93 MarkIII, trans shudder, lifter noise

[rp12bar]

Just bought a 93 MarkIII. The transmission shudders when shifting(Sounds like runnung over road turttles.) Also has lifter clatter when you first start it. It goes away after about two seconds. Do I need to Mortgage my house again? Also It doesnt have the cd case that fits into the changer. No big deal.

[BlackiceLSC]

I know his is an old thread, but I am replying to it, to help others who may find it in a search, in the future;

1)tranny shudder-typical(and common) problem with the older 4R70W transmission. best advice, for now is...if you dont know the history of the transmission's maintenance, we have no way of knowing if the shudder is caused by the break-down of the frictional material in the torque converter, or if it is fluid breakdown, or if it is transmission fluid temperature related.
I ALWAYS advise that one should:
1)drain the torque converter(it has a drain plug)
2) flush the transmission heat exchanger(cooling tank on side of radiator) by running a can of tranny flush through the cooling lines off the side of the transmission case, flush in BOTH directions
3)replace transmission filter
4)replace the old-style 1-2 shift accumulator
5)re-fill to capacity with Mercon V transmission fluid.
6)allow up to 200 miles of normal driving for shudder to diminish all together.

as for the engine clatter at start up-dont worry...that noise is common. it is due to a flawed oiling design in the secondary timing chain tensioner. The tensioner works like an old hydraulic lifter that fills with oil(charge). However, the flawed design allows the tensioner to "bleed off" at shut down, causing slack in the chain. as soon as you start the engine, within a couple seconds, the tensioner gets 'charged', and tightens in place.

the only known fixes are:
$1000+ at the dealer for a newer designed tensioner
a pre-oiling set up that allows you to pre-oil the engine before start up(expensive)

you can just leave it. No documented/known cases of engine failure or damage have resulted due to the rattle...I know many owners with 200k+ miles on their engines, and they rattle almost every morning at start up.