VP Calais Transmission trouble

[huntsman482]

Hi all, i have a VP Calais with a stock 3.8 6 cyl & turbo 700 transmission in it , but the problem is that when i am sitting on around 100 Kph , the transmission develops a shudder when i am going up hill , or if its got a trailer on , it gets this shuddering when i go up the slightest of hills , it tends to get a little worse , it sounds like i am going over ripple strips on the side of the road , but louder ,, it normally goes away if i go back into 3rd on the shift or if i kick back down to a lower gear , if i have a trailer on , it will start playing up more so , but it generally plays up around the 95 Km - about 105 KM mark ,,,, please , any suggestions on what may be causing this problem , or has anyone had this problem & found the solution for it , please any assistance would be greatly appreciate ,,, Thanks , Ralph

 

[WazzaVN]

I'd check out your tailshaft first. Centre bearing and uni's. Jack it up and see if the centre bearing feels a bit loose.

 

[Cheap6]

Maybe but it doesn't sound road speed dependent. Maybe slipping torque converter clutch? Maybe just an engine miss though; 'leads, 'plugs?

 

[HarryHoudini]

Thats the speed for tailshaft wobbles or OoB wheels,if it was the Tranny it should be there thru the whole speed range.

 

[huntsman482]

It only seems to shudder around the 100 Km mark , when going up hill & worse with a trailer on , i did Jack up the car & checked the tail shaft & center bearing , & that seem ok , But one think i did notice is that i could move the tail shaft slightly from side to side in the center bearing area , but it was not by much though , maybe a tolerance of about 5 mm in total from 1 side to the other , But in saying that , i had to put a fair bit of pressure on it to do that though , but i expect that there has to be a bit of movement in the center bearing though ,,, also in saying that , if i have a passenger in the car as well , then this problem makes it play up a bit more as well,

also too , i have had a wheel balance & also a wheel alignment as well , & that didn't make any difference either .

 

[huntsman482]

also too , the engine doesn't miss that i know of , runs smooth as anything on the highway , or back roads as well ,,, i have never had a problem with it missing since i owned the car

 

[Circlotron]

Maybe slipping torque converter clutch?

See if you can disconnect the wire that makes the torque converter lock and see if it shuts up. That should tell you if it is this or something else.

 

[DJ_Cosmic_Fire]

warped TLC, time to replace it