Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

I have a slightly odd problem with my 944 Turbo.

During the winter I have noticed that on particuarly cold days (say 2'c or less) upon startup I get vibration from the right hand side of the engine bay. Only at idle (around 950rpm), in cold weather with a cold engine. If we have a few days at around 5'C there is no vibration.

The vibration goes if I increase revs to 1200rpm, and is also gone as soon as the engine has warmed up a little, it only takes a mile or so of driving before the vibration has gone.

My first thoughts are engine mount - but why would this be effected by the ambient temperature? I know the LH one has been done not too long ago, but no record for the RH one. However, I did take a quick look at the dizzy cap with respect to the headlight bar, and the top screw looks to be above it - I remember JMG saying some time ago that if the upper dizzy cap screw is below the headlight bar, then it is a sign of the mount collapsing.

I do believe I have a leak from the front of the exhaust from when I made contact with a speed hump that I mis judged, and wonder if it is the sound of the exhaust touching the car.

Hoping to get out and take a look this coming weekend (work and my 9-5 Aero took up last weekend!), but wondered if anyone had had similar issues?

almost guarantee the engine mount

Well - that was my first thoughts also, so I will have to do my best to check at the weekend.

I remember the job well on my 944 S, where I replaced both with the aid of the ramp, and it was still a pain in the arse, lol!!

I hope the LH one that was replaced is a genuine one, otherwise it will bug me enough that I will want to replace both!

closest replacement is Myele but still not as good as OEM, just replaced 2 on my 68 took about 3 hours on the floor without removing the cross member or the steering link.

I fitted Meyle ones to my S, but will probably opt for genuine this time around.

I think it's one of those jobs - I didn't remove the cross member but had to drop it, and from memory had to disconnect the steering joint when putting the (taller) new ones back in as the cross member needed to be pulled down further than the steering joint allowed. I can imagine it is doable in a few hours, but in my case it took best part of a day.

I had to drill out one of the bolts on the RH mount, and then had some fun getting the LH lined up correctly when refitted (studs with nuts would have been easier!) - which created a bit more work.

OEM OPC are £160 each

Bear in mind that the turbo mounts are trickier to change still.

I have heard from a number of sources who have tried both Genuine and 'OE' mounts that the former ones are the only ones which keep NVH to a minimum.

Hallsy, how did you find your replacement mounts? It is interesting to see someone I know on the forum why they would go genuine .

£160 each? That is expensive although it beats a pattern mount (on another brand of car) for £20 lasting only a year and 10,000 miles (and worse than the one I removed!. Genuine one was £60. For another car (A peugeot at that!) an OE mount was £70!

How much are the Vibra Technics mounts? On my new toy they are superb. They were still better than the Group N mounts that I fitted to another car by quite a way.

Before you go in to engine mounts.i would try and see if you can pin point the noise from under the bonnet. Is it easier heard from with in the cab? Could be slightly lose header bolt so it's sealing when hotter, or the head shield by the headers, that can rattle on the oil filter if not tight

But as the noise goes with revs, could be mount or is it masked by increased noise

I reckon you will find a part touching and even with an ECU the engine runs rougher till warm.
Other strange noises I have had in the past was the exhaust on my MGBGTV8 would blow and knock till warm as the engine expanded enough to close the gap

Even had a loose spark plug that sounded like knock.

Good luck with your search.

FYI 951 375 042 04 £162.58 inc Vat

I suspect it is probably something like the exhaust touching which is causing the vibration, but this could be still be down to a sunken engine mount.

Hopefully it will be dry at the weekend, so I can have a good look.

Chas - I felt the Meyle ones looked good quality, and I didn't notice any harshness with them fitted. At the time, it was just a case that I couldn't justify spending over £300 on engine mounts. However, if it is true that the Meyle ones will fail prematurely, and that the genuine ones (assuming current ones are made to same quality as they were back in the day) will last say 20 years - then paying the extra seems to be worthwhile.

If I only need one mount then it softens the blow a little!

Still - I need to prove it out first!

Waylander - thanks for that, when I shopped around last time Berlyn were a touch cheaper, but not a lot, and not enough to outweigh the postage. It seems there is little margin on these mounts!

well I would phone round a few OPC's some seem to give more discount than others,

Exeter
Leicester

are the two best I think

I use Exeter they always seem happy to discount even without mention of tipec.

Waylander did you fit oe or meyle mounts and if the latter are they okay?

Regards

Mark

I used OE as I have just helped a fellow 968 owner with his as they destroyed themselves after 5 years and one track day and they were Meyle

I believe the oem one are made by corteco

The main concerns I had with Meyle over genuine would be longevity, and also the possibility of the Meyle (solid) mount being harsher than the hydraulic genuine mount.

However, I didn't notice any harshness after fitting the Meyle ones to my S.

Five years is quite a short life span for an engine mount, but they are a third of the price of genuine.