Well got in the mini today for a drive. Iit seemed fine until I shifted it into 3rd gear.. if i accelerated in gear 3 everything started to rattle and the gear stick was vibrating like hell.. gear 4 just got worse.. gear 1 and 2 seemed fine however. It's never happened before. Anyone know what it could be?

Engine mount is my guess. the high the gears the more stress on the mounts as there is more torque. see if you can move the egnine in the bay. if so. time for new ones. If not, try whatever everyone else thinks it is.

Cheers

Aaron

_________________

Thanks aaron I'll go check it out now.. Are engine mounts much trouble replacing? would the whole engine have to come out, or can you replace one at a time?

Just went and checked the engine.. can't make it move at all, I just seem to be rocking the whole car. Any other ideas?

Clutch shudder?
You may need to adjust your clutch. it might not be biting well enough.

Cheers

Aaron

_________________

I experience a similiar rattle in my car. At first I thought it was an exhaust mount. Particularly when reversing it sounds like the exhaust is hitting the underbody. Can you tell me more about clutch shudder Aaron?

Basically clutch shudder will occur for two reasons.
Badly worn clutch diaphram
Mis-adjusted clutch

The first is not so common but common enough to be a suspect. Clutch's can slip and i am sure everyone has had this at some point. Shudder is the same thing. The clutch is tyring engage and lock but it is dragging on the surface becuase there is not enough pressure. You will find it to be most obvious under load (torque). Try adjusting the clutch, if not take it to the local and see if there is something your missing. Sometimes it is easy to overlook the simple things.

Cheers

Aaron

_________________