Transmission Adjustment?

[DBGaither]

My '98 Avalon lurches whenever I put it into Reverse from Park and also when moving from Reverse to Drive. It seems to shift okay, it is just those changes that kinda scares my wife. It has been doing this since we've had the car. The car was purchased used from a dealer and then the tranny took a dump. So the dealer had the tranny rebuilt and installed locally. This is something that has always annoyed us, and I'm finally ready to do something about it.

I've tried to research this board and the likely suspects seem to be transmission mounts. Is there any adjustments to the tranny or are the mounts really the ONLY thing to check?

[pmesfun]

Does this happen when the engine is cold or hot?

[WetOne]

One way to check the mounts easily is to have someone shift the transmission (with the e brake on) while you watch the motor to see if lurches excessively. My wife's 97 xl had this issue and the dealer could'nt diagnose. This is how I found it.

[DBGaither]

pmesfun - it happens whether hot or cold although it seems more noticeable when its cold

wetone - this is a great idea, I'm taking it into the shop tomorrow to have the timing belt changed. I am going to have them inspect the mounts, but I'll also suggest they try shifting while someone else is watching if they do not find something obvious.

I'll try to report back this week with what the shop said.

[pmesfun]

Yeah, forgot to say to check the mounts. I have a similar problem, there is a clunk when ever I go into Reverse from any other gear. I'm thinking its the front mount since there is excess movement when I do the stationary Rev test in Reverse. Trans, dog bone and rear mount are good.

[DBGaither]

Okay, I received a call from the shop today, they say most of my motor mounts are broken. So they are replacing them. I'm excited to find out how this affects the herky-jerky transmission behavior. I'm pretty confident this was the culprit. But I will report back as soon as I pick it up and give it a good test drive.

[bbenson831]

That explains my hard shift into reverse =x. I shouldn't be too surprised I guess since the car is over 14 years old.

[albie2346]

check throttle cable to transmission....if damaged, will definitely cause motor to JUMP when putting in gear

[DBGaither]

Okay, so I finally test drove today after the motor mounts had been replaced. Night and day difference. I can clearly say that in THIS case, the jolt with putting car from park into any gear, or changing between Drive and Reverse was remedied by replacing the motor mounts.

Thanks for your help!