Transmission Shudder?

[radchad3]

Hello everyone! I have a 98 Bonneville that has been acting up more in the last 18 months. When mashing the pedal from a stop I get an awful shudder from the car. Letting off the pedal and rolling back onto it alleviates the problem. I am usually very gentle with my car but my wife's spirited driving shows the problem more often. Within the last year I have changed the spark plugs and wires, put a transgo shift kit in, changed transmission filter and oil.

I did put the shift kit in because I had the PCS symptoms that are so common on this tranny. It would shift hard with the high pressure whine associated with it. Since the shift kit has been installed this has been remedied completely.

The tranny fluid has never smelled burnt and is nice and red.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[radchad3]

Well....took the bonnie into a transmission shop and they recommended a replacement. They said no codes were thrown. Does anyone have suggestions outside of replacing the transmission? Would a product like lubeguard be something to try? Thank you all for the input!

PS: They quoted me $2275 for the tranny! That included a 50K 3 year warranty. That seems like alot! Any thoughts on that??

[Bob Dillon]

Well....took the bonnie into a transmission shop and they recommended a replacement.

Boy, there's a shock, eh?

Pull the trans dipstick and smell the fluid. Smell burnt? Probably dead.

If it smells normal change the fluid and the filter (don't have it flushed) and drive it to see if that helps.

Anyway, that's what I'd do before blowing over 2K.

[radchad3]

Thanks for the reply! I just changed the fluid about 13K miles ago. It doesn't smell burnt at all before or after the change. The pan had some clutch material in it when I dropped it but that was it! I just did a pan drop and filter, no flush. Any thoughts?!? Thanks! Chad

[Jrs3800]

Replace the PCS and try again... The shift kit can help and or band aid a bad PCS unless it more or less fails, if it fails you could have low line pressure... I would go through the H*** of replacing that PCS before I would rebuild it... Might be worth the gamble...

[petraman]

Could also be your transmission mounts... I had that problem with the Impala

[Merrillspontiac]

Try some lucas trans fix.

[radchad3]

Thanks guys for the tips. If the PCS was completely crapped out would the scan give a low pressure reading? If I decide to try just the PSC how much should I be looking to have someone do it? I will check the mount tonight and also look at the lucus solution. Thanks! Chad