Automotive

car rumbling and vibrating in reverse gear?

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Deal Guru
Jun 11, 2005
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Toronto

car rumbling and vibrating in reverse gear?

earlier today i put my auto transmission in reverse and the car started rumbling hard and vibrating. When i applied gas, the rumbling stopped, but once i applied the brakes and the car was stopped or nearly stopping, it would rumble again. The car seems fine in idle, neutral or drive. I drove for about 40kms afterwards and tried going in reverse again. The same problem occurred. It was only until a couple of hours ago that it stopped doing that. Could it be a problem with the tranny? motor mount? torque convertor? or maybe i messed up the tranny when I was trying to get out of snow yesterday. I was putting the car back and forth in drive and reverse all day in the snow storm.

90,000 km mazda 3
17 replies
Deal Fanatic
Jun 11, 2005
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Mississauga
trixstar wrote: earlier today i put my auto transmission in reverse and the car started rumbling hard and vibrating. When i applied gas, the rumbling stopped, but once i applied the brakes and the car was stopped or nearly stopping, it would rumble again. The car seems fine in idle, neutral or drive. I drove for about 40kms afterwards and tried going in reverse again. The same problem occurred. It was only until a couple of hours ago that it stopped doing that. Could it be a problem with the tranny? motor mount? torque convertor? or maybe i messed up the tranny when I was trying to get out of snow yesterday. I was putting the car back and forth in drive and reverse all day in the snow storm.

90,000 km mazda 3
If its ok now it could of been ice and snow buildup on the halfshafts.
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May 10, 2005
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Ottawa
Is this a consistent problem, recently developed or just a one off and it is OK now?
Could be the fluid? Have you checked it?
Filter?
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Deal Expert
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Jun 12, 2007
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Snow packed into the front of the wheel wells.
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Aug 21, 2009
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l69norm wrote: Snow packed into the wheel wells.
^ would probably be the most common reason.
Deal Guru
Jun 11, 2005
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Toronto
it's recent.. i've never had that problem before, but maybe that's because there hasn't been a snow storm this bad since I got the car. If it was snow packed into the wheel wells, wouldn't it have have shaken off? I was going around 100-110 kmph for a good 40 kms or so.
Newbie
Nov 23, 2012
95 posts
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SUDBURY
Check tranny fluid, low fluid will cause ur engine to drop rpms when switching into reverse or drive from park.... Has ur battery died? Some cars need to re-learn the driving habits after a dead battery or a battery disconnect..... Varys with model and brand of car of course
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May 10, 2005
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trixstar wrote: it's recent.. i've never had that problem before, but maybe that's because there hasn't been a snow storm this bad since I got the car. If it was snow packed into the wheel wells, wouldn't it have have shaken off? I was going around 100-110 kmph for a good 40 kms or so.
You are correct in your assumptions. I did not give credence to those that mentioned snow in the wheels or wheel wells (or half shafts :facepalm :) because of the distance and time you drove the car.
You did not mention the type of car or its age, there may be an age or wear related reason (solenoid stuck or band slipping).
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Deal Guru
Jun 11, 2005
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Pete_Coach wrote: You are correct in your assumptions. I did not give credence to those that mentioned snow in the wheels or wheel wells (or half shafts :facepalm :) because of the distance and time you drove the car.
You did not mention the type of car or its age, there may be an age or wear related reason (solenoid stuck or band slipping).
its a 2011 mazda 3 with 90,000 kms. I think I may have worn down something in the tranny by shifting into drive and reverse all day yesterday. Are the components inside the automatic transmission replaceable or do i have to buy new tranny? Im just figuring out the cost of a worst case scenario.
Deal Fanatic
Aug 9, 2009
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its the snow and ice buildup. Had the same issue on my car today. scrap off the ice and snow and you are fine. sometimes it also makes that rub sound when your rotors are wet.
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May 10, 2005
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trixstar wrote: its a 2011 mazda 3 with 90,000 kms. I think I may have worn down something in the tranny by shifting into drive and reverse all day yesterday. Are the components inside the automatic transmission replaceable or do i have to buy new tranny? Im just figuring out the cost of a worst case scenario.
I wouldn't jump the gun on this yet. Before you blame anything, find out if this continues or if it is just moisture in the electrics or air path or some other temporary anomaly.
If it really does continue, get a diagnostic done or change the fluid. Lots of things that can and should be done or checked before you change the transmission LOL.
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May 8, 2005
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azncapcom wrote: its the snow and ice buildup. Had the same issue on my car today. scrap off the ice and snow and you are fine. sometimes it also makes that rub sound when your rotors are wet.
Same here...had some atypical noises & vibrations when starting to drive after the car sat out the storm for a few days...chalked it up to the ice & snow.

Sure enough .....after about 15 minutes of highway driving yesterday..all was back to normal. :)
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Banned
Sep 22, 2008
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this is what you get from highway driving, you are better bringing in the car in a heated garage to melt the ice/snow buildup.

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Deal Expert
Mar 23, 2004
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So only in reverse? Is it only when the car is moving or does it also happen when you have it in reverse and are holding the brake? In the latter case, this would have nothing to do with ice and snow. If there were a problem with the torque converter it should happen in a forward gear as well, so I'm thinking there's something else wrong. At 90k kms you're out of warranty I'm guessing, so hopefully it's not too serious. However auto trans usually don't have cheap fixes. Plus if it's an internal problem, even if it's something relatively minor, the cost of dropping the trans and putting it back in, is going to be somewhat steep :(

If the problem has stopped you may be in luck, however, with no permanent damage done. If you overheated the trans rocking it in the snow, it may have gone into protection/abuse mode where some things will not appear to work right. In some cases the MIL will light if this occurs, in some cases it won't so if you didn't see the MIL come on that doesn't mean the car didn't go into abuse mode to protect the trans. I'd just keep an eye (and ear) on it the next few days...hopefully it doesn't pop up again.
Member
Dec 7, 2005
263 posts
54 upvotes
Pickering
Ok since this is happening when you shift into reverse and not moving I am going to guess you damaged a motor/tranny mount yesterday when you were rocking your car in the snow ( to your point about shifting from drive to reverse a lot yesterday) The basic premise is that when you shift into reverse the torsional pressure on your mounts is different than when in drive and perhaps the vibrations were transferred to the chassis due to a broken / damaged mount. After driving for a bit the engine tranny could have shifted back into position. Have someone eyeball the three mounts while you shift from drive to reverse and back. If one is broken they should be able to identify which one pretty quick.
Sr. Member
Dec 8, 2006
627 posts
334 upvotes
Scarborough
Happened to me today on the highway, car vibrating like mad anytime I went over 80km/hour. I exited and had a car wash...problem solved!
Newbie
Jul 2, 2019
1 posts
Hello I recently had the same problem I have a 2011 Kia Soul I live in California drove the car to Vegas and back when I got back I noticed the car was making a very loud noise when pressed on the brakes a crazy you vibration loud noise after further examining the car I noticed it only did that in reverse and drive when I press on the brakes when I pressed on the gas pedal everything was fine when I got it home I looked under the hood to see what was going on and noticed the motor was rocking back and forth badly every time I pressed on the brakes when the car was in reverse or in Drive but it would not do it when pressing on the gas so I change two of the motor mounts and it's still doing the same thing the other motor mount is fine what else can cause this problem then yes transmission fluid is fine as well

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