944 turbo - bit of a vibration through the gear stick

[bonus99]

Hello,
Car is off to the mechanic tomorrow as there is a bit of a hard vibration through the gear stick after 2-2.5 thousand revs. Not sure what it could be, suggestions have been engine mounts, torque tube and balance belt being a tooth or three out.

Any ideas from here?

I'll let you know how I get on.

[GC8]

Is it hard/harder to engage gears as you corner? Id suspect the transaxle mount. You can check the engine mounts, assuming that they aren't leaking, by measuring the height of the distributor relative to the badge panel.

I wouldn't expect balance shaft nor engine mount problems to be felt through the gearstick though.

[smn159]

Bush at the base of the gear lever?

[blade7]

If the vibration is there at standstill in neutral I'd suspect the balancer belt or engine mounts, if not look elsewhere.

[bonus99]

Bit of an update after taking it to the garage.

This happens when the car is stationary and increase as the revs increase. You can feel the vibration through the pedals, its like a hammer drill type of vibration, if you lightly touch the pedal its like a tingle in your foot, this is the nearest that i can get to describing it.

It happens regardless of whether the clutch is depressed or not.

One of the engine mounts has been changed but the engine does not move about much.

They suggested that it may be the rubber doughnut in the clutch housing, I am not so sure

[GC8]

Its certainly a well know issue. Later coutches replaced the rubber with springs. Balance timing and engine mounts ca both cause vibration but Id expect the severity to fade as the revs increased if it was balance shaft related.

[blade7]

Was the engine mount on the exhaust side replaced ?

[GC8]

Both sides go on a Turbo. Id bite the bullet and buy some decent fluid filled mounts and have them replaced. Whats on will almost certainly be knackered so its never wasted money.

When you have done that you will be able to move to the next job on the list, if the vibration remains.

[blade7]

The offside mount deteriorates due to heat from the exhaust.

[GC8]

The offside mount on all 944s deteriorates due to heat from the exhaust. The nearside mount gets an easy ride, apart from on the 951 where it is toasted by the turbocharger and up pipe.

[blade7]

I've never had to change either engine mount, but coming back to the OP's issue I used Hartech's guide for reference...

Edited by blade7 on Wednesday 19th November 14:09

[GC8]

Ones easy and ones tricky on a 944. On a 951 its a pig of a job.

[bonus99]

Thank you for all your comments which are very much appreciated. I will take a look at the mountings at the weekend.

Cheers

[zcacogp]

I don't know how far you go with this one Bruce, but I changed the balance belt on my S2 a week or so ago and got the timing of one shaft out by a few teeth (don't ask how!) The subsequent vibration is slightly odd but best described as being like driving over rumble strips constantly, and it doesn't go away with higher revs. Given that the balance shaft timing is easy to check (top belt cover off, wind engine to TDC, look at timing marks) then it's a good place to start.


Oli.

[blade7]

When I changed the belts on my car I found it tricky to get a straight view on the lower balancer pulley without using a small inspection mirror, afterwards the engine was noticeably smoother which made me wonder if the last guy had the timing one tooth out.