vibration at idle in Mazda

[Darky]

My wife and I test drove a 2000 Mazda Protege the other day. It's a 4 cyl, auto. At stop lights when we stopped in gear it would vibrate a little bit, not too bad but noticeable. If I shifted into neutral it would go away, and return as soon as it went in gear again. I switched back and forth a few times, and it consistently happened in gear. It didn't occur when moving. We only had to let go of the brake and idle forward to make it go away. I think its just the engine working against the brakes, trying to move and not being able to. Any ideas, is it a bad sign, or is it nothing? We're looking for something cheap and reliable for her to drive around in with the baby.

 

[Moto]

Sounds like it has a bad engine mount.

 

[Darky]

I was kind of afraid of it being something like that. Otherwise she loved it.

 

[Matthew Currie]

Before going too much further, I'd make sure the problem is not directly related to holding down the brake itself. Try doing the same thing in park and neutral as well as in gear. If holding the pedal down affects the idle it suggests a bad brake booster.

 

[Darky]

It happened in gear but not neutral and only with the brakes on.

 

[jeeppowermj]

my dads car does that and it has a bad tranny mount