Scrim

Well as is usually the case when you ask for advice or take a car to a mechanic, the shuddering problem magically has disappeared. Last night i had 4 guys counting myself in the car, the other 3 were big dudes and the total was over 900 pounds between the four of us (the problem origionally happened with only 700 pounds of passengers). And when i got up to speed... Nothing. WTF! Don't get me wrong i'm glad it's gone, but it is just a little frustrating that the problem is probobly going to come and go now whenever it pleases. And as for the transmission, i am still pondering flushing it, i guess time will tell.

Thanks for the info, you've reminded me of things i forgot to mention origionally. The shudder at speed happened BEFORE i changed the front tires, so all 4 were the same. I have not had passengers since i changed them so i don't know yet if the problem is worse or better now as it doesn't happen when i am by myself. The FWD fuse is definitely a cool option, i assume it was prolly put on the car for situations just like this. I just went outside and checked that fuse holder, and it is empty atm. Like i said earlier i will have a full car later tonight so I will know if the shudder has gotten any worse with new tires.

Over the weekend i road-tripped my happy rump roast up to Michigan and bought a '95 Legacy Wagon. So far i love the car, i had to replace the front two tires and an do an oil change once i got it home, and there is one other piece of maintenance i want to do: Flush the transmission. (Auto btw.) The car gives a noticable jerk when shifting from 1st to 2nd, and before i start looking at the tranny itself as the problem i want to flush it out and see if that doesn't help a bit. Now when i mentioned this plan to a friend of mine he about had a stroke and told me that under no circumstances should i flush that 14 year old tranny fluid as all the junk in there is prolly all that is keeping it from slipping. (I've heard of old motors being held together by carbon build-up, but never transmissions.) Now i have always drivin stick, so i don't claim to know the first thing about an auto tranny, so i was just wondering if anyone had ever heard of somethign like this actually being true. I am holding off flushing it out until i get some more information. Now for the second bit i am curious about: When i had 2 passengers in the car yesterday, i noticed a shudder of some sort develop once i got up to speed. A friend (the same Stroke-risk from the last question) thinks that it could be somethign in the rear end acting up, and as i have as little experience with AWD as i do with Automatics, i accept his diagnosis. Was just wondering if anyone had any input of the possible cause of this. I am goign to be picking up a couple friends from the bar tonight so i should be able to report back with a more exact description of when this happens if that will help. Thanks in advance for any input: Scrim