That "tires not gripping the ground" feeling....

[gmrulz4u]

For some time now, my 89 Supreme has had the "lack of torque" feeling. I've suspected my Torque Struts because I'm also getting some rough upshifts and down shifts. It definately feels like the engine is moving too much during shifting.

 

Now, I've started to notice that I am getting front wheel spin(loss of tread contact) even on perfectly flat and dry roads! And it has nothing to do with my tires because there's still a lot of tread left on them and they're not even 2 years old. I bough 4 brand-new tires in the summer of 2002. I just made sure all the tires are properly inflated and they were, coming in around 35 psi each.

 

SO, is it possible for worn Torque Struts/Dog Bones to cause a noticable loss of torque? The car reacts very sluggish, especially off the line during initial acceleration from a complete Stop.

 

Anyone?

 

THANKS AGAIN!

[GP1138]

When you come to a stop, and then take off, do you notice a clunk from your engine bay? My bottom motor mounts are shot, and every time I turn into a driveway and stop/start at an intersection, I can hear and feel the engine rocking with the movement of the car as I stop, and then it rolls when I accellerate. Worn torque struts would definately cause a loss of torque as the engine rolls forward and the dogbones catch it. You'll hear a thunk when that happens.

 

If you're having problems shifting, the first thing to check is your tranny fluid. What you've said about shifting, and especially sluggishness off of the line points to low transmission fluid. Check your level, and add a half-quart to a quart and see if that does anything. I have a transmission leak from my left axle seal, and as it gets lower and lower, the car will begin to shift badly, especially if I am in a turn (like an onramp) and hammer down. As I lose fluid, the car will pull less and less hard from a stop, and it will take longer to get up to speed. You'll also notice a rattling from the area of the transmission, that will go away as you pour fluid.

 

I'm not sure about the tires spinning. Does it happen from a complete stop? Does it happen when you're just driving normally, straight? Or does it happen when you're on a curve? Or is it a combination? The only thing I can think of is maybe when you're trying to get it to shift, it slams into gear and causes the tires to jerk and lose traction. Check your PSI, often that can have a large effect on drivability as well. I drove around for a month with low air in my tires, and aside from the edges being bald now, it was harder to turn and the car was much less agile through curves and even straight on.

 

Hope this helps some. Post some more details and I'll check back.

[gmrulz4u]

Thanks for the reply GP1138!

 

First, I don't notice any "cluck" when I start to accelerate from a Stop. The only thing I've started to notice is tire spin and that feeling like the tires are not on the ground. Of course if I accelerate like a Grandma, I don't notice anything.

 

However, I DO notice a strange clunky vibration if I step hard on the gas in Reverse. I posted about this about a month ago and some responded saying he thinks it's the Torque Struts because his Cutlass did the exact same thing when they were worn out.

 

But the worse thing my car does is clunk on a high RPM 1-2 Upshift. The reason I think it's the worst during a hard acceleration 1-2 Upshift is because the engine Torque is at it's highest, is it not? I mean, during a 2-3 Upshift, I'm already hardly on the gas at all, so the engine Torque is minimal. It's also A LOT worse if I'm going up a hill...I usually have to back off of the throttle just as I am sensing it's about to shift into 2nd gear.

 

As for the transmission fluid, it's actually like half-an-inch ABOVE the hatch-marked area when fully hot and at idle. Also the fluid looks and smells really good and clean/transparent.

 

Now that think of it, all the problems I am experiencing happen under HIGH-torque demand situations. So obviously SOMETHING in my drive-train is unable to handle the high torque...

 

THANKS AGAIN!

 

PS I just remembered that I forgot to mention that I'm starting to hear a constant "humming" sound that appears to be coming from the front drivers-side area...it's noticable every second that the car is moving forward...completely quiet at idle...I don't know if this is in anyway related, but thought I'd let it be known...