Vibration/Shudder under load

[Deano3350]

My VS Berlina S2 Auto 130,000ks has started to vibrate/shudder under load, but only in about the 1,500 to 2,500 RPM range. Idle is flawless as is performance after shudder stops. Highway cruising is fine but as soon as it gets to a hill Shudders forcing me to force it into 3rd. The needles don't bounce and seems to have sub sided as it cooled down (badly shudder in heat), This is regardless whether A/C and all elects are on and off.
My question is could this be bad fuel filter?
Cleaning the air filter eased the situation.
What else could it be? Should I check the spark plugs?
(New car so I don't know when fuel filter and plugs were last changed)

Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers

[POVRTY]

tail shaft center bearing

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

I reckon it's leads. The leads will break down under load and cause an engine miss, this will feel like a shudder.

[Deano3350]

Cheers. looking at the leads they look like originals/damn old. now to wait till pay day to start troubleshooting

[VSCOM2]

Having similar with my VS S2 135,000ks. Found faulty plug lead, thought great, replaced all, problem still exists. No fault codes except 12

[paulsautoelec]

can be rear suspension bushes too

[VSCOM2]

Went to replace fuel filter again, noticed previous filter (replaced six mths ago) had something loose inside, so cut open. Internal filter element had separated from housing and fuel was effectively bypassing filter. Now suspect contaminated injectors which were cleaned six months ago.

[Changa]

I'm having the same problem. The mechanic i took it too thinks my transmission mount is really soft and the gearbox is shuddering, not sure if it will work but im having it done tomorrow its fairly cheap anyway. As for plugs and leads mine are all like new. Ill get back to ya with my results.

[Changa]

The problem seems to be fixed with the new transmission mount, I would recommend it if you have the same problem as me (and have tried all the other things to fix it). It costs $45 for a new transmission mount for an auto VS commodore and the mechanic charged $40 labour to put it in, fairly cheap fix in my opinion.

[Deano3350]

Oddly the problem seems to have gone away. i changed water pump as it was leaking. now car is 100% and cant find a problem. if it does do it again ill change my plugs n leads n check into the mounts. cheers for that update

[Changa]

Yeah the new mount made mine better but not fixed, I am still getting the shuddering. Thinking of getting a new Torque Converter Clutch, if its not too costly. How much was your water pump to replace?

[Deano3350]

Water pump was $75 from I forget what store, they usually have ridiculous prices for other stuff so i assume most place will charge bout the same. I did it myself using one of the guides on here. I spent $40 at supercheap for a decent sealer to put on both sides of the gasket, which comes with the pump. Then one of the large bolts was an absolute BITCH to remove, it was stuck in and broke 1 adapter for my ratchet, then it broke 1 socket, then it broke the frickin ratchet. Mechanic charged me $20 to loosen bolt for me and i finished it myself with no probs. Assuming you have high temp gasket stuff, locktight and a socket set and no stuck bolts its a $75 DIY job taking about an hr including bleeding system

[vs_wagon]

Could be torque converter clutch, mine is having same prob and that's what I was told. Does it only happen above 85km/h? I changed fuel filter, spark plugs and leads and still there...

[Deano3350]

in the period my car did it, it was at any speed around the 2000 rev range but not so much in 1st or 2nd.

Good luck

[VSCOM2]

The most pronounced shuddering and missing with my vehicle occurs under mild acceleration from a uphill start, just has trouble getting power, also some minor backfiring. Holding off on injectors at this stage as situation is no worse under heavy acceleration at 80k. Now looking at timing.

[CAGT911]

Hi Deano, I have a S2 VS with 145000kms. I have had a vibration under acceleration since I got the car 7 years ago (with only 70000kms).
It seems to be better under very light acceleration. If pushed to mid-accel, the vibration is very pronounced and feels like a tailshaft bearing or trans mount (both of which appear to be fine on mine). Under heavy acceleration, it feels like a VN commo accelerating (bad vibe!). In addition, my auto appears to make a very loud rattling/chattering sound under the same acceleration. Almost seems to be an internal backlash/chattering of gears or clutches in the box. More noticeable in first and second gears, but will still do it at freeway speeds, depending on load applied.

Don't wish to hijack your thread, but has anyone had this chattering symptom?

(P.S. I've done plugs, leads, fuel filter,air filter, checked trans mount, centre bearing etc etc. none of which have made improvement on vibe...just for your info)

[pjdm1980]

Had a mate that had a shuddering under accelaration and it would come and go for about three months then one day he was putting his car away, went to put it into reveres and he heard a loud ping and lost reveres the trans had gave up the ghost, just that easy. Maybe try to sevice the trans?

[mighty_rifle]

Hi all just wondering what the outcome of the vibration was? We have just purchased a VX v6 sedan and it has a similar problem. We have it booked in at holden next week, but would be good if we had a heads up before we went it. I have read a couple of posts that say that the gearbox needed a rebuild. Drive.com.au said a similar thing about the gear box. They said at 170000 it would be close to a rebuild.. well we have just done 170000... Hope to hear some info from you all.. Thanks.