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Motor and Transmission Mounts

Yesterday, while backing my 97 Camry (approx. 74,500 miles) into a parking space I heard small pops/clicks coming from near the front right tire every second or so the car was in reverse. Later in the day, when I was pulling the car out of a spot in reverse, I heard the same small clicks or pops. I have only heard these sounds when the car is in reverse. After looking at some of the posts here, I thought it might be the boot or CV joint. When I took the Camry into a local chain mechanic, they said that the noise was the engine banging into the firewall and that the motor and transmission mounts needed to be replaced. They said that the boots were fine. They said that they could only replace all these mounts with original Toyota parts. They quoted me a price of $500 for the parts and $250 for the labor and asked for a deposit of $200 for the parts. Does their diagnosis and the price quoted sound right? Should I get a second opinion?

Reply to
John516
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Oh get the second opinion anyway. Get 3 quotes, that's how I do things now...

Have you ever replaced the top engine mount? (Looks like a dog bone.) It's about $50 from Toyota, maybe cheaper from Napa or from

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Easy do-it-yourself job. I did it last year on my '96 camry - the mount looked really worn. See if that helps...

Reply to
onehappymadman

To clarify the problem, the Camry makes a couple of popping sounds when in reverse and only when being driven counter clockwise in reverse.

Reply to
John516

ONLY when the steering wheel is turned hard to the right, and ONLY in reverse?

Weird. (Get a second opinion.)

Changed your differential fluid lately? 70,000+ miles, it's definitely time for a change...

Reply to
onehappymadman

Yup. That's right. Only in reverse and hard to the right.

I changed the differential fluid about a month ago.

Why did you mention the differential fluid?

Reply to
John516

Curious, that the sound will only happen while the steering wheel is turned... that's why I mentioned it.

Oh well. This one is for brighter minds than mine... ;)

Reply to
onehappymadman

John516 wrote: When I took the Camry into a local chain

========================== If they actually said that they've got to be completely wrong. I would never allow anyone who said that to touch the car. Most likely is wear in the CV joints. If you only hear the noise in reverse on one side, this may not require repair - perhaps just an indication the joints are wearing. If it were me, I'd lift the car, put on a pair of gloves and twist the axle at the outer joint to check for excessive play. Perhpas you could find (another) reputable mechanic to do this for you. Or even the Toyota dealer. My local dealer does not charge for diagnosis prior to repair - and once you receive an extimate you are not obligated to have the work done at that time. As long as the boots are intact - holding al the original grease, you should be ok. If you choose to replace the half shafts, you could plan ahead for a convenient time.

Reply to
Daniel

You are so lucky! The dealer here in Sacramento wanted $90 just to see what could be causing my oil leak in my '96 camry.

Took it to a local mechanic later for a compression test, and he told me for free "by the way, your oil leak is coming from the distributor O-ring."

Reply to
onehappymadman

Maybe it's the way my scenario unfolded that led me to believe free diagnosis was standard. Every time I go in there I feel I'm paying a substantial premium but the front brakes locked up to the point where the car was not really drivable. I got it to the dealer for repair, being willing to pay probably $250 more than I thought it should be just for the convenience of being able to drive the car again. I left instructions that I wanted a price from them before they did any work and the service advisor said "of course, we would never do work on the car without your prior approval." Diagnosis came back "need to replace the calipers" price was $525. I would have been willing to pay $350 and I told them. So they put the car back together and I picked it up -- no charge. Had been planning to replace the brake parts when they wore out anyway so this just accelerated the schedule. Now practically all brake system components are new including calipers ($59.90 ea.) brake disks (rotors) brake flex lines, pads, shim and fit kits - installed with the care and thoroughness that an owner can provide. Also changed the left half shaft, had been seeping grease from the inner CV joint for some time.

Reply to
Daniel

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