Motor shakes CRAZY back and forth

[s13gold]

i have a ka24de..130,xxx miles...
start it up...motor shakes back and forth
AND DOESNT STOP. i even drive it for like 30 min.
and the idle is stable at 800....
its been happening the past couple days..
WTF...any suggestions...:confused:

[sonnysmr2]

broken motor mount, or there just beat.......

[GSXRJJordan]

yeah, is this something you're just noticing? Motor mounts don't crap out over night. There is hope, though, it's just not fun: Get some nismo mounts, and swap motor and tranny mounts with a few friends - engine hoist helps, but is not totally neccessary.

[NemeGuero]

Mounts.. but I'd look at Nismo alternatives. Is Dave still making mounts? Was it Dave?

[s13gold]

mounts mounts mounts.....who gots the hookup....

[mrmephistopheles]

mounts or dead cylinder.

[s13gold]

i hope it aint a dead cylinder.....omg....

[mrmephistopheles]

pull your spark plug wires with the engine running to find a dead cylinder.

[Dream240]

mounts or dead cylinder.

Bam....had the same problem, turned out to be a loose spark plug wire. Pull them one at a time while it's running to check them like he said.

GL.

[s13gold]

checked.....its not the motor mounts.

[MELLO*SOS]

What about the other thing you were told a couple times already to check... "Dead cylinder" aka bad plug, wire, cap or injector, etc...

[EchoOfSilence]

OR a bad ring/ringland.

It happened to my on my sohc. one day, fired it up and it ran on 3 cylinders. ring crapped out, oil flew past the piston and covered the spark plug so that it wouoldn't spark. It wasn't fun but it felt crazy hahah

[NemeGuero]

checked.....its not the motor mounts.

How did you *check* the mounts?

[backroadtouge]

im having the 3 cylinder problem right now, but it doesnt sound like you do, cause it would sound like a really mean gokart if it was (yours sounds normal right? just shaking?)

[s13gold]

okay i replaced the plugs and every once in a while when i start the car it begins to shake... WTF...maybe its the distributor or spark plug wires???
i will check but i am also open to any other suggestions that havent been mentioned.

[Rayne]

Okay...you say the motor shakes back and forth right.....is the engine, technically, moving left to right or front to back. If the motor moves several inches back and forth as in left to right and your car seems to accelarate slower than usual....you mounts are shot.

[nassin31spr]

Could also be the O2 sensor. Dose it idle smooth or is it stuttering. If the idle good, then you give it gas and it starts to stutter and evens out it could be the o2 sensor. But when they go and thats not very often it usually isn't very drivable. Good luck with it.

[Neejay]

pull your spark plug wires with the engine running to find a dead cylinder.
What do you look for when you do that?

[MELLO*SOS]

You're looking for a rpm change. When you remove a plug wire going to a good cylinder, you should loose ~25% of your idle rpm (on a 4 cylinder). If you remove a wire and there is no change in idle speed, that cylinder is most likely not firing in the first place.

[Neejay]

You're looking for a rpm change. When you remove a plug wire going to a good cylinder, you should loose ~25% of your idle rpm (on a 4 cylinder). If you remove a wire and there is no change in idle speed, that cylinder is most likely not firing in the first place.
Ah, ok. Makes sense. Thanks.

[kandyflip445]

I would check cylinders by unplugging the injectors rather than the spark plug wire. If it's running and the cyl. is fine then you're just squiting fuel in the cyl.

I would say it's engine mounts. When you lose a cyl. it sounds like a Harley and it's slow as crap. With the car cold try and move the engine back and forth by hand. If you can move it a bit then you know your mounts are shot. Check the transmission mount to see if it's torn also.

[los_inc]

okay i replaced the plugs and every once in a while when i start the car it begins to shake... WTF...maybe its the distributor or spark plug wires???
i will check but i am also open to any other suggestions that havent been mentioned.

check your timming
check all your vacuum hoses
maybe advance the timing on your dist.

[steve shadows]

how did you check your motor mounts???

did you pull the motor out and check them ?

thats the only real way to know for sure, otherwise the wieghtwill just sit and press the shited mount down and look ok.

Do a compression test if you mounts really are a ok.

[Dream240]

you can check them while they're in the car.

Two ways, look for cracks, breaks, or shears along the ridged portion and the base of the mounts. If they're separating then they're gone. Also you can just grab the sides of the valve cover and try to shake the motor. It should move but only about an inch, then the car should start to move with it.

If it moves alot more than that or makes noises when you do this then they're completely gone. Most mounts have a certain amount of wear and tear in them. Unless your tranny mount is new, I'm sure it's completely worn out also. They always go first. Replace with Nismo for better quality rubber.