Yes, the exhaust pipe will sometimes hit the motor support cross brace
on the left side when starting the engine if the mounts are soft.  You
hear a big "clunk" when the  motor catches and rotates against the
crank.  In my case only the two lower mounts were soft after 16 years of
exhaust heat and oil saturation, uppers were fine, and it only started
doing this after installing my new engine.  Increased power I guess.
Dealer only item--about $40 each as I recall, typical VW rip off. To
VW's credit, they are well made and were still intact, just a bit
"spongy", so it was really an annoyance more than anything dangerous.

BTW, I just installed the Yokohama Y356's today, I'll test them out this
weekend!

Jason Yasment wrote:
>
> Anyone got a 'quick & easy' way to check for bad motor mounts?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jason M Yasment
> '84 Westfalia
> Troy, NY
> Free, encrypted, secure Web-based email at www.hushmail.com

Stuart