My friend has a probelm with his 85 cutlass. When he is accelerating up hill, his transmission jerks widly like it's trying to shift but can't. BTW it's an auto. Any infomation anyone has will be greatly appriecated

if it only happens above 35-40 mph, his TCC solenoid is not unlocking, if it happens at all speeds, he has a bad torque converter or worn bands/clutches

I had an 86 Cutlass that had tranny problems too. Mine were different though. I lost reverse before I had problems with the slipping your describing. The automatic trannies in these cars have a problem with the clutch in them. Once it starts to wear and break down, all you can do is rebuild them. Reverse will go, then you'll end up having to rev the beans out of her to get her into drive.

Tranny problems aren't unusual apparently. Dunno if all this helps.