Background: Rebuilt transmission installed 75K mi ago. More or less shifted well for all of those miles, aside from an occasional "clunk" when downshifting at less than 25mph. About 30K mi ago adusted "bowden" cable to facilitate better downshifting when passing, uphill starts, etc. No issues since.

Current behavior: When initially warming up car (driving) shifting is normal. After initial warm-up, I can park the car, go to a sales appointment, come back out and start the car and every shift will be hard - I mean serious "clunk." As if there were almost no clutching involved. Pull the car over, turn it off, re-start the car, and the shifting goes back to normal. Sometimes there will be one or two repetitions of this cycle. During these "hard-shift" episodes I can hear an unusual whine in the tranny when accelerating - even when the car is in neutral or park.

Precipitating conditions: I ran the car through a car wash where there was an "underbody spray" to get rid of salt accumulated in the mountain passes. I have no idea if this is causal, but I wanted to mention it because that is the only thing out of the ordinary I have done. Also, I changed the transmission fluid after the first episode (which was after the car wash) - the old fluid was clear and pink, no sign of water.

I appreciate any input.

Thanks,
Geoff

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327K on 1986 W201, 602.911, 722.414 2.5 190D ("The Red Baron")
139K on 1993 W124, 104.942, 722.433 2.8 300E ("Queen")

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