The vanderhall carmel is a front wheel drive, 3-wheeled autocycle with an all aluminum box frame; it is powered by a gm 1.5T engine coupled to a 6-speed automatic transmission, transverse mounted in a fwd configuration. The rear engine mount is bolted to a bracket that is welded to the aluminum firewall. While the welds on the bracket appear to be intact, the aluminum firewall where the engine mount bracket was attached to has a large horizontal stress crack just above the welded area, which appears to be a point...
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of metal fatigue; the exposed crack shows that the metal where the engine mount was welded to is too thin to support the engine during normal driving conditions; additionally, this stress crack was discovered shortly before the vehicle reached 550 miles. There are several cracks in the firewall.