When the automatic tranny of my 89 civic LX shifts from 1st to 2nd I sometimes get a shudder. Do any of you know what may cause this?

 

could be worn out tranny/engine mounts allowing excessive movement of the driveline. Could also just be that your tranny needs fresh fluid. Could be that the engine needs a tune up, and it's struggling a little bit to make the shift from 1st to 2nd.

 

Crazy! Is there also the possibility that one of the bands needs to be replaced?

 

I suppose so. Only way to know for sure is to start eliminating options by testing em all. What kind of shudder is it? I mean...if you've ever driven stick, is it like...sometimes when you let out teh clutch, and the disc is worn down, it'll chatter in and out, causing the front end to shudder. Does it feel like that when your car shifts? Or, again like a stick-shift, is it a shudder like you let the clutch out too fast, and the car kind of bounces back and forth as the engine gets control of the motion? Or is it a different kind of shudder, more like something that's out of balance and maybe causing a vibration? Just some ideas, hope I didnt confuse ya

 

Actually yes it is like when you let the clutch out to fast. Now think of it like that but faster vibration. It shakes the dash a bit sometimes. It doesn't do this all the time, it never bangs or does it in other gears. Could it be that the first clutch is worn? I'd like to do a manual tranny swap, but I have no experience and I have no idea how to put in the linkage and whatnot.