Symptom
Rough when in gear at a standstill but smooth in neutral
At a junction with the brake held the whole car shakes, and slipping it into neutral settles it immediately. That difference is a diagnosis on its own: the engine has not changed between the two, so the fault is not in how it is running but in what is holding it. With drive selected an automatic is pushing against the brakes through the torque converter, which loads the mountings hard and steadily — so a mounting that has collapsed, or an active one that has stopped being controlled, transmits into the cabin what it used to absorb. Worth reporting separately from a rough idle, which is rough in neutral too.
Also described as: shakes in drive but not neutral, vibrates at traffic lights, shudders when stopped in gear, smooth in neutral rough in drive, shaking when stationary in gear, در دنده میلرزد در خلاص نه, پشت چراغ قرمز لرزش دارد, vibra con marcha puesta, tiembla parado en drive, vibra parado con marcha metida, اهتزاز والجير على السواقة, ترتج وأنا واقف على الدرايف, رجة عند الوقوف مع الغيار
Some causes mean you should stop driving
1 of the 22 codes that produce this symptom indicate a fault where continuing to drive risks damage or is unsafe. If the symptom is sudden or severe, treat it as one of those until a scan says otherwise.
What this usually means
This complaint arrives already half-diagnosed, and it is worth telling the driver so. The engine does not know which gear is selected — it is running identically in both cases — so a difference between neutral and drive cannot be a running fault. What changes is the load path: with drive selected against the brakes, the engine is pushing steadily into a torque converter that cannot go anywhere, and that load is carried by the mountings.
A mounting is a filter, and this is the condition it is least able to hide a failure in. At a standstill in gear the load is high, steady and one-directional — exactly the case a collapsed rubber mounting or a hydraulic mounting that has lost its fluid cannot absorb. So an entirely healthy engine transmits into the cabin what it used to have taken out.
Active mountings add a second failure that looks identical and is not a mounting at all. Many modern cars fit mountings whose stiffness is controlled — by vacuum or electrically — and softened deliberately at idle. If the control fails, the mounting stays in its stiff state and the car shakes at a standstill while behaving perfectly on the move. That is a control fault with a cheap fix, and replacing the mounting will appear to work while leaving the control still broken.
The confirmation is free and should be done before anything is ordered: select neutral and compare. If the shake goes, stop looking at the engine.
Working through it
| What you find | Likely cause | How to confirm it | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shakes in drive with the brake held, settles instantly in neutral | A mounting no longer absorbing the steady load — collapsed rubber, or a hydraulic mounting that has lost its fluid | Compare the two directly. Inspect each mounting for splits, collapse and oily residue, and watch engine movement as drive is selected. | Renew the failed mounting. Inspect the others while access is open — they are the same age. |
| Shakes at a standstill on a car with active mountings, smooth on the move | The mounting is stuck in its stiff state because its control has failed, not because the mounting has | Check the vacuum supply or electrical control to the mounting, and command it on a scan tool where the car supports it. | Repair the control — a perished vacuum line or a failed solenoid. Renewing the mounting hides the fault rather than fixing it. |
| Rough in neutral as well, just less noticeable | A running fault after all, amplified by load rather than caused by it | Listen in neutral with the bonnet up rather than judging from the seat. Read misfire counters and trims. | Diagnose as a rough idle. Mountings will not fix a cylinder that is not contributing. |
| Started after engine, gearbox or subframe work | A mounting misaligned or not torqued in its settled position | Retrace the work. A mounting tightened with the engine hanging sits pre-loaded and transmits far more than one settled first. | Slacken, settle the engine on its mountings, and re-torque to specification. |
| Accompanied by a clunk when selecting drive or reverse | Excessive movement — a badly failed mounting, or driveline backlash from worn joints | Watch engine movement as drive is selected against the brake. Large movement points at the mounting; a clunk with little movement points at the driveline. | Renew the mounting, or the worn joint the movement names. |
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Shakes in drive with the brake held, settles instantly in neutral
- Likely cause
- A mounting no longer absorbing the steady load — collapsed rubber, or a hydraulic mounting that has lost its fluid
- How to confirm it
- Compare the two directly. Inspect each mounting for splits, collapse and oily residue, and watch engine movement as drive is selected.
- What fixes it
- Renew the failed mounting. Inspect the others while access is open — they are the same age.
-
Shakes at a standstill on a car with active mountings, smooth on the move
- Likely cause
- The mounting is stuck in its stiff state because its control has failed, not because the mounting has
- How to confirm it
- Check the vacuum supply or electrical control to the mounting, and command it on a scan tool where the car supports it.
- What fixes it
- Repair the control — a perished vacuum line or a failed solenoid. Renewing the mounting hides the fault rather than fixing it.
-
Rough in neutral as well, just less noticeable
- Likely cause
- A running fault after all, amplified by load rather than caused by it
- How to confirm it
- Listen in neutral with the bonnet up rather than judging from the seat. Read misfire counters and trims.
- What fixes it
- Diagnose as a rough idle. Mountings will not fix a cylinder that is not contributing.
-
Started after engine, gearbox or subframe work
- Likely cause
- A mounting misaligned or not torqued in its settled position
- How to confirm it
- Retrace the work. A mounting tightened with the engine hanging sits pre-loaded and transmits far more than one settled first.
- What fixes it
- Slacken, settle the engine on its mountings, and re-torque to specification.
-
Accompanied by a clunk when selecting drive or reverse
- Likely cause
- Excessive movement — a badly failed mounting, or driveline backlash from worn joints
- How to confirm it
- Watch engine movement as drive is selected against the brake. Large movement points at the mounting; a clunk with little movement points at the driveline.
- What fixes it
- Renew the mounting, or the worn joint the movement names.
Codes that produce this symptom (22)
Listed with the codes that most typically present this way first — the likeliest place to start.
- P0A14 Engine Mount A Control Circuit/Open Typical of this code Low
- P0A15 Engine Mount A Control Circuit Low Typical of this code Low
- P0A16 Engine Mount A Control Circuit High Typical of this code Low
- P0AB6 Engine Mount B Control Circuit/Open Typical of this code Low
- P0AB7 Engine Mount B Control Circuit Low Typical of this code Low
- P0AB8 Engine Mount B Control Circuit High Typical of this code Low
- P0740 Torque Converter Clutch Circuit/Open Moderate
- P0741 Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Performance/Stuck Off Moderate
- P0742 Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Stuck On High
- P0743 Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Electrical Moderate
- P0744 Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Intermittent Moderate
- P2756 Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Moderate
- P2757 Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Control Circuit Performance/Stuck Off Moderate
- P2758 Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Control Circuit Stuck On Stop driving High
- P2759 Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Control Circuit Electrical Moderate
- P2760 Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Control Circuit Intermittent Moderate
- P2761 Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Control Circuit/Open Moderate
- P2762 Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Control Circuit Range/Performance Moderate
- P2763 Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Control Circuit High Moderate
- P2764 Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Control Circuit Low Moderate
- P2769 Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Low Moderate
- P2770 Torque Converter Clutch Circuit High Moderate
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Others with this symptom
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What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
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