Ok..take that back for the time being. Apparently the mechanic hadn't
seen the pulsation just having the car in park, and it couldn't be the
transmission if it were in park right? A transmission shop thought it
sounded like an engine problem, so the mechanic is going to look at it
some more. I've gotten quotes for rebuilt transmissions between $1500
to $2300 (yikes), most of them in upper part of that range, wonder what
a rebuilt engine would cost...