In the last couple of months my 58 plate 35,000m 1.6 120 MJ has developed a really noticeable engine vibration at idle.

Soon as the revs fall to idle there's a metallic rattling sound, and a fairly strong vibration through the steering wheel and body.

Put on a few revs and it goes. Dropping the clutch makes no difference. Car drives fine, though maybe ever so slightly rough through the rev range. No problems with gear change.

It is a lot worse when the engine is cold, but still there when warm. Also worse when ambient temp is down in the minuses.

Dealer wants to try changing an engine mount - mostly based on a service advisory that one can degrade around 30-40k. I'm not convinced.

Car had a new cam belt/pump 6 months ago - seemed fine directly after that though.

Is it worth trying the mount? Could it be belt/timing related?

Any advice welcome. Really hoping not DMF!

Jon

If it's engine mount it should be easy to check before changing the part.

When removing the engine mount (for cambelt and w/p change) on my old stilo two of the bolts sheared. If yours have gone this could be the root of the vibration . If so its pretty serious to get fixed as the mount will be very insecure. The stilo and bravo are almost identical.
I suggest checking the bolts pronto.(as per Tad above)

Thanks Gents - booked in with the dealer on Wed for checking the engine mount. Interesting that it could have been damaged when the cam belt was changed, as the (other) garage that did the belt/pump seemed to have a lot of trouble with it.

Will report back.

Re: Engine vibration - update

Lookers Stockport had the car for 2 days, tested and replaced the gearbox mount and so far it does seem to have cured the vibration.

Total cost was £260 and the main parts were a support (£30) and damper (£60).

Fingers crossed that's it.

Re: Engine vibration - update

heliophile said:

Lookers Stockport had the car for 2 days, tested and replaced the gearbox mount and so far it does seem to have cured the vibration.

Total cost was £260 and the main parts were a support (£30) and damper (£60).

Fingers crossed that's it.

Click to expand...

hi!, i have the same problem with my bravo...feels a vibration in idle but disappear when acelerate it ....what can i do?


Thanks!

Re: Engine vibration - update

jadasme said:

hi!, i have the same problem with my bravo...feels a vibration in idle but disappear when acelerate it ....what can i do?


Thanks!

Click to expand...

It looks like you just quoted the answer to your own question!?

Re: Engine vibration - update

sismithin said:

It looks like you just quoted the answer to your own question!?

Click to expand...

ops! sorry, i quote another post (or i thougt that), i just dont read the last answer...

Re: Engine vibration - update

jadasme said:

hi!, i have the same problem with my bravo...feels a vibration in idle but disappear when acelerate it ....what can i do?


Thanks!

Click to expand...

Mine is a lot better after the new engine mount, but it still feels like there is an underlying vibration that is just being better damped now.

Dealer said next step would be DMF but at £1000+ I'm not going there unless it gets worse.

Hope you get it sorted - let us know if you do!

Re: Engine vibration - update

heliophile said:

Mine is a lot better after the new engine mount, but it still feels like there is an underlying vibration that is just being better damped now.

Dealer said next step would be DMF but at £1000+ I'm not going there unless it gets worse.

Hope you get it sorted - let us know if you do!

Click to expand...

DMF's are expensive. but maybe not that expensive.

£250 for the DMF and 6 hours labour. Unless they are planning on replacing the clutch and other stuff while they are at it.

Re: Engine vibration - update

Freebo said:

DMF's are expensive. but maybe not that expensive.

£250 for the DMF and 6 hours labour. Unless they are planning on replacing the clutch and other stuff while they are at it.

Click to expand...

ah that's good to know, not sure where I got £1k from - possibly thinking of a full clutch kit too. Ta!

Re: Engine vibration - update

heliophile said:

ah that's good to know, not sure where I got £1k from - possibly thinking of a full clutch kit too. Ta!

Click to expand...

trouble is if at some point you decide the DMF did need replacing then for piece of mind the clutch assembly and concentric slave cylinder should really be done too, so the £1000 quote wouldn't be too far from the truth, worse luck. If the slight vibration you have is easy to live with then don't worry for now, it could be normal just you are noticing it more because of the problem you had with the mount. is there any difference in vibration with the clutch pedal down to the floor?

Re: Engine vibration - update

ban1111 said:

trouble is if at some point you decide the DMF did need replacing then for piece of mind the clutch assembly and concentric slave cylinder should really be done too, so the £1000 quote wouldn't be too far from the truth, worse luck. If the slight vibration you have is easy to live with then don't worry for now, it could be normal just you are noticing it more because of the problem you had with the mount. is there any difference in vibration with the clutch pedal down to the floor?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification - makes sense to have the whole lot done if it comes to that I guess.

I can live with it for now. It's only really noticeable at idle, and much more so when the engine is cold. I think there's some noise/vibration/harshness that never used to be there all through the rev range, but not sure anyone else not used to the car would notice it.

There's no difference in the idle vibration with the clutch in or out, and no increase when accelerating hard vs just under load. No difference in the gear change either. Makes me think it may not be the DMF - but maybe wishful thinking!

Thanks again for your advice.