1988 Dodge Spirit knocking and vibrating

CANDAZZLE

MEMBER
1988 DODGE SPIRIT
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
188,200 MILES

I had just recently drove up a really steep driveway and as I was coming down, the bottom of the car hit the driveway really hard. Ever since I had hit that the car takes a while to start and it knocks and vibrates during the starting process. It doesn't seem to do it while I am driving at a regulated speed. But as I speed up and slow down it vibrates really bad as well as when I am stopped it makes the noise too. Same with the knocking. Any help or suggestion that would be great.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,873 POSTS

Inspect the front engine mount. It consists of a metal bracket on the engine and another one under the radiator. There's a rubber spacer between them. One bracket should be roughly centered in between the other bracket. If it's not, loosen the bracket under the radiator and slide it sideways to center it. If there is still a vibration, you might need to reposition the engine by loosening the right mount, (two bolts on top), and using a pry bar to shift the mount and engine.

Since this started after hitting something, you should also inspect the left mount. If it breaks, the left side of the engine will sit low a little. This results in an angle change for the two half shafts and can set up a vibration during acceleration.

Caradiodoc