88 GL wagon 4wd trans noise

[wwjd587]

I have a very nice 88 GL wagon 1.8 that I like very much, but for the life of me I can't figure out why the trans is moving around and making a noise. Let me explain. When I jab the throttle the tranmission 5 speed dual 4 wheel drive unit will raise up and creat a thumping noise above the trans. I have put it up on ramps and had a friend recreate the problem and everthing seems normal. The tranmission motor mounts are rubber but are moving but not broken. There is even a medal stopper on the motor mount to stop it from moving too far. But there still seems like too much movement. If the motor mounts are not broken and the stoppers are stopping it from raising too far, then why is the trans moving up too much and hitting the trans tunnel. The rubber on the bottom of the trans mount is good also. I look at what it is doing but still can't resolve as too why it is moving soo much. Maybe the trans mount is weak and allowing the trans to move too much. If any of you have ever had this problem before let me know. would like to fix the thump....... Ted

[northguy]

The mounts may be ruber, but are they excessively worn? That might account for the movement.

[hooziewhatsit]

are the mounting bolts pulling the tranny snug against the mounts?

[wwjd587]

The mounts seem to look good. The rubber is stretching when torque is supplied to the trans. When watching them they move upward and seem to stretch. Maybe they are old and are allowing the trans to stretch too much. I don't see any visible cracking or any tears in the rubber. The mount itself is shapped like a metal C and the rubber in inside of the C. When torque is supplied to the trans the mount stretches and the top of the C mount hits. Still enough movement is made for the hitting of the trans tunnel. You can see the shifter and the high and low shifter move quite a bit. Any ideas are welcome. Ted