I was test driving a Jeep Liberty today. I noticed that when it was shifted into 3rd or 4th, the stick would shake. It was not terribly violent but it wasn’t just a small vibration either. My question is, does this indicate a problem (or poor quality) with the transmission, with my driving, or is it just supposed to do that?
I’ve driven many manual transmission cars before and I’ve never run into something like this.
The gearbox probably has a looser rubber gasket mounting to the frame so that if it does not snap off or break your wrist when you are driving on rough terrain (something I doubt most SUV drivers actually do). In reality it probably does not shake very much, but small motion translates to larger motion on it’s way up the stick.
It could very well be a worn shift fork or collar on the 3-4 shifter. If these parts get really worn the transmission can easily pop out of gear.
More info please…how old is the vehicle, how many miles? Is it possible you shifted too soon, and lugged the engine? The “loose rubber gasket” zen mentioned, the transmission mount, could be the cause, but it should vibrate through all the gears, I would think.
Its a new car. Less than 100 miles on it. I was test driving it off the dealer’s lot.
I don’t really think I was bogging the engine by shifting incorrectly…it wasn’t acting like that. Just the stick shaking in thsoe 2 gears.
Ask the dealer to let you drive another Jeep.