Another item that needs to be inspected on every service is your vehicles engine and gearbox mounts. These are the brackets that hold the engine or gearbox in place. They generally have rubber bushes to absorb and dampener noise and vibration. Some manufactures use hydraulic mounts, but these are a lot less common then rubber.
With age these bushes wear out. Generally the rubber perishes and splits allowing excessive movement. The main issue is if these mounts fail other component damage can occur from the uncontrolled movement of the engine. Failed mounts can also cause “Knocking” noises and driveline vibrations.
The mount in the picture is a gearbox mount from a Mitsubishi Pajero. As you can see the rubber is splitting and the mount has collapsed. When installed the weight of the gearbox was causing this bush to bottom out completely. This was causing knock noises and vibration to go into the body of the vehicle. The harsh vibration could be felt while driving the vehicle. In this instance it was a straight forward job for our expert mechanics to replace the mount. Most vehicles engine mounts are not a major job to replace, But there are a few models that are a lot more time consuming due to access constraints.
