Thread: Hitch when under full throttle

Morning all,

I have a '02 GTP that has 118k miles on it. Recently I've been hearing a loud (thud) and it seems to hitch a bit when I give it full throttle when I'm going 45-55 mph. It's happening when it's down shifting. At lower speeds if I give it full throttle it seems to be fine. I have checked the transmission fluid level (after a 10 min drive) and it was less then 1/4 qt low.

In the last 2 months I have done some work, replaced both drive shafts (purchased at Napa) and front wheel bearings (purchased at zzperformance). Both drive shafts were starting leak grease all over the place and I just replace the wheel bearing because everything was already apart (preventive maintenance if you will).

I have never changed the transmission fluid or filter. That is something I was going to do to see if it would help. Is that a possibility?

I am not getting any errors on the pcm. I know that's not a lot to go by but what other things might cause those symptoms?

Thanks.

not sure what a hitch is. but if your feeling a clunk and maybe even like the engine is slapping around, the motor and trans mounts may be bad.


pan drop and filter change is easy to do, search the how to section. if the trans has never been serviced, dont flush it. just do a pan and filter, and refill about 8 quarts.

if the fluid is dark has a burnt smell to it, thats clutch material, its whats keeping the car moving, if you flush it, you have new fluid and not much clutch disks left.

seen a few cars leave the lube express on tow trucks after getting flushed. my friend was the manager, had these people sign a release, because they did not want to do the flush because of high miles and dark fluid, guy still wanted it done, here sign this, and after it was done the car just sat there, nothing. my friend then goes you have a tow company you like or should i just call my guy.....

if the trans has been serviced properly its whole life a flush would be fine, but being that you probably don't know the maint history for its whole life. just be safe and drop the pan change the filter, and thats it.

i used to flush my 97 and 03 trucks every year, as i drove 30,000 a year. never had a problem as i had them both from the dealer new. and my friend ran the place, so i tipped the guy doing the work a 20 and thats all i paid. that covered the commission he would have made plus a few bucks.

pull the dip stick out and smell it (where its wet) and then wipe it on a clean white paper towel, thats the test.