Noisy car - front transmission mount?

[Potsie]

When I replaced my transmission I had originally ordered urethane mounts. The day I was ready to install it, I read about how noisy they were. So, I decided not to use them. I was able to get rubber rear mounts at a local parts store, but not the front. Not wanting to wait for shipping, I used the old mount because it looked ok (like an idiot).

Since reinstalling it, the engine seems far noisier inside the car than before. There are no clunking noises, just that the engine sounds even more like it's in the back seat. I do get some clutch chatter, but not if I release the pedal slowly enough. That seems normal to me, but this is my first ACVW and my first manual car.

I already got a new front mount. Before I go through the trouble of putting it in, could a trans mount seem ok and then transfer more noise after reinstalling it? I can't be the only one foolish enough to have done this.
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Knows just enough to be dangerous.

[Potsie]

Come to think of it, reverse has always been pretty jerky. If I let off the gas there's usually a pretty good shake. Or if I'm going too slowly in reverse the car jerks every few seconds. What I usually end up having to do is get it rolling backwards and then step on the clutch (fully) and coast the rest of the way. If I do that it won't jerk. I do not have that problem in 1st, I can crawl along as slowly as I need to with the clutch engaged.
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Knows just enough to be dangerous.

[drscope]

What happens is the rubber gets weak and the mount is able to flex more then it should. That allows the engine/transmission to try to rotate.

Maybe get someone else to drive the car and you follow it. Watch the tail pipes when they shift. If they move up and down, then you know the front mount is fried.

Sometimes you can put the car in gear on a flat surface and then go to the back and pull and push on the bumper while you watch to see if the tail pipes are moving up and down as well.

The mount shouldn't be transferring more noise then it did before.
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Mother Nature is a Mean Evil Bitch!

[Potsie]

I'll try the driving test. I'm not sure about the bumper test. I pushed and pulled the bumper, and the tail pipes go up and down with it. But they're touching the apron, so there's no way that they wouldn't. Maybe that's part of my noise problem.
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Knows just enough to be dangerous.

[drscope]

Going forward under power the tail pipes would drop as the nose of the transmission raises.

As things get worse with the front mount, you can sometimes feel the rpm's increase as you let the clutch out without touching the gas. This is because as the engine drops, the throttle cable is pulling the throttle open a bit.

You may also see movement in the shifter when you accelerate or decelerate.
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Mother Nature is a Mean Evil Bitch!

[vwpackrat]

as dr scope says............i think the best way to tell if ur front mount is bad is to watch your gear shifter.........put in like 3rd gear and just go down the road a moderate speed, give it the gas real hard, then let off abruptly, give it full gas, let off, do this several times.........as ur doing this watch your gear shifter, if it moves back and forth significantly ur mount is bad or is going out. You should see very little or no movement in the gear shifter if the mount is good
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62 Convertible Bug
67 Westfalia

[Potsie]

There's no movement in the shifter when driving. So maybe my front mount is OK. I'm really thinking it got noisier because the tail pipes are now touching the apron. I changed the rear mounts when the engine was out, so the engine/trans sit higher now. I'm trying to picture the geometry and figure out if a new front mount would change the angle at all and being the tail pipes back down. Maybe? If it's a little thicker than the old one?

I did also find a small hole in the muffler near the right tail pipe. But I don't think it's abnormally loud from outside the car.
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Knows just enough to be dangerous.