03-04-2010, 01:49 AM
Anyone remember the Chevrolet recall in 1965 (and earlier) for sudden acceleration? The left motor mount would break and when the driver accelerated (fairly rapidly) the engine would lift off the (broken) mount and jam the (mechanical) throttle to the firewall. Only when the car got up to speed would the engine drop back down on the mount and allow the car to return to idle.
They "fixed" it (the rubber separated from the metal brackets attaching it to the engine and frame) by adding a short tether cable between the engine block and the frame. Later mounts incorporated a piece of metal that spanned the rubber preventing the engine from lifting even if the rubber separated.
Those were the days! That was an easy one to figure out - open the hood and watch the engine twist when the throttle was goosed. More of an issue with auto trans than with stick.
They "fixed" it (the rubber separated from the metal brackets attaching it to the engine and frame) by adding a short tether cable between the engine block and the frame. Later mounts incorporated a piece of metal that spanned the rubber preventing the engine from lifting even if the rubber separated.
One irony of the recall is that on over 95% of the vehicles recalled, GM did not replace the defective mounts themselves, but rather installed a bracket and cable to restrict engine movement if a mount broke. By avoiding replacement of engine mounts on all 6.68 million cars, GM managed to cut its recall costs considerably; the cable and bracket assembly cost about $1 per car, far less than the $50 cost of new motor mounts. wrote:
Those were the days! That was an easy one to figure out - open the hood and watch the engine twist when the throttle was goosed. More of an issue with auto trans than with stick.
