I have an 86 Camaro, automatic. It jerks really bad when it is put into drive from park. Or from reverse to drive. The transmission was gone when I brought it. So, I had it rebuilt so I don’t know if they put a shift kit in it or not. Does this sound like it is caused from a shift kit? If not, does anyone have any ideas on what could be causing this?

Thanks,
Travis

 

Are you sure the idle is set correctly? if it is even 100 rpm too high, it is gonna jerk when you put it in gear...

 

Adjust the idle. If the clutches and such are all new in the tranny, it slams into gear hard until it is worn a bit. My new tranny does the same thing, it is a healthy indicator.

 

in the morning if the rpms are still high my car will jerk into drive a little. sometimes i shift straight down to 1st gear and the jerk is more apparent, even if the idle is right. is it normal for it to jerk harder when shifting it down to 1?

 

At about 700 rpms it will still do it. What should the be idle be set at, for a 86 305 TPI?
Thanks,
Travis

 

You may not want to lower it any more than 700 RPMs. My car idles at 750.

My 85 IROC also jumps when shifting from park to drive - it's because the idle is high (I also had the transmission rebuilt a little over a year ago - had them put in a Jr. Shift Kit and a corvette servo- very firm shifting!). So, I worked out a little trick you may want to try

In my car, I first drop it into reverse - which lowers my RPMs a tad..then shift from there to drive or overdrive. The jerk is still there and noticeable, but much more subtle than just a straight shift from park or neutral to D/OD.

Hope this helps!