brand. Still had serious vibration.
Now basically losing my mind I head to the local Toyota dealer and drop 500$ on mounts at the parts department. I PUT THE FACTORY TOYOTA MOUNTS IN AND THERES NO MORE VIBRATION. ITS LIKE ITS NOT EVEN RUNNING.
I was told the rubber used in aftermarket mounts is substantially more rigid then the factory toyota rubber. The aftermarket rubber is just too stiff to absorb the ton of vibration this motor sends out.
Replacing the spring bolts used to connect the exhaust and replacing the rubber exhaust hangers also helped while the hard rubber mounts where still installed since the engine was sending a ton of vibration down the tail pipe.
Good luck. Its unfortunate to have to spend so much at the dealer but on this specific car using aftermarket mounts is just not an option.
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I think you nailed it. All my mounts are OEM and the vibration is tolerable, BUT the exhaust spring bolts are not installed properly. One of springs is compressed all the way and the other has a fair bit of space between the coils. This is probably what is causing the engine to be tweaked sightly crooked. I will replace the manifold to pipe bolts properly and see what I’ve got. Thanks!
There is the answer to your question.