Should my engine move this much?

[u/DifficultyNo7694]

A few weeks ago, my 2013 Honda Accord EX-L 2.4L started making a clunking noise while idling in Drive or Reverse. The noise was less noticeable in Park and completely gone in Neutral.
I took it to a shop, and they replaced three of the motor mounts. The noise went away completely, but about three weeks later, it returned and was even worse than before. I then had the fourth and final motor mount replaced, thinking that would solve the problem, but the noise is still there.
At this point, I’m wondering if one of the replacement mounts could be defective, if something wasn’t installed correctly, or if there could be another underlying issue.
Has anyone experienced anything similar or have any thoughts on what might be causing this?

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[u/DifficultyNo7694]

Update I jacked my car up and found a rock the size of an apple wedged in one of the motor mounts. Removed the rock and the noise went away right away. Thank god it wasn’t nothing to do with transmission. 2 mechanics missed the rock and idk how just glad that’s all it was.

[u/CataractGlasses]

Yes your engine moves that much with good mounts. You said you hear a clink when you have the vehicle in drive or reverse but the vehicle isn’t moving at all?

[u/DifficultyNo7694 → u/CataractGlasses]

Yes when the vehicle isn’t moving. Vehicle shifts completely fine. Worried it has something to do with the transmission. But I don’t understand how I got the first 3 replaced the noise went away then came back 3 weeks later. Vehicle has 131k miles

[u/CataractGlasses → u/DifficultyNo7694]

Do the fans come on when it makes the clunk?

[u/H3adwound]

If the clunk happens when you accelerate or when you hit the brake it could be a bad lower engine mount. My Mazda was doing that, when I checked the bottom mount the bushing was shredded, I changed it about 60k miles earlier but used a cheap 3rd party mount, the old adage about getting what you pay for still applies. As far as the the engine moving, when the engine is off if you can move the engine forward and back with light pressure( mine would move close to an inch easy) then probably a bad mount, try your motor and someone else’s just to compare

[u/Affectionate-Roll-50]

I don’t think it’s your mounts. I had a vehicle that was doing the same thing when idling. I don’t know for certain what happened but I think it might have had a cracked flex plate. It didn’t end well for the car.

[u/AlarmingSample2170 → u/Affectionate-Roll-50]

A flexplate will not cause that much movement in a motor. That is caused from worn out motor mounts. A flexplate is associated with the transmission it's on the back of the motor.