2006 h3 adventure, auto trans.

I can hear and feel a decently solid thud/clunking when I shift from Park into Reverse,thats gotten more noticeable over the last month or two. If Im in Drive and go into Reverse its smooth.

Fluid is at normal level, and when Im driving down the road it shifts smooth as butter.

Is this normal for these trucks, or do I need to get ready to drop the transmission...?

 

could be U joints

 

first I would check the ujoints. sounds just like all trucks I have ever owned that needed them. when was the last time you did a tranny flush?? it might be time

 

Ive owned the truck for just over a year, hasnt had a trans flush since Ive owned it. Ill probably get that done soon regardless, its at 125k miles, and without knowing if the previous owner ever flushed it I should do it just for safety's sake.

 

What is the color of your transmission fluid? Is it still good pinkish- red color or it became dark burnt one? Like guys said: May be it's time to flush your transmission. It's the cheapest way to investigate your trans- problem. But if Dextron is already burnt color and smell so there is something wrong over there.

 

I know that they say 100k, but I have ran way less than that on this flush and it is time to do it again.

 

Check the front diff cross member bushings

 

Update...
Its now making the rough shift into reverse from any gear/neutral, not just from park. It only does it once, as the transmission shifts, and only going into reverse, its smooth going from reverse into gear/park. Still drives smooth.

I crawled under the truck today to look around the driveline. If I grab ahold of the driveshaft coming from the back of the transfer case, I can rotate it freely a good inch either direction. The Ujoint itself looks tight, it seems to have the slack inside the case itself (). Is that normal? I also noticed a very small amount of fluid around the flange that connects the driveshaft to the rear of the transfer case, just enough to smear a little bit on the driveshaft in between the case and the Ujoint. Are there other Ujoints under the skid plate that I should check, or is this the Ujoint that you were talking about?

Thanks for any help