I’m not really sure how long this has been an issue because this car isn’t my daily driver anymore.... now whenever I drive it I can’t remember if it always did something or if it’s different.

The car has a vibration at idle when in gear. It’s pretty subtle, and is mostly felt through the steering wheel. Stick it in neutral and the vibration immediately goes away. Back in gear and it returns.

Thoughts? Normal? Transmission mount? Gremlins?

 

Quantity and quality of transmission fluid?

 

I need to look back through my records. Pretty sure the ATX fluid was replaced once while I’ve had the car (bought at 20k miles, now at 91k). I’ll try and check it, but right now the rear end is in the air with the wheels off for the suspension replacement, so I need to wait for it to be level.

 

Now that the car is on it’s wheels the answer is low and dark. Guess I’ll be getting some transmission fluid tomorrow and doing a drain/fill. How many cycles of drain fill is generally done? I think I did three on my 5-speed 3 when I switched over to redline for the gearbox. Any recommended fluids, or just whatever matches the DOT requirements in the manual?

 

I usually just go with manufacturer the requirement unless there is a need for a higher spec. My 5 is a manual and I put redline in it cause it met the spec (GL-4, not GL-5) and was easy to find. My Miata will get Redline cause I try to autocross a few times a year. My Excursion that I tow 8-9k lbs with I just go with the Ford spec cause it is not outside the normal use of the truck.

 

Yeah, the fluid that came in our 3 got really gummy when the temperature dropped and made for sloppy shifting. The MT90 fixed that completely.

 

Just did a drain and fill (rinse and repeat) with 15 qts of new fluid. Fluid that came out was black and burned smelling. Everything went well, but I got distracted when I went to pull it off the ramps to check the dipstick level at the end and had forgotten to disconnect the drain hose from the cooler and reconnect the car’s hose. My son was right in front of the car when it happened, so he shouted as soon as he saw the fluid coming out, but I probably lost a liter or more. The fluid started out low, and I went through 13.5 qts before the incident. I added the last 1.5 qts in at the end and it’s just on the tip of the dipstick again, so I’ll need to run out and get a little more tomorrow. By the end of the intentional draining the fluid coming out was turning clear, so I may have gotten most of the old fluid out.

I haven’t had a chance to drive it since I finished cleaning up because dinner and bedtime, but just at idle in the driveway the shaking was present, but reduced. Will see after it’s had more time to circulate through. I’ll probably do another drain and fill in 20-30k miles.

 

The vibration is more than likely from worn engine mount or mounts

 

that’s sort of what I was wondering. The passenger side mount looks fine, no cracking and no signs of oil leak. I had one of those fail on my ‘05 3 and replaced it. Anyway to check the rear or transmission mount other than removal? Would the vibration only show at idle or at other times? I know the passenger mount was super evident on acceleration as the motor would shift and the mount pieces would thunk.

 

On my 2010 the passenger side was totally sperated and the drivers side was about 50% broken. The lower mount had some cracks too. None of these were fluid filled.

From experience I can say buy quality replacements. My current "new" set transmit a lot of noise and vibrations. I will be replacing them shortly.