Diagnose bad motor mounts and/or trans mount

I couldn't find any good info on diagnosing bad motor mounts.

My 2.7l is running very rough. Whole truck shakes at idle and is squirly over bumps and road imperfections. The truck lunges or jumps a bit when changing transmission.--Reverse to Drive causes the truck to flex and move. It feels like it is under stress or tension. Change gears, truck moves around, let off brake and it "settles" a bit.

Got 127k, whole front suspension been replaced atleast once if not more times in past year. A handful of trails, rock crawling over that time which could lead to problems.

Any good way to check to see if they are bad? Nothing noticable from visual inspection, though to be honest the entire engine bay has been permanently painted with the fine mud I run though. Revving engine at idle shows some movement but currently have engine problems and down on power so not a great test.

Any help is appreciated.

 

you can rev it up real quick at idle and see how much the engine moves, it should move a little bit but if its flopping around a lot you should be able to see it noticeably what you would expect as too much.

It kind of sounds like a transmission mount as well.

 

I just replaced both engine mounts and transmission mount on mine at 175k. With an 18 year old vehicle, pretty much all the rubber is falling apart.

My transmission mount rubber was actually separating from the metal. The engine mounts weren't too far behind.

 

Have someone start it while you watch the engine. If it lurches, it's time for new motor mounts.

 

@nzbrock what mounts did you use? Pretty sure my mounts and support bearing rubber is shot on my 2000 model. I'm having the same "flexing" problems that @col. sandurz described. It's weird to describe, never had a vehicle do this. Doesn't feel solid.

 

I used OEM mounts from conicelli Toyota. They usually have the cheapest prices.

 

Thanks, I'll check them out.

 

When I come to a stop I hear a lot of vibration and like if something is loose help please 2008 Tacoma with 138k

 

Try repeatedly stopping and trying to get the noise to happen in a quiet place with the windows down. You can also open the hood and start up the truck and shift it into park and into gear if it’s an automatic and see if the engine shifts position. If that’s not enough to diagnose it, then try a cheap go pro camera knock off from Amazon located in different areas and make the noise happen and try to analyze where it’s coming from with the video footage.

FYI bad motor mounts will typically give some kind of clunk or thud as the engine shifts versus a vibration, however you never know.

 

For Transmission Mounts I just got under the truck and lifted behind the mount and watched how high things went.

Engine mounts visual inspection then try and lift with the pry bar.

 

Try posting your question in the Gen 2 forum. Maybe you'll get some more answers. This forum is also helpful but mainly used by Gen 1 owners.