While sitting at idle (700-800RPM), my drivers side motor mount has a really bad chatter that's felt/heard throughout the car. As soon as she's in gear and under load, no chatter. This just started within the past few weeks.

I tried to tighten up the bolts and the problem went away for a moment but came back after turning the car off and back on. If I simply apply a little pressure (prob 5-10lbs) by hand to the top of the mount, the chattering stops completely.

Bad mount? Don't know how it could be when all 4 mounts were replaced (with OE or OE replacement parts) when I swapped the motor back in late 2007.

1995 Accord EX Coupe, F22B1, 5 Spd

 

It sounds like one of the mounts has collapsed (isolator squashed)
Try this:
Six Pack of suitable brew (weekend project)
Drinking buddy with a keen ear
Sit his (or her) sorry A** in the car and set the e-brake
Hood (bonnet to those across the pond) open
Engine idling
Press down against the left side (adding some weight)
Repeat on the right side
Grab the top of the engine and pull forward
Grab the top of the engine and push to the rear
Have Inteli-ear (buddy sitting in the car) make note of which action caused the noise / vibration to get louder. The one that you added weight to (and got worst) will be your culprit

P

 

Excellent, I'll check that out this evening. Hopefully Advanced Auto will honor a warranty and swap it for free.

 

Hey P, I did the little test you said above only it never got worse. Regardless of where I applied pressure to the motor, the chatter went away. But the chatter is definitely coming from the drivers side mount, see pic



Is there anything special to know about this particular mount? As far as my problem is concerned of course.

 

Not really, they are normally quite trouble free, Now if you had an Automatic Then I'd point at the rear mount. They fail with a certain regularity.
There's no indication of anything in close proximity close enough for the engine to knock against?
Did this get progressively worst as time went on?

P

 

It really just started/I just noticed it within the past 2-3 weeks. First time I went to inspect, the drivers motor mount was making noise. I put my hand on top of the mount, firmly, and the noise went away. I tried to tighten the bolts to no avail.

I'm going to check with Advance and see if that's where I bought this mount when I did a swap back in late 07. If so, I'm sure I can get it replaced under warranty and I'll probably just swap it out and see if it fixes the problem.

 

Thanks P, swapped out the mount and voila... she's like a new car again. Along with 2 new axles and a thorough intake cleaning of course

 

She feels so different... so new. Kinda makes me wonder how long it had been bad