HELP: HUGE pothole caused massive vibration, loud engine noise, & loss of power

Last night I was forced by traffic into a huge (unmarked!) hole in the street created by the gas company to fix a line (this is going on all over New Orleans right now). I wasn't able to brake in time and had nowhere to swerve so both passenger side wheels went right through it and sortof "bounced" out of the hole. After bouncing out of the hole the car started shaking violently and the engine started making really low (like 2 octaves lower than normal growling noises).

I immediately pulled off to the side of the road thinking that I had blown out one of the tires. Nope, the tires were fine. I opened the hood and everything sounded ok from outside of the car. I looked underneath the car and everything looked fine as far as I could tell. Inside of the car though the engine sounds really really loud and really really low-pitched. Inside the whole cabin is vibrating furiously (so much so that it rattles your teeth). This noise and vibration is heard/felt both in neutral and in gear. I was less than 2 miles from my house so I drove the car the rest of the way home but I was afraid to go any faster than about 20MPH because anytime the RPM's got above about 1500 the noise and shaking got about 100-times worse. I also noticed a significant loss of power (i.e. I was having to really push the pedal down just to get it to go 10MPH).

I'm thinking that I either broke a motor mount, or something in the linkage between the engine and the transmission, or the transmission and the wheels is busted. Does this sound right? Does anyone have any clues/suggestions? I am scheduled to limp it to the dealership tomorrow. How much do you think this will probably cost me? I'm hoping that I can get the city or the gas company to pay the damages since the hole was not marked.

Thanks!

:EDIT: Yeah, its not the intercooler piping, lol

The city is liable, go back immediatly and take phoots of the hole and file a police report to back that up. Call the city and report the problem as well.

Your car, well could be a lot of things but I bet you hosed the transmission, probably broke the differential.

Thanks

Yeah I am going to take pictures of the hole when I get home from work today (I had catch a ride). Do you think it would be safe to limp the car 15 miles to the dealership or should I get it towed?

Tow it.

Not safe to drive at all.

Take a very close look at the passenger side engine mount. The mount is actually 3 pieces. Make sure to check the aluminum piece that bolts to the engine block with 3 bolts. You will need to pull the upper timing belt cover to find one of the bolts. The other two can been seen from above the engine.

I have a 2000 Canyon Red TDI Jetta too. Nice car! Very rare color on a TDI.

Update: It's the motor mount

Ok so I towed it to the dealership last weekend and they have determined that it is indeed the motor mount.

They offered the suggestion that I go ahead and have the timing belt replaced while they are replaceing the motor mount (it was due to be changed soon anyway) since this will save on labor that is duplicated in both tasks. All told they estimate it to cost around $1000.

I'll keep ya'll posted as how the car runs once it gets out of the shop and whether or not I manage to get the city to pay for any of the repair costs.

Thanks for the follow-up.

This is a super old thread, but my question is how does a broken engine mount translate to loss of power?

redcorradoguy said:

This is a super old thread, but my question is how does a broken engine mount translate to loss of power?

Click to expand...

It could just FEEL that way due to the increased noise and vibrations.

When the engine goes to apply power to the wheels, it needs something solid to push against - that being the mounts that hold the engine solid. Without it firmly attached at one side, the torque the engine is producing gets "lost".
Think of trying to tighten head bolts the last ¼ turn while standing on ice instead of terra firma.

When the engine goes to apply power to the wheels, it needs something solid to push against - that being the mounts that hold the engine solidly to the frame. Without it firmly attached at one side, the torque the engine is producing gets "lost".
Think of trying to tighten head bolts the last ¼ turn while standing on ice instead of terra firma.