Hi - I think this may be a fairly common problem... In the morning, when I put my car in reverse to get out of my parking spot, the engine vibrates the car terribly. Feels like it's going to rip the car to bits. As soon as I put it into neutral or drive, the vibration goes away. Once I get to work, if I put it into reverse again, no vibration.

Googling around, it looks like this may be a problem with the engine mounts. Is this something I can repair myself, or do I need to have a mechanic do it? Should I have the dealer do it, or any old mechanic? How much should I expect to pay?

The car is a 2001 Civic LX with ~89K miles on it. I was recently hit from behind at a stop light (their insurance took 100% blame) - and the vibrations are noticeably worse now (before, it happened occasionally - now it always happens).

Thanks for any advice!!

edit: also, if it is the motor mount, how do I figure out which one it is?

 

I'm guessing motor mount. Easy way to figure out which one is bad is to go to a place that will diagnose your problem for free (Midas perhaps), then see what they will give you for a price. Motor mounts are not usually too bad. You can replace them yourself with some basic tools, a jack, and a chunk or two of plywood.

 

I'm pretty sure you're right.

So I went to Honda to get my oil changed and asked them to take a look at the motor mounts while they were there. They said the side mount is bad. Now that I'm looking at it - yeah - it's definitely bad - and you can even see where it sprayed hydraulic fluid all over when it busted.

So I found an OEM one on Ebay for $110 shipped and have that in the mail to me. One thing that I'm not sure about - how do I jack up the engine when pulling the mount? I've heard the oil pan - where on the oil pan do I want to put the jack?

Thanks!