My 3.2L I6 2012 xc60 starts shaking when I turn it on and the shaking gets really bad when I put it into drive or reverse. What could be at fault here?

 

start by inspecting the motor mounts/transmission mounts. You can do this with helper by opening the hood, start the car then have a helper rev the engine and see how it shifts position. Then have them "power brake" by putting the car in gear with the brakes on hard and applying some gas - again to see if the engine/trans moves out of position. Be careful not to have the car pointing into the garage etc and don't stand in front in case the car lurches. How does the car drive at speed? does it seem to have normal power and no signs of a misfire, ie no CEL warnings?

 

There are no warning signs or check engine light. I was suspecting the coils or maybe the battery since today is rainy and I read that maybe one of those could have gotten wet since when I opened the hood, the battery cover was out of place and the battery was exposed.

 

I'd expect a misfiring coil to set off a CEL but sometimes you need to drive the car hard to get those to set. The battery/ voltage would not cause the engine to shake, in fact a low voltage event is almost sure to throw off a happy meal of fault codes. So what I'd do is the motor mount check to make sure driving the car hard won't move the engine out of place, then take it for a drive long enough to dry under the hood and see if firmly accellerating say from 50 to 70 sets off any misfires / codes. (that's where the most stress is put on the coils...) Also, how many miles on your car? Plugs are due every 60K miles BTW...

 

Do you think it would be safe to drive the car with the excessive shaking? As in could driving it cause more damage since it's shaking?

 

I'd certainly limit the driving you do to testing it and getting it over to the shop. Did you have a look under the hood to see if the engine is moving excessively?

 

I looked under the hood and the engine was shaking a bit much. I really just hope it's not the transmission or any costly part.

 

most likely its a torn motor mount on the nose of the engine. time for a service appt...

 

Took it to the shop, turns out cylinder 5 was misfiring. Had to replace all spark plugs and the coil for cylinder #5

 

glad it worked out as nothing major.