I tried searching and have had no luck. Anyways, ever since I got my protege I noticed a little problem. The steering wheel/column vibrates horribly when I put the car in drive. Once I put it in park (no load) it goes away. Does this sound like a bum motor mount? The car has 70,000 miles.

If it is a motor mount, it looks fairly easy to remove. My friend's mom's car (Toyota Camry) had this same problem and it ended up being a shot motor mount. What do you guys think? Is this a common problem on these cars?

Thanks in advance

 

if its fine in park and vibrating in drive, thats sounds more like a tranny mount actually....but check' em all just to be safe...

 

It's actually fine once I start driving, but when I have my foot on the brake and and kick it down into 2nd it vibrates bad, put it back into park its smooth as anything...then when I drive away it seems ok. I guess it could really be both. How much of a PITA is the tranny mount?

 

not really that hard...from what else your describing you may want to have your cv joints checked also...they might be going out too...does it "clunk" when you put it in gear?

 

Yes it does clunk when I put it in drive. Would that cause a vibration too?

 

definitely could, sounds like cv joints to me!

 

I don't see anything in his description that could suggest a CV joint....especially since he's in gear at a stop.

I'd check your motor mounts. And this "clunk" that you mention. Is it a hard "hit", or just kind of a "bump" when the transmission engages? What's your idle speed when you're in park AND in drive (car stopped)?

 

i have a similar problem when my car shifts from 1st to 2nd gear. i was told it was the motor mounts, but i changed all of them (including the tranny mount), and the problem still persists!