hey all, after some advice. Got a NA berlina, when it goes into overdrive the whole car shudders.......bad, it goes away if i keep it at a constant rpm but when i try to accelerate it starts shuddering. Is my auto stuffed? I cant bypass the problem coz the power switch doesnt work. It goes into reverse and drive without delay and first 3 gears seem fine, just overdrive. Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers AJ

If you do a search you'll find a few threads regarding to this. Ive seen them pop up every now and then Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Mine did a bit of that, turned out the be the main tranny mounts, they had perished so badly the tranny was slopping around !

Thanks, Ill check the mounts. Funny, coz it feels like the tranny is wobbling round. Ill do a search Cheers

i have the exact same problem with my vl berlina, but to fix it all i did was switch the 'overdrive' to off, and i havent had any more troubles, but i do doubt that fixed it completely.

btw: Given the tranny doesnt have any sort of good oil filter just a basic mesh, then it is worth dropping the pan once each two years max to clean out the metal bits, some of the sludge can get into the valves, its a mixture of belt material, aluminium and its oxide and corrosion - by flushing the tranny oil and cleaning the crud off the pan it can gradually clear stuck and jittery valves...

if it stops doing it when you turn off your overdrive (button out), then your torque converter is knackered.

There is an overdrive solenoid that you can disconnect and see if the torque converter or lock up clutch is stuffed. yeah just do a search and you'll find it. disconnecting the solenoid will deactivate overdrive.

Thanks for replys fellas, after doin a search and some research it appears the lock up clutch is on the way out. Ive still got 4 gears but when the lock up clutch engages the shuddering begins. Seeing as its my runnabout car while I build up the turbo wagon Im gonna dissconnect the soleniod. Ill still have overdrive (4th gear) but not the lockup feature that is only on the NA autos. My power button doesnt work, previous owner ripped the top of shifter off for some reason. Down the track ill replace shifter or put a swicth in for the power button. I think Ill service the auto too for piece of mind!

You might just have solenoid shudder due to variations in pressure, its cheap and quick to first flush the pan before making expensive recons, hydraulics is sensitive to contamination and as I said, there is no real filter in the VL (jatco) tranny, so really recommend flushing the tranny oil first - whats in it will also tell you a lot !

Thanks, I will! Fluid looks ok on the dipstick, but just bought the car so i will definately give the auto the once over.

You cant tell anything from the dipstick, sludge gathers at the bottom out of range of the dipstick and can get swept up into the fine channels in the valve body. Sludge can also collect in the valve body and its only after dropping the pan, cleaning it properly, then filling with fresh fluid and waiting a couple of weeks (if a daily driver) that things start to clear up. Someone I know locally had all sorts of odd problems with his and once he noticed an improvement the first time he dropped his pan then he did it again and found even more sludge come out of the valve body now its sweet and almost as new Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

I disabled the lock up clutch solenoid and the car has stopped shuddering Next I'll service the auto, check/replace mounts and change the centre bearing coz its on the way out, Thanks for advice guys AJ Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

so what do they do/replace when u take your auto in to be serviced? how much does this usually cost?

Quote: Originally Posted by nicksvl so what do they do/replace when u take your auto in to be serviced? how much does this usually cost? They change fluid strainer and tighten up the gears. around $120. i bought fluid and strainer for under $50.

Cant really tighten gears mate, they wear um, what about the brake bands for the planetary sun gears ? Does the tranny need to come out to change them ? maybe when you say tighten, you really mean adjust the brake bands or replace them ? edit: Centre bearing defn worth changing for sure, these are under a lot of stress and the uni joints prob wearing as well,

Quote :Niche maybe when you say tighten, you really mean adjust the brake bands or replace them ? Yes thats what i mean,i just used the word "gears" so i did'nt have expain and write a long post on how its done. so Nicksvl just get Max Ellerys and read save money and learn.

My bands are a little loose and my pan is also due for a drop and flush as well, wonder if I can change the bands with tranny still in car, heck I changed my big ends twice already with block still in car, just jacked it up and slid off the sump Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Laying on your back sucks i miss my hoyst.