We recently took our PT Cruiser in for a tune-up. Then 2 weeks later something happened to the motor mounts and the engine came loose and destroyed the axle and damaged the transmission. I’m curious if the motor mounts are even touched during a tune up. Are they removed to make more room during the tune-up? They told us that the motor mounts failed and they don’t know why and that when that happened the loose motor mounts destroyed the axle but a friend tells me that the motor mounts being loose wouldn’t damage the axle (the opposite of what the mechanic is telling us). I also feel that when they did the tune up they didn’t put things back properly and that is what created the damage to our car.
RESPONSE
There is no reason to touch the mounts during an engine tune up. The spark plugs and ignition coils are mounted right on top of the engine and are easily accessible after removing the upper intake manifold.
Engine Motor Mount Description
The engine mounting system consists of a four-point system utilizing two load-carrying mounts and two torque struts. The load-carrying mounts are located on each frame rail. The right mount is a hydro-elastic mount and left mount is a conventional elastomeric isolator. The two torque controlling struts are attached at the front of the engine, straddling the right side load-carrying mount. The upper torque strut connects to the suspension strut tower and the lower torque strut connects to the suspension crossmember.
Engine Motor Mount Operation
The four-point engine mounting system minimizes the transmission of structure-borne engine noise to the passenger compartment. The load-carrying right and left mounts dampen and isolate vertical motion and vibration. The two struts absorbs torque reaction forces and torsional vibrations.