Sleeve

Thanks for the replies on this. I have had a chance to inspect the mounts. The lower motor mounts appear to be good and still bonded to the metal as well as the transmission mounts but I know looks can be deceiving. The top mount on the bellhousing / firewall had a lot of sideways slop to it and could be the problem so I ordered a new one and am waiting on it. If that doesn't do it then the next mount I'll replace will be the one for the transmission mainly due to ease of replacement. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's not the lower motor mounts as the manual says fan and radiator must come out, wheels must come off and the engine hoisted part way out to change them. What a PIA for two simple mounts!!

I have a 2001 Forester and there is considerable play on the engine and transmission in the horizontal plane. While checking the exhaust system by grabbing a hold of it and looking for loose pipes I noticed the pipes are tight but I can move the whole power train back and forth horizontally with the exhaust pipe . When the car is running you can watch the muffler move back and forth horizontally as well. I've never seen this in another vehicle. Is this normal? Seems to me that the motor mounts are bad and need to be replaced, can someone help me with this?

Thanks! I'll check all that out. -Mike-

I have an 02 Forrester that has some metal to metal suspension noises which are more pronounced when I go over large bumps and bad roads. I recently replaced all four struts on the car but the top mounts seemed good on all four so I reused them. The noise seems to be coming from the rear of the vehicle but I'm not 100% sure on that. I'm good at working on my 40 and 50 year old trucks and if they were making this noise I'd say it was a missing shock bushing or a broken leaf. Frankly the complexities of of independent strut suspension is new to me and I can use all the help I can get here! Suggestions? -Mike-

I'm the owner of a 2002 Forrester since it was new. It's been a great car and continues to be a great car but as the years and miles continue to pile on the "Sube" needs a little more attention in the way of maintenace and a repair or two so joining this forum seems like a good thing for me. I'm a fair to midland mechanic and with a little coaching from pro's I'm able to keep my cars on the road! TIA for the help I'll be getting here! -Mike-