when reversing, car surges and shudders

[philip]

I have read that I need the flywheel cleaning , engine out, clutch and gearbox off. I am a bit long in the tooth for such capers. trying to avoid garage bills, anyone got a quick fix?

[chrisryder]

sounds more like 'soggy' rear springs to me. springs are very used to being wound up under acceleration, but when you come to reverse, especially if reversing quite quickly or up hill, the springs are being unwound at the back. we had this with one of our minors, a new pair of rear springs sorted it, and transformed the handling!

[philip]

springs were changed but i suppose it was 15 years ago. Thanks I will bear it in mind

[bmcecosse]

It's not the flywheel - who tells you that ??? May be soft or broken engine mounts/soft or broken gearbox mounts/broken engine steady bar/snapped gearbox restraint cable....... It could also be oil on the clutch - is there any sign of oil running out of the bellhousing at the jiggle pin?

[mike.perry]

Or backlash in the diff.
Increase the revs and slip the clutch when reversing uphill.