LEMFÖRDER Strut Mount and Engine Mount FAQ — Plus Bad Thermostat, Camshaft and Timing Belt Answers

I order the suspension and engine parts for an 18-person independent repair group, and I've tracked roughly $200,000 a year in spending for the past 5 years. That means I see what happens after installation, not just what the invoice says. These are the questions people type into search boxes before they buy LEMFÖRDER parts — answered from that invoice-side view.

• LEMFÖRDER strut mount: when a clunk is more than a clunk
• LEMFÖRDER engine mount: warning signs worth catching early
• How can you tell if a thermostat is bad?
• What does the camshaft in a car do?
• Timing belt on an engine: why the date on the sticker matters
• Cheapest part that fits, or LEMFÖRDER? A total-cost view

LEMFÖRDER strut mount: when a clunk is more than a clunk

A worn LEMFÖRDER strut mount — or any strut mount, for that matter — usually announces itself with a clunk on sharp bumps. One hit, then silence until the next bump. On some cars, you will also get a creak when turning into a parking space, because the bearing inside the top mount is done.

Here's something a lot of guides skip: by the time it gets noisy, the mount has been moving more than it should and loading the strut rod unevenly. The fix is straightforward, but it means removing the strut assembly. So the real cost question is whether you're paying that labor once or twice.

In our supplier price lists as of late 2024, the gap between a generic mount and a LEMFÖRDER unit was around $20 to $45. If the strut is already out, picking the better mount is a no-brainer. The difference is less than half an hour of shop labor. (Not a brand slogan — just how I'd rather spend a labor budget.)

LEMFÖRDER engine mount: warning signs worth catching early

Engine mounts don't always fail loudly. The signs we see most: vibration at idle when the car is in gear, a dull clunk when shifting into Reverse or Drive, and an engine that tilts more than it should when someone revs it. On hydraulic mounts, fluid residue around the unit is a dead giveaway.

A comeback in July 2024 changed how I select engine mounts. We used an economy mount on a customer's minivan to keep the quote down. Two weeks later it was back with vibration through the floor. We redid it with an OE-quality LEMFÖRDER engine mount, ate the extra parts cost, and lost 1.8 hours of labor. The upfront saving was about $70. The rework cost us roughly $340. Until that job, I'd underestimated how much cheap rubber can cost when you track it through a second repair.

If you're buying parts for a shop, compare total cost: part price plus probable redo cost plus customer goodwill. The cheap option has to survive that formula, not just fit the first time.

How can you tell if a thermostat is bad?

Thermostats fail in two directions, and the symptoms are almost opposites.

If it sticks closed, coolant can't reach the radiator, so engine temperature climbs fast. The needle goes past normal, and sometimes the reservoir boils while the radiator stays cool. That's the urgent one: keep driving and a cylinder head can warp.

If it sticks open, the engine runs too cool. The temperature gauge sits below normal on the highway, the heater blows lukewarm air at speed, and you will often see a P0128 code — coolant temperature below thermostat regulating temperature. Some owners just notice worse fuel economy first.

There's also the intermittent version: the thermostat opens late, so the engine overheats in traffic and then cools off once moving. Either way, this is not the part to economize on. A cheap thermostat with sloppy calibration can burn more diagnostic time than it costs. And if you're already draining coolant, check the housing and gasket while it's apart.

What does the camshaft in a car do?

The camshaft in a car is a steel shaft with egg-shaped lobes. As it rotates, each lobe pushes an intake or exhaust valve open at exactly the right moment, then lets it close before the valve spring slams it shut. The gap between “exactly right” and “close enough” is milliseconds of engine rotation.

That's why the camshaft has to stay synchronized with the crankshaft. On overhead-cam engines, the link is a timing belt, timing chain, or gear drive. It's also why a replacement camshaft — or any part that works with it — needs to match the exact engine code, not just the car model. Variable valve timing sensors, actuators, and seals vary between years.

From the ordering side, this is where mistakes happen. People order by make and model, the part looks similar, but the engine code is different. Checking before purchase beats restocking fees and downtime.

Timing belt on an engine: why the date on the sticker matters

The timing belt on an engine is the physical link between the crankshaft and the camshaft — or camshafts. Because the cam opens the valves, the belt has to keep the whole sequence in sync. If the belt skips, valves can meet pistons at the worst possible moment. If it breaks, the engine stops instantly.

On many engines, the same belt also drives the water pump. That's why the service includes a belt kit with tensioners and idlers, and the water pump is usually recommended at the same time. Replacement intervals vary by manufacturer: roughly 60,000 to 105,000 miles, or every 5–7 years, whichever comes first. Rubber ages even when the odometer doesn't.

I pulled our records while writing this. In early 2024, one customer declined a timing belt job at $860. The belt broke around 121,000 miles, and the quote for cylinder head work was $4,350. The difference between those two numbers is why I treat factory intervals as a cost control, not a suggestion.

(Not every engine has a belt — many modern engines use chains — but if yours has one, the date on the sticker matters as much as the mileage.)

LEMFÖRDER or the cheapest part that fits? Total cost is the real answer.

Quick answer: it depends. For wiper blades or clamps, cheap is fine. For suspension and engine mounts, where replacement means hours of labor, the cheapest option has to survive a total-cost test.

In 2023, wrong-part orders in our system were running at about 14%, mostly because we were matching parts by car model instead of by engine code and OEM number. Moving to digital fitment and cross-reference tools cut that to under 3% in about a year. That's the kind of efficiency gain that shows up in the budget. It also gave us time to focus on diagnosis — which no catalog can do for you.

Bottom line: buy the best part you can verify fits, especially when labor is the expensive half of the job. A LEMFÖRDER part with the right OEM reference isn't always the cheapest quote, but it's usually the cheapest repair. And for anyone tracking costs, that's the number that actually matters.

There's something satisfying about a part you install once and never see again. That's what I'm buying.