Bad mount?

A while back I nailed a huge pothole on my way home from work. I immediately noticed a clunking sound coming from the area by the tire that hit the pothole.

Now when the AC is running I have trouble getting into gear sometimes. Is it possible that the pothole broke one of the motor mounts and the AC is causing the engine to shift slightly due to the different tension on the belts with the compressor running?

I'm going to see if I can notice the engine moving around under power - are there any other ways to tell if a mount is bad? What about a transmission mount?

I'd describe the sound like a metal on metal clatter. It happens when I'm on a rough surface, speed and dynamics (turning, etc) don't seem to change the noise. A speed bump won't necessarily cause any noise, so I'm thinking it's not suspension related.

well does your engine vibrate around like bat shit crazy horse?

Not really? When I start it up there is more movement than I would expect, but when it's running and I rev it there is motion but not so much that it's an obvious issue. When it's just idling there is some vibration, but again, not severe enough to be a definite issue. I don't have anything to compare it to either, when its running how much vibration should you expect?

I turned it off and left it in gear and rocked it back and forth a bit and the engine was definitely moving an inch or so back and forth as I rocked it.

hmmm it could be mounts but im not sure.

Apford said:

Not really? When I start it up there is more movement than I would expect, but when it's running and I rev it there is motion but not so much that it's an obvious issue. When it's just idling there is some vibration, but again, not severe enough to be a definite issue. I don't have anything to compare it to either, when its running how much vibration should you expect?

I turned it off and left it in gear and rocked it back and forth a bit and the engine was definitely moving an inch or so back and forth as I rocked it.

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If you could take a video, it'd be pretty easy to tell you if it's supposed to be moving that much.

To get to the mounts themselves just requires unbolting some things like the battery or wiper fluid reservoir. However, you may not be able to see the mount interior without unbolting it.

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You could upgrade to a set of aftermarket mounts. And then while you swap out the stock ones, you will see if it was busted or not.