C-GT creaking looseness

[auditude@juno.com (Ken Keith)]

I went for a long drive and thought a bit about the noise my car is
making.  I had the idea that the engine mounts were loose at the top and
the motor was just sliding around on the mounts.  I got home and tried to
tighten them, but they were already tight.

When I greased the bushings, I greased the entire outside of them, and
inside the metal collar that the bolt goes through.

What I did _not_ grease was in between the metal collar and the urethane
bushings.

QUESTION:  Is there movement there?  It  _really_ doesn't seem like there
is, because it's like pressed in there, but I could be wrong.  Maybe I
should drive out the collar and put grease between that and the bushing?

The noise seems to be almost coming from the strut area, but not really. 
I don't know if I should say that.  It's not easy to localize.

One other note:  My tranny and cat "tap" the floor tunnel when I let of
the gas, and when I back up.  I believe this is because the cat-back pipe
is a bit long, and pushes the EM forward, which caused me to not be able
to line up the engine very well.  I think to line it up, I'll have to
undo the exhaust and line up the motor and then tighten the mounts.

The reason I bring this up is because I kinda think the engine moves too
much, fore and aft, but there is very little clearance where the
cat/trans yoke are in the tunnel (on one side).  So, either the tapping
is because of the engine/tranny alignment problem (it's obviously a
contributing factor), and/or it's because the mounts are shot, which
would explain the noise problem too?

Let me just summarize.  I have a noise that occurs when the car goes over
bumps.  It is best described as a creaking or loose sound.  Like
something is sliding around or about to fall off.  The ball joints, tie
rod ends, wheel bearings, struts, strut bearings, and even control arm
bushings are all either new or show no signs of wear.

I give up for now.  Maybe I should get into the strut assembly and poke
around.
Next weekend or after work someday.  G'nite all.

Ken
Auditude

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