FloridaMutt
Veteran Member
Vehicle- 2004 Wagon (5 speed, BEW engine, 149,000 miles) Only mayor engine work, it had the timing belt done at 90k.
I am used to using engine compression to brake/reduce speed which according to my brother in law (auto mechanic) is not good, so I will stop. He said I am wasting clutch life (expensive replacement) and only gaining brake pad life (inexpensive replacement).
This last week, going to work in the morning, I found myself coming to a stop at a light and dropped into 2nd gear, and as soon as I did that the brake pedal got super hard and I had to do a leg press to get the car to stop on time. Simultaneously, I also heard/felt a "clunk" on the driver side, maybe in front of me/underneath me. I have had since experienced the same thing at least 3-4 times, so I stopped using engine compression to stop. In fact I stopped using the car until I can figure what the issue is and repair it.
When starting to move from a full stop (if too sudden) I can also feel the clunk. Additionally when starting up the car, I can feel the engine shaking back and forth more than it used to before on start up (I have owned the car since it had 19K), not while idling though.
At first pass I can't find anything visually wrong/broken under the hood, or from what I can see underneath the car without removing the plastic engine cover. My BIL suggested I depress the clutch pedal while keeping the transmission in neutral for a couple of minutes, then try to get it into gear to test the master cylinder but that made no difference.
Does any of this sound like something obvious to you? Where would you be looking? I am thinking some engine mount is broken (I have only changed the dog-bone when I did a suspension refresh maybe 4-5 years ago).
I am used to using engine compression to brake/reduce speed which according to my brother in law (auto mechanic) is not good, so I will stop. He said I am wasting clutch life (expensive replacement) and only gaining brake pad life (inexpensive replacement).
This last week, going to work in the morning, I found myself coming to a stop at a light and dropped into 2nd gear, and as soon as I did that the brake pedal got super hard and I had to do a leg press to get the car to stop on time. Simultaneously, I also heard/felt a "clunk" on the driver side, maybe in front of me/underneath me. I have had since experienced the same thing at least 3-4 times, so I stopped using engine compression to stop. In fact I stopped using the car until I can figure what the issue is and repair it.
When starting to move from a full stop (if too sudden) I can also feel the clunk. Additionally when starting up the car, I can feel the engine shaking back and forth more than it used to before on start up (I have owned the car since it had 19K), not while idling though.
At first pass I can't find anything visually wrong/broken under the hood, or from what I can see underneath the car without removing the plastic engine cover. My BIL suggested I depress the clutch pedal while keeping the transmission in neutral for a couple of minutes, then try to get it into gear to test the master cylinder but that made no difference.
Does any of this sound like something obvious to you? Where would you be looking? I am thinking some engine mount is broken (I have only changed the dog-bone when I did a suspension refresh maybe 4-5 years ago).