How to know if motor mounts are bad

50harleyrider

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Joined
Jun 16, 2007
Location
charleston,wv
TDI
2005 B5.5 TDI/geared BSM, BV43A turbo,stage 2 TDTUNING. 2005 5sp manual passat tdi stage 2 tdtuning,BSM delete. 2015 Passat TDI 6sp manual.
Will worn out oe motor mounts always show leakage? I have a vibration from a BSM deleted engine. The oe mounts look nice and dry and have less than 50k on them. Thought maybe the BSM delete might make them wear out faster than normal.
 

bizzle

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2013
Location
Southern California
TDI
2015 GSW SEL (totaled), 2013 Touareg Executive
My wife found out the hard way when the engine was sitting on the ground while she was trying to pull out of her work's driveway :D
 

PickleRick

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Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Location
Greenville sc
TDI
05 GLS BHW sedan 5 speed conversion. BHW Carver SantaCruz in progress
My motor mounts at 215k looked great. The snub mount was toast and both the transmission mounts centers cracked out.
 

Windex

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Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Cambridge
TDI
05 B5V 01E FRF
Another vote for the trans mounts - I got much more out of replacing them than the engine mounts vibration wise. I replaced all four (engine and trans)
 

afarfalla

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Joined
Nov 6, 2006
Location
sugar land tx
TDI
05 Passat sedan and 05 wagen
trans mounts aren't that bad, you just have to hold your tongue in the right place, snub is a different story, some disassembly is required,. my motor mounts, one was for a 1.8t the other no clue so I replace them all and got a very good ride, very little vibration with the delete.
 
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PickleRick

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Nov 29, 2017
Location
Greenville sc
TDI
05 GLS BHW sedan 5 speed conversion. BHW Carver SantaCruz in progress
Snub mount id guess would be a full front clip removal? I did mine during the timing belt/bsm/5 speed conversion.

Oilhammer would be able to tell you as i never looked to see what it would take to install while assembled.

The transmission mounts in car are imho easy but the 5 speeds have more room and less weight to move around.

Ive parted 2 5 speed passats in the past year and including my tdi passat all 3 had torn/cracked transmission mounts. The 1.8/v6 snub is solid rubber vs the foam type the diesel uses, Id imagine using one not tdi specific would lead to more vibrations.

I think the proper oem replacement snub on Amazon or fleabay was 20 or 30 bucks. Not cost effective to run a solid i dont think. Do it right the 1st time. I usually drive longer stroke, more rattaly, more oily diesels so the vibes/noise for me are hardly noticeable but I've found vw tdi owners to be less accepting of the torque vibrations than cummins/perkins/deutz/etc diesel owners. In other words the vibes may drive you nuts.
 

50harleyrider

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 16, 2007
Location
charleston,wv
TDI
2005 B5.5 TDI/geared BSM, BV43A turbo,stage 2 TDTUNING. 2005 5sp manual passat tdi stage 2 tdtuning,BSM delete. 2015 Passat TDI 6sp manual.
I'll talk to vwztips about all the mounts on my car which he did the 5sp conversion and the bsm delete. Since the B5.5 tdi was not offered in north America maybe the correct tranny mounts for a manual b5.5 tdi aren't either? I jump back and forth between identical 2005 B5.5 tdi's. The automatic one I have has the geared BSM. It has none of the drone the 5sp has. i'm probably just spoiled with the geared BSM car but want to make sure I'm not overlooking anything.
 
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PickleRick

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Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Location
Greenville sc
TDI
05 GLS BHW sedan 5 speed conversion. BHW Carver SantaCruz in progress
I think he used the w8 transmission mounts.

I don't think there is a difference between v6/diesel tranny mounts.
 

50harleyrider

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 16, 2007
Location
charleston,wv
TDI
2005 B5.5 TDI/geared BSM, BV43A turbo,stage 2 TDTUNING. 2005 5sp manual passat tdi stage 2 tdtuning,BSM delete. 2015 Passat TDI 6sp manual.
All my mounts are oe vw. The tranny and snub mounts were replaced 10k miles ago. The motor mounts were done when he did the original conversion at 310k miles. Would it be good maintenance or a waste of time and money to replace them at 40k miles when showing no signs of leakage? It is a recognized fact the delete increases vibration so maybe 40k miles is enough? Also would 350k miles on the exhaust be pushing it soot/clogging wise? Car is very powerful so probably not?
 
