that tranny is notorious for jerking and banging into/out of gear when braking, coming to a stop, etc.

tell us the time fram it happens. you finally cometo a complete stop, you are sitting there for 1 second? 5 seconds? then BANG? feels like some rear ended you?

or it happens after you release the brake pedal and hit the gas?

 

Thanks! again for helping me troubleshoot. It happens 1second after I completely stop. It does not happen when I release the brake pedal and hit the gas.
Few more developments in the meantime. I took the car back to the dealer this morning.The mechanic who worked on the car test drove it anddid not find anything wrong. He said that the transmisionwas fine. I drove the car with him and showed him how it felt when I braked. He felt the jerk as well. He then took the wheels offand sprayed my rear brakes and lubricated and sprayed the front brakes. I then went and tested it again and nothing changed.It still felt that I got rear ended when I stopped. He is of the opinion that I am not letting the pedal go after I brake. That is why it feels like I get rear ended everytime I brake. He said that if I keep the pedal down after it comes to a stop then it willhappen and it will happen to all cars. That could be true. I am finding it hard to believe that my driving habit has changed after 20 years. Have I started braking differently than I normally did? Maybe I have become concious of this and not taking my foot of the pedal which I normally did before.
I have probably six more months of warranty on my tranny. I am planning to drive it 1200 miles over the holidays. I hope if it is a tranny problem then it will become more apparent.

 

when the tech drove the car did you ride with him? Did it happen when he was driving?

 

Thanks! I appreciate your help very much. The first time he drove it alone. The second time he was with me. I drove first and demonstarted how we both gotthrown back after braking. He told me he could not pass any judgement without him driving. So we switched seats and he drove it. He braked and it did not jerk me back. Thatwas when he mentioned that itwas the way I was braking...I was not taking the foot of the brake after we came to a stop. Basically, I push down the pedal andI keep my foot pressed down on the pedal till it stops. However, if I conciously apply less force on the pedal when I am braking then I do not get thrown back. This has all become so confusing for me now. I am going to have my wife drive it and see whether it is happening with her as well. If it is not then maybe it is the way I am braking.

 

Goes back to my explanation of Newton's law. If you relieve braking force as you stop you are slowly releasing the energy of the car rather than holding it all in the brakes and releasing it at the full stop.

 

sounds to me like youve been driving on a car with mushy brakes.

you have to let up on the brakes right before you stop or else the car jerks. It takes awile to get the feel of it, but basically if you want to slow at a constant rate, you have to press harder at higher speeds, and let up as the speed is reduced.

 

I once had a Suburban that would do something similar. Problem was rear brakes grabbing as the car comes to a stop. It was a lot better after redoing the rear drum brakes but neveer did totally dissappear, and we learned to live w/ the problem. If you have rear drum brakes, you might have them checked carefully.

good luck

 

Perhaps, there might be a suspension component that's loose? I'm thinking in particularof the chassis mounting point for one or both of the front radius rods. This is the most forward part of the front suspension, the radius rod starting at the front cross member and ending toward the outer end of the lower control arm (LCA starting at the chassis to the inside of the front wheel and ending in the lower ball joint, which is typically integral with the LCA), in effect forming the forward leg of the 'wishbone'.

If the front of the radius rod is loose (most likely as a result of failure to retighten it after re-installation) the wheel will move backward under braking, then may move forward after braking force has been removed. This could be felt as the car moving back. A little such movement like this is normal, caused by the rubber bushes, but could be uncontrolled and excessive if the nut on the forward end of the radius rod is loose allowing free play.

When re-installing suspension arms etc it's correct practice to fit them loosely, then drop the car back onto the ground so that the suspension is at correct static ride height before fully tightening the bolts etc.This helps to prevent 'pre-torsioning' the rubber bushes, which could damage them or at least shorten their service life. It wouldn't be that hard to forgetto retighten a bolt or two (in the case of the front radius rod mounting point, a large nut). If this nut(s) is loose it needs to fixed asap, as the suspension could pull out from the front radius rod mounting if the nut actually falls off. This could cause damage at best and a fatal accident at worst.

 

Thank you everyone for helping me troubleshoot my problem. I have to come to the conclusion that it was the wayall of a sudden I started braking that was causing all the problem and not the tranmission. It is definitely the Newtons Law that was causing all the havoc with my car driving experience.

Thanks!

 

damn those laws of physics!!

glad to hear it was nothing that would hurt your wallet...