I know. The idle surge has resolved / is gone. Suggestions to read RPMs? I have no tach installed

Response from mhooper87
1 question asked

You lost me there. I am confused as to the problem you are facing now. You mentioned surging is gone but then you have intermittent surging which you are only feeling because you don't have a tachometer. For accuracy, you would need to install a tachometer or at least attaceh one for testing. There are clip-on tachometers availble at parts outlets.

Btw 3 months though not too long is enough for engine mounts of inferior quality to fail. One thing that can cause this is a bent center support. When this support is pushed upwards, it would cause vibrations as the front and rear mount would be compressed. Have a visual check and ensure they are not compressed. Removing the center bolt of the front mount would allow you to see if front and rear are aligned.

Answered by KHLow2008 (expert)
40,333 answers provided

Your last comment might be the answer. Even though the mounts were bought from RockAuto less than a year ago the vibration never resolved. I can see the engine "jump/move" more than an inch when in gear and out. Does this sound like a bent center support? I have not inspected it lately but will tomorrow. It did take some muscling to get the front mount in and adjusting to get it to line up.

This problem manifested itself one day years ago. It just appeared. It was mom's car perhaps she did hit something or run over something.

The only other weird part to this is that when the engine is cold there is no vibration in gear. But as soon as it reaches operating temp the vibration is there when in gear. I am also noticing a tough start in the morning, the engine idles very low and then the ISC kicks in and rpms come up - but not right at start up.

Thanks for your continued advice/support.

Response from mhooper87
1 question asked

The only other weird part to this is that when the engine is cold there is no vibration in gear. But as soon as it reaches operating temp the vibration is there when in gear. I am also noticing a tough start in the morning, the engine idles very low and then the ISC kicks in and rpms come up - but not right at start up.

Yes, I believe the center support is damaged since you need to force the front mount in.

When cold, the engine would be running at a higher rpm due to the cold start feature so vibrations might be minimal but when idling speed drops, the vibrations would increase.

During cold start if the rpm does not increase immediately, it could be due to a dirty ISC. The other thing would be the valve clearances. If they are too tight, the engine would idle slightly rough and that might cause the vibrations and the
low idle at initial startup.

Answered by KHLow2008 (expert)
40,333 answers provided

Please see the attached video pics. I can not tell if its "bent" or not but obviously took some damage. Re Center Support - is that, scratched, rusty bar running font to back it? The front of the car is to the right of the screen.

I suspect the ISC is dirty / other since I have pulled it, connected, unconnected, reconnected it many times. Suggestions on cleaning it?

I did have a guy adjust the valves - I believe he got creative on setting them to resolve this problem-to no avail-do you suggest another valve adjustment/job? The car does run rough (quite) at cold start up, and will stall if I drop it in to gear, if the ISC has not engaged.

Would additional video help nail this down? Im pretty sure we've got it ID'd but would like to be quite sure before I drop it off for another attempt to resolve.

Thanks again.

Response from mhooper87
1 question asked

I can't determine anything from the pictures so am not able to make any comments.

Answered by KHLow2008 (expert)
40,333 answers provided