Dear Brickboard users,
As always, thanks for the insight/help...
Our 1997 850 GLT has still never broken down (~70,000 miles) but just today the engine started rocking around. It is not separated from the transmission or frame, it seems, but I'm guessing that the motor mounts (which were never replaced) are crushed and that the engine has now shifted or is not at all supported.
I know that the upper mount has the foam/polymer donut in it, and that this has been deteriorated for probably ten years.
When the car was driven, it shifted roughly, my Dad said, but when I just ran it in the driveway the engine rocked back and forth (shuddering) by a couple centimeters, but it has never, ever rocked before.
Does this sound like an engine mount issue, please? Could old engine mounts allow the engine to "crash into" the transmission? Is the car drivable to the service station, and can a regular (non-dealership) service station do this repair? Lastly, how many engine mounts does the 850 have, and are any more crucial than others?
(I suspect there's a lower, on-the-frame engine mount, and that this has catastrophically failed after 17 years.) If so, I hope it's still fixable.
Thanks!!!
Ken