I do own a 99 Ranger, but this question concerns my Hyundai Sonata. I'm asking here as there seems to be a bunch of boneheads on sites pertaining to the Hyundai, and folks on this site seem to really know their stuff.

The car has a manual transmission, and it has developed a "shudder" when starting off in first gear. I would normally think it's the clutch (115K miles), and it well could be, but otherwise the clutch works fine. For example, other shifts are smooth, and full throttle "press and release" on the highway shows no sign of slippage or rough engagement. The clutch works exactly as it always has, except for the shudder.

So, could the problem possible be caused by bad motor mount(s) that are letting the motor jump around on take off? Or something else? I would greatly appreciate your opinions!

 

Are you giving it enough throttle on takeoff? Have you tried taking off in 2nd gear? With what you describe so far sounds like a bad first gear .

 

Definitely not a gear issue. It works fine in first gear in every way and every speed except the initial take off. The car is geared really tall (not like a truck at all) so a second gear start would require huge clutch slipping. I can try it and see what happens.

 

Does this happen while on level ground or on inclines?

 

Your clutch is going south, or maybe the rear main seal is weeping. Clutch chatter is usually hot spots on the flywheel or the presence of oil on the friction plate.

 

I would say contamination on the clutch disc/pressure plate/flywheel.
Rear main seal leakage will cause this.

 

OK thanks.