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PickleRick

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Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Location
Greenville sc
TDI
05 GLS BHW sedan 5 speed conversion. BHW Carver SantaCruz in progress
I would not replace them for the sake of change. Only when showing signs of wear.

Its a diesel, they vibrate. A dual mass flywheel from frans/other valeo source may help as i feel it absorbs more vibes (torque pulse) than a solid. Your used clutch/fw would have a good resell market.

Didn't you have the thread with upgraded turbo? Were injectors/tune also messed with?

All these factor into how the diesel performs.
 

50harleyrider

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 16, 2007
Location
charleston,wv
TDI
2005 B5.5 TDI/geared BSM, BV43A turbo,stage 2 TDTUNING. 2005 5sp manual passat tdi stage 2 tdtuning,BSM delete. 2015 Passat TDI 6sp manual.
This car has only a stage 2 tune. It does have a Kevlar SMF clutch which is smooth. If you could see how much smoother my automatic car with the geared BSM is you would know why I'm concerned. I need to compare mine to some other manual converted cars with the delete and decide if I want to live with it.
 

PickleRick

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Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Location
Greenville sc
TDI
05 GLS BHW sedan 5 speed conversion. BHW Carver SantaCruz in progress
I have the whitbread clutch/fw fx300. I did the bsm delete/5 speed at the same time so i had a good before/after comparison. Have you felt the weight of that torque converter? Plus full of fluid. Imagine how much of the vibration it absorbs. Add into that the bsm which I'm assuming was to make a diesel less like a diesel to appeal to an American market which didn't want vibrations in it's entry level semi luxury sedans

The fx300 is smooth as any stock clutch once broken in but this has zero to do with torque pulse/vibrations.

At 30lbs its still imho undersized. I've done diesel conversions using longer stroke 3.9l both idi and di, my favorite used 2 flywheels. The oem some 50 lbs flywheel and then a sbc 30lbs flywheel attached to that. Even then i had to increase idle from @800 rpms to @1100 just to see out the rearview mirror. Granted i was using solid motor mounts and the longer the stroke usually the more the torque pulse vibrations


I've always been a believer if you want a sewing machine running car buy a gasser. Asking a diesel to be smooth is like asking a Harley to be smooth, it's just not characteristic.

Id try to find both a Witbread and a valeo clutched car to drive if I were you. To me it vibrations are not noticeable, my other ride is a 7.3 4x4 excursion with essentially a stock f250 suspension.

I find that those who drive tdi passats are a select group who want comfort and accept rough edges around that comfort. These vehicles dont have much resell value outside this small group despite the work it takes to make them bullet proof, nice looking, very economical cars.


Maybe you have another issue with your vehicle making her run rough? Id say riding in another members car with same set up would be a great start.
 
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50harleyrider

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 16, 2007
Location
charleston,wv
TDI
2005 B5.5 TDI/geared BSM, BV43A turbo,stage 2 TDTUNING. 2005 5sp manual passat tdi stage 2 tdtuning,BSM delete. 2015 Passat TDI 6sp manual.
Can someone look at their exhaust between the CAT and the flex pipe and see if your pipe moves easily on the CAT side axially inside the wire braid. That might be my problem. just pulling on the CAT toward the front of the car it's very loose at the wire braid. it's hard to really hear an exhaust leak in a diesel for the rattling but that sure don't look right to me. Might be a good time to retire my 350k CAT anyhow and it looks like the CAT, flexpipe and turbo flange adapter are all one piece .
 
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50harleyrider

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 16, 2007
Location
charleston,wv
TDI
2005 B5.5 TDI/geared BSM, BV43A turbo,stage 2 TDTUNING. 2005 5sp manual passat tdi stage 2 tdtuning,BSM delete. 2015 Passat TDI 6sp manual.
After much diligence and chagrin, problem finally solved. The bottom stud nuts on the motor mounts were slightly loose. I put the car on the lift, took my 18" breaker bar and tightened every nut and bolt I could access and sure enough the motor mounts were only at about 25 ft-lbs. Cranked them down to 75 and no more vibration or drone. I appreciate everyones' input here. Maybe others can benefit from my findings. I've been a devoted B5.5 tdi owner since I bought the first one from vwztips years ago and knew this one would work out too.
 
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