Motor mount cables? 1998 V90

[Eventoday]

Hello,

I am driving a 1998 Volvo V90 with 160k miles.
I recently purchased it ( its been my dream car for the past 20 years) and it has quite a bit of a vibration up front. It Doesnt seem to matter if it is in gear or in park/ neutral. Opening the hood I notice the engine moves up and down quite a bit on the driver's side, when putting it into and out of gear. It also has a little movement when you gas it. My thought is, it is a bad motor mount. Looking at the driver's side mount I noticed one of the mount brackets was missing a nut. Aha! Unfortunately that didnt fix the vibration. Now I am back to thinking it is the motor mount. However, the mount doesn't appear ( atleast what I can see and feel) to be bad, but I did notice the thin metal cable that goes around the mount has lots of play and is very loose.
Should it be taught? Is that a sign/ indicator the mount has collapsed a bit and is bad?



I appreciate everyones time and advice.

Jake

[Eventoday]

By the lack of reply, I'm guessing my question was either ridiculous or didn't make sense 😀.

How about this. Does anyone know what the cables are for around the motor mount?

I tried asking fcpeuro and there answer was " for shipping" but I'm not sure I buy that.

Kindly
Jake

[Forrest]

Sorry for the late reply, which has been waiting for me to get around to taking a picture of my V90 Mk 1 engine mount. I absolutely agree with you about these being the dream car. I hankered after one for about twenty years too and finally found an affordable one a couple of years ago.

I think FCP Euro may technically be right. In this article in the FAQ it refers to the mounts being in two parts but handled as a single unit. Also, if you lookup pictures of new ones online the wires do appear just to hold the two parts together.

https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/faq/Eng...SeriesVehicles

The original mounts are oil filled so it seems highly likely that they will eventually leak and need replacing. Skandix lists 3536226 as the part for mine. I think some people replace them with solid polyurethane mounts, which comfort-wise will be a downgrade. If you go non-OEM or change the technology be careful to get ones the right height.

[Eventoday]

Thanks so much for the reply!

I actually took it to a shop (not a volvo specialist as there is not one in my town).

They told me my mounts look fine. They suggested the vibration was caused by u joints. That does not add up to me though. I get the vibration in neutral and park when reving the gas. Am I wrong here , the drive shaft wouldn't be turning in neutral or park.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Eventoday

By the lack of reply, I'm guessing my question was either ridiculous or didn't make sense 😀.

How about this. Does anyone know what the cables are for around the motor mount?

I tried asking fcpeuro and there answer was " for shipping" but I'm not sure I buy that.

Kindly
Jake

Yes ! The mounts are like a tennis ball filled with grease... they can support the engine in compression and damp out all the small vibrations, however if the car overturns the weight of the engine will split them open hence the safely cables. if there is any sign of oily dampness around them they have probably leaked out the viscous damping material.

[Dippydog]

You are quite right,although some of the gearbox internals will still be spinning the prop shaft/drive shaft won't be when in park or neutral.If not an engine mount could it be a gearbox mount?

[Eventoday]

Thanks Everyone!

There is definitely no sign of leakage in the motor mounts, so I'm going to rule them out for now. Thanks for the info on "safety" cables. I'm going to try and weasel under the car this morning and check the gearbox mount in case the mechanic for some reason did not look at it.

I'm starting to think my vibration is from two different sources then. Quite possibly the mechanic is right and the u joints are failing but I feel like I read that is very rare on these cars.

As far as the neutral vibration, I tend to get it on startup and when giving it gas. I was thinking, clean the MAF and start looking around for an intake or exhaust leak?

I'll make sure I post an update and appreciate continued advice. I am not much of a mechanic and more familiar with a 740.

Kindly