mdreef

Ever since I purchased my 996 cabriolet from a good friend 2.5 years ago with 120,000 miles on it, I've wondered if I need new engine mounts. He told me they had been replaced once, but he didn't know when.

I don't feel any excessive engine vibration (a common symptom of bad mounts); instead, what I feel is as if there's no "shock" absorption at all when I go over some uneven roads - so I get a hard thump from the back of the car.

I recently replaced front and rear suspension, control arms, and rear drop links, and have all new tires.

Is the hard "thump" a normal Porsche experience, or do I need to replace the engine mounts?

Thanks in advance!

Tonyr313

Post photos of the rear showing the exhaust pipes. If they sag, time for new ones.

Slakker

Hmmm, definitely doesn't sound normal.

VivG

I get a hard thump over uneven roads/unexpected bumps as well. It has done that as long as I've had it (4 months, 1800 miles). My assumption was that it was related to the engine mounts, but if it isn't, I'd love to know what direction to look.

I also have sagging exhaust tips (more so on the left side than the right), so I definitely do need new engine mounts.

Silk

It is never a bad idea to replace the engine mounts at a certain stage during maintenance. Certainly to consider when you are taking on various other maintenance items in order to set a kind of maintenance reference point.

The mounts are a common wear item of the car which a lot of owners not consider to replace. For those with tiptronic gearbox do not forget to replace at the same time the transmission mount! The mounts are the 3 points which hold your engine in place. For manuals the transmission mount is not prone to wear that much and lasts much longer.

Replacing the (engine) mounts, even without symptoms which indicate wear, could be one of the cheapest 'mods' improving car handling you could do for your 996. Even when staying with the OEM mounts. I replaced mine some months ago because the exhaust tips started to sag on one side. And I noticed some wobbling unbalance with bumps and cornering. After the replacement it seemed I got another car back.

What about the shocks itself? Did they got replaced over time. If not after your mileage I would be looking for replacing/upgrading them.

porschedog

As noted above, new engine mounts are a cheap and fairly easy upgrade. It can't hurt to do it.

Woodman71

This is what I keep telling my wife.

Elumere

Ouch!

Behle

I had a similar issue , over some "sharp bumps" like drive way entrance etc , a very hard clonk . It turned out to be the Transmission Mount .

mdreef

Attached are three photos. It does look like the pipes are REALLY close to some other components, so that likely explains the "clunk". So is it a matter of replacing the mounts again? Mounts appear to be an easy project.

Woodman71

If that is what's considered "sagging," then mine are absolutely doing the limbo.

Montychristo128

Just did mine with the Rein mounts from pelican and it was really easy they were not too expensive, probably no more than an hour and 30 minutes maximum. My car was new to me and seemed a little rough at idle. This was a good supplement to the pelican article (engine mount article) as it gives you the torque settings and tool list. I had to buy a long reach (deep) socket to get the main bolts off and they were bloody tight so make sure car is well supported.

Triple Black

Three photos? I only see one and that one doesn't show the tips. It does show what looks like small dents in your exhaust pipe though. Have you been backing into something?

Post a pic like this one, but with both tips showing.

Slakker

Doesn't appear to be sagging. Shocks or transmission mount make sense. For the latter, you can go to Home Depot and buys some.... Oh never mind. Look for delrin transmission inserts.

mdreef

Files were too large so I was only able to upload one photo. I'll need to take another photo to show both tips. The previous owner had a low driveway approach, so he scraped the exhaust on a regular basis until he replaced the engine mounts.

Thanks to all for your helpful comments.