[SamsPT]

I have an 01 PT with 95K miles. I recently had timing belt & water pump replaced, plugs & plug wires, and alt & PS belts. I do not drive it much because I gave it to my college daughter as a cruiser for her. she loves the car. My issue is that after all the work I just did, including both motor mounts, it seems to vibrate very noticeably when sitting still. Car starts every time & runs great. Any suggestions? The vibration is annoying. I also installed fog lights & collumn switch from another Cruiser. Every time we turn on the right turn signal, the right fog light comes on & so does the fog light indicator on the dash. Could the switch be bad or is it something else. Thanks all

 

[dana44]

Welcome to the forum. The vibration may be the mounts themselves, being better quality than original, more vibration of the engine transferred to the body, thus vibrating the car itself, that is, given there isn't anything wrong with the engine itself, like a burned valve or missing cylinder. Are there any engine codes indicating a problem? As far as the fog light switch goes, that would be a wiring problem associated with a short, or two wires connected through melting usually. I have 2 '02 Cruisers and both of them over time had the issue of the fog lights staying on all the time, which I simply pulled the fuse on both, due to the multi-function switch, a known weak spot in the electrical system. I don't know if the real problem of poor quality plastic (thanks MB), ever got a true quality replacement or not.

 

[ImperialCrown]

The mount bolts are in slotted holes to allow some repositioning adjustment of the eng/trans assembly. It may be too far over in one direction and transmitting engine vibration into the body through a metal-to-metal mount bracket contact.
The multifunction switch was improved in 2005. Any switch built before then is suspect.

 

[djsamuel]

New lower motor mounts are in many cases, manufactured incorrectly. The metal casting is not "concave" on the engine side, causing metal to metal contact between the engine and the mount itself.

 

[SamsPT]

Sounds like all agree that it could be the new lower mount metal to metal contact. The car runs great, but will throw a reader on it to see if any codes pop up. Someone in another chat area also suggested a TSB that came out addressing the same thing. I will try to get that number & post for anyone interested. If all checks good, any suggestions how to cut down on the vibration without purchasing another mount. The one I bought is from NAPA (usually pretty reliable parts). As for the right fog light coming on with right turn signal, the car was originally non-fogs but I added the lights & switch from salvage yard. Guess I'll try another switch. Thanks again

 

[Bob Lincoln]

Anytime you replace a FWD engine mount, you MUST recenter the engine, or you risk throwing an axle. Here's a guide that Bob O'Neill and I wrote about the process:

http://www.allpar.com/fix/engines/centering.html

 

[djsamuel]

If all checks good, any suggestions how to cut down on the vibration without purchasing another mount. The one I bought is from NAPA (usually pretty reliable parts).

All I did was take a grinder and grind away some of the metal until the mount cleared the block. It doesn't take much and the mount is fine.

 

[ImperialCrown]

Definitely follow Bob and Bob's tutorial. You may see a 'witness mark'- a shiny spot where the paint has rubbed off on the bracket. This would be where you would want to carefully shave some metal off or dent it slightly to clear metal-to-metal contact. OEM parts are always recommended.
There may be julian date codes on the multifunction switches. After later-2005 should be good, but many older ones have been replaced with newer already. The last of the 4-number code should be the year of manufacture.