Engine Mounts – An Overview With Works and Importance in A Vehicle

Engine mounts play a key role in the vehicle’s overall operation and performance.  Let’s know more about it.

What are the engine mounts?

Engine mounts are a very crucial part of a vehicle that connects the engine of a car to its frame.  Generally, the mount is built of rubber and metal.  The metal part links the engine on one side and to the frame on the other side.  And the rubber stays in-between and provides resiliency so that the car is safe from shaking when the engine shakes.  Each vehicle requires a different number of mounts on the engine.  But its purpose remains the same, to ensure connection from the engine to the frame of the car.  Kingtom Rubber is the topmost supplier of the highest quality engine mounts and other automotive and aftermarket auto parts in China.

How do the Engine Mounts Work?
Basically, the motor mounts are rubber isolators that are mounted between the engine and the frame of a vehicle.  It helps to hold the engine at the right place.  At the same time, it absorbs the vibration that the engine in motion causes and stops it from being transferred to the other parts of the vehicle.  Thus it keeps the nasty vibrations and noise rising out of the internal combustion engine away from the people riding the vehicle.  Without these elements, the roughness of the engine would come to the fore when the car is in motion and would disturb the peaceful ride.  Apart from that, the elements also help to stop the surrounding steel that vibrates around the engine from causing oscillation to the car.
When one mount breaks, it creates pressure on the remaining mounts.  There are a lot of things like too much high idle, oil contamination, hard shifting or manual transmission, a combination of age and engine compartment temperature that cause an engine mounts design to fail.  So to examine the motor mounts, lift the vehicle and get support.

How many engine mounts does a car have?

Engine mounts are that crucial parts that help in stabilizing the vehicle and protect the engine from vibration and other nearby parts from damage.  There can be 3 to 4 mounts in a car depending on the size and stability of the engine.  Among them, one mount supports the transmission and the rest of the mounts keep the engine in the right location.  Again, among the remaining two or three mounts, one mount goes on the car frame and the other physically secure the engine to minimize vibration during the movement of the car.  The entire process ensures that the ride is smooth and peaceful.  However, to know the exact number of mounts present in your vehicle you can check the user manual that comes with your vehicle.

What are the signs of the damaged engine mounts?
When a mount breaks, usually we hear and feel a heavy noise when accelerating, this is the engine moving around in the engine compartment.  Engine vibration may become louder due to the mount collapsing;  this will transfer the vibrations of the engine to the frame and interior of the vehicle.  This situation can cause the failure of other mechanical elements that are mounted to the frame from the engine.  So the damaged engine mounts symptoms are quite alarming and noticeable like the following:
Following problems can occur:
1.  Excessive Vibration
Excessive engine vibration is one of the most common symptoms of damaged mounts, specifically under heavy acceleration when engine movements are highly pronounced.  Motor mounts help to stabilize and reinforce a vehicle engine.  So when an engine mount is damaged, it causes excessive movement of the engine when too much engine power is produced.  This often causes severe engine vibration and leads it to transfer into the passenger compartment of the car.  This unwanted transfer of the noise and vibration to the passenger’s berth can be felt and heard by the passengers and cause an unwanted travel experience for them.
2.  Excessive Engine Rattling

Engine rattling is one of the symptoms of a bad or damaged engine mount.  Depending upon the condition of the damaged mount, the engine can shake in an odd manner and start moving at a significant speed.  Sometimes the engine can bump against the neighboring mechanical elements which can cause excessive rattling.  Also, the blistering of the engine due to bad mounts is more noticeable when the engine is in idle condition.  At this point, the engine power is generally low and the engine rocks back and forth in normal power, when rattling is seen more easily under heavy power of the engine or heavy acceleration.

3. Weird Engine Position
The engine mounts keep the engine aligned and positioned in the vehicle hood compartment. It also stabilizes the movement of the engine. So a broken or damaged mount can cause an engine to be out of alignment and create unwanted glitches in the entire engine operation. Hence it’s important to have the element intact and in a proper working position to enable adequate operation of the engine and other supporting devices in the car’s hood.
4. Engine Damage
Broken mounts can also cause damage to different parts of the engine like valve cover gasket, exhaust manifold, etc. Severely flawed mounts shift the vehicle’s engine and act violently during rapid acceleration of the engine or high-speed driving. This results in severe physical damage to the vehicle as engine parts can be broken, cracked, or dented, etc.

What happens when you drive a car without engine mounts?
As you have already known, the mount does a very crucial job for the car and the engine. Hence, any issues with this key part should be resolved immediately with the professionals. The broken mounts of the engine can seriously damage the parts of the vehicle and interrupt its overall performance. Also, it’s very unsafe to drive a vehicle with broken motor mounts. So if the car is operated without motor mounts the following problems will come to the fore.
1. Safety Issues
With damaged or no mounts on the engine, the motor becomes free to move out of its way. This causes additional tension to the throttle linkage that can also lead to unwanted acceleration. This also results in damage to the brake lines, causing failure to the power brake system. Also, the exhaust system can become injured from unwanted engine movements and it lets the exhaust gases vent under or near the cabin designed for passengers.
2. Damage to Engine and Transmission
Without mount can cause severe damage to the engine and transmission by striking other parts of the car or by the stress of the movement of the car. Also, the cooling lines for the transmission and engine can become damaged and both can get overheated.
3. Other Problems
Too much movement of the engine and transmission due to not having any engine mounts can also cause damage to the other parts of the vehicle. The structure of the vehicle can get injured from the engine and transmission striking it, tension will develop on the suspension components and the vehicle and passengers will experience increased noise and vibration. This way the comfort of the journey will get ruined.
Reach out to the best engine mounts manufacturer & supplier in China
Kingtom Rubber is a manufacturer, Supplier & Exporter of various Rubber Moulded, Rubber to metal bonded items & stainless steel casting components, etc. catering to various industries like Automotive, Railroad, Aerospace & Defence, Heavy Engineering, Industrial, Power & Electric Industries, etc. And one of the leading engine mounts manufacturer & suppliers in China for the Automotive, heavy vehicle, commercial vehicle & off-road vehicles industries. With our in-house facility armed with the latest equipment and team of expert engineers, we focus on giving cost-effective, excellent quality, and long-lasting technical products. The Research and Development department at Kingtom Rubber is always looking for the newest introductions, technologies and trends in the market that cater the needs of our clients well in Design solutions as well as in product validation. To know more about Kingtom Rubber & our products range, Get in Touch with us.