Hi all, recently my auto 96 ef has developed a slightly annoying problem that doesnt affect its driving, and im keen to find out what the problem (and fix ) might be. when at idle, whether in drive or neutral, there is a noticeable shake in the car (that wasnt present a few months back), and the vibration is noticeable up until the first gear is fully engaged and the car is moving forwards normally.

The second part of the problem (which is much more of a hassle) is that when shifted into reverse, there is a pause of about 3 seconds before the reverse gear will engage and the car will start to move very slowly backwards on a level road, and if given a little gas it will not engage reverse, and its virtually impossible to get into reverse when facing down a hill.

i did a search and some similar problems pointed to
-harmonic balancer
-transmission fluid
-engine mounts
-torque converter


any idea on the first place to look? or should i take it straight to a transmission specialist? thanks in advance for any help

yeah i have that idle prob with mine, an it takes mayb 3 -4 secs to start while waiting at the lights

im hoping a service of the car / transmission will do the trick

i hav a ef fairmont 95

Can't tell you what the second one is there andw but the first one sounds like the engine mounts are on there way out... I had a very similar problem and thought it had to do with either trans or engine then a friend of mine on ford mods pointed out one of the engine mounts was screwed so we popped down to the local wreckers and picked up a sweet one and installed it and the car has never been smoother driving or running in idle

okie doke, thanks for the help, how much was the replacement mount and how easy are they to replace? Also the reverse problem started happening before the shakiness so im thinking now that they might be 2 separate problems

We picked out a really good one and it cost all of $12... Looking from the front of the car the left engine mount was the one I had a problem with but took all of 20 mins to replace, Krytox who helped me told me that the right side is a pain in the a** and takes a while to take out due to all the fiddly bits on that side... So luckly mine was the left, after all fitted took it for a drive and it made a hell of a difference.

With the tranny it could be that it needs more fluid or it needs a good service... Usually if you are having a slipping problem it could be that there isnt much left but I could be wrong... Just have the car running and warm and check tranny while engine is in idle...

Drop the trans. pan, relace the filter and top the 95le right up, its probably low and been burnt by now.
Also check your gearbox seals for leaks, the rear engine [gearbox] mount will degrade into jelly if it has been soaked in tranny fluid for a long time. Support the gearbox and remove it, if you can twist it about, replace it.
Paul