Motor mount replaced - problems still

[raleigh5]

hi, this is first post on this board since i purchased my 2000 boxster tiptronic about 6 months ago. have read many articles and threads and i greatly appreciate the value of their guidance!

here is the situation with my car:

it was banging and clunking during shifts in auto mode. primarily during hard accel/decel. i read through posts on this site and this seemed dead on with the symptoms of a bad front motor mount. i have replaced the mount. it was, in fact, bad. rubber material greatly deteriorated and separated almost completely from surrounding base. after replacement, there is no longer the 'clunk' during gear shifts. so that issue is resolved. but it most definitely still has a 'hesitation/vibration' at around 1500 - 2200 rpm range. and what i mean by 'hesitation' is that it feels as though it cannot decide which gear it wants to be in. so it feels like it wants to shift, but cant quite muster the strength or something. or it will sometime shift to a higher gear, and then bang right back to where it just shifted out of. pretty pronounced and very annoying. and it will still 'bang' or 'bump' occassionally when shfting gears...even during 'normal' driving. it is no longer a metallic clunk. so it is different than before. but it is very noticable, even by passengers.

i am wondering if this could be caused by the rear motor/tranny mounts? or is there something else that is a more likely culprit? if anybody has a link to info on rear mount location/swap, plz post or forward to me. i will continue to search the site for this. thank you in advance for any further insites!

further details: car is 2000 boxster 2.7L tiptronic. purchased with 58K. currently has 62K. i did the 60K maintenance about 1 month ago(plugs, filters, oil change, fuel filter). after which, the clunking issue seemed to have disappeared for a few hundred miles....kinda weird, but it drove/shifted very noticeable smoother. prior to changing the rear mount, i drove with the rear service panel removed. i could see that the engine was 'jumping' as i hit the accel hard and quickly let off, or when shifting during hard accel/decel.

Edited September 5, 2009 by raleigh5

[wvicary]

You need to check the engine and transmission ECU's for codes. Even though you don't have a check engine light you may still have codes present. Has the transmission fluid level been checked or fluid changed?

[raleigh5]

not checked or changed. i'll do that, or get that done very soon. see if the shop i take it to has the neccessary tool(s) for scanning the eng/tran codes too.

i test drove the car earlier today...going in a fairly straight line, the 'bang' was only occurring when going down into 4th gear(maybe sometimes on upshift to 5th). in fact, it happened most of the time when i clicked to downshift into 4th, regardless of the speed. hmmm.....don't know that it means anything...:) all other shifts occurred with no issues and felt smooth and drama free.

You need to check the engine and transmission ECU's for codes. Even though you don't have a check engine light you may still have codes present. Has the transmission fluid level been checked or fluid changed?

[raleigh5]

update on 9/10/2009

set up an appointment for 9/16 with the porsche specialist at Tillman's in santa rosa(for those of you familiar with it). they are going to check tran fluid level and read out fault codes.

in going over the issue on the phone, he "seemed to recall" a vacuum hose(?) involved in the Boxster tiptronic workings. and he thought that possibly this has come loose/off. but he was not 100% certain of his recall on this. so....anybody have any idea of what he might have been thinking of?

update on 9/17/2009

michael at Tillman's checked and found no fault codes. he is changing the trans fluid and filter and then we'll see what effect that will have. he found the old fluid to be very dark/maybe burnt. and he also said there was some 'noise' in the transmission. $520 for parts/labor to this point. got a feeling i will be needing to make some major decisions very soon. later:)

2000 Boxster w/Tiptronic ~62K miles

Edited September 17, 2009 by raleigh5

[raleigh5]

9/17/2009

got the call from the shop. the drained trans oil looks like crappola and filter was nothing to brag about. metallic flakes in the filter/fluid. sooo...gotta start weighing options on repair-rebuild, replace, or drive off cliff. the more i drive cars, the happier i am with my motorcycle:)

[petee c]

9/17/2009

got the call from the shop. the drained trans oil looks like crappola and filter was nothing to brag about. metallic flakes in the filter/fluid. sooo...gotta start weighing options on repair-rebuild, replace, or drive off cliff. the more i drive cars, the happier i am with my motorcycle:)

the tranny has a filter on it?

[raleigh5]

yes, $34.64 worth of filter :D

[Terry]

yes, $34.64 worth of filter :D

I believe only the Tiptronic has the filter. For us three pedal drivers - - - no need to look for it!

[Goombatz]

My engine would vibrate pretty bad about 3k RPM - especially on the freeway - about 70 MPH. I decided to change the front motor mount myself (with the help of all these wonderful people from Renntech.org). :renntech:Changing the mount made such a difference, my boxster was fun to drive again (2001, 2.7L, 5 speed, conv. 70k mi.)

About 1k miles later, the vibration started up again, it wasn't too bad but the engine was running rough at all speeds. I replaced the spark plugs and installed new ignition coils, this made such a difference! Not only was the engine running smooth, I also felt like I regained a few horsepower!

2 months later the engine vibration started up again - this time it felt really rough, the whole car was vibrating around 3k rpm. I thought it was from installing a crappy engine mount - either i didn't tighten everything up good or maybe it was a defective mount. At this point, I was thinking about selling my car because she was running too rough, she needed new tires, and I was starting to believe her age finally caught up with her. So I bought 4 new Hankook EVO tires (on 17" rims), had them balanced and 4-wheel alignment. Now my car rides like a dream - so smooth, stable and handles great!

I had no idea really worn out tires would make a car feel like crap. I really milked those tires - very bald on the inside. It's possible I may have lost a wheel weight too.