Spin cycle operation is intermittent.

I have replaced the timer, the clutch and now the transmission. The problem that I observe is as follows: Washer spin is supposed to work as follows: 1) the motor runs one way and the machine agitates, 2) the motor pauses, 3) the motor runs the other way running the pump with the basket/transmission in neutral, 4) the motor pauses again, 5) the motor runs the same way a second time with both pump operation and basket spinnning. On mine, I can observe the agitate, then the pause and then things go wrong. Most of the time the basket begins to spin immediately on the first time the motor runs in the spin direction when the operation should be pump only. On the second time the motor runs in the spin direction the basket may or may not spin. Before I replaced the transmission the basket frequently did not spin the second time that the motor ran in the spin direction leaving the clothes wet from the spray rinse; I have tried it relatively few times since replacing the transmission, so am not sure whether it reliably spins or not but am pretty sure that it misses spinning sometimes. Both before and after changing the transmission, I have observed that most times the basket spins on the first cycle while draining which it should not; however, I have sometimes observed it just pumping/emptying without spinning both with old and new transmission. I have watched the timer operation with the lid switch defeated. In each case there is a very noticeable pause between between running of the motor of at least a few seconds so the timer at least visually appears to be working correctly. However; as a further check, again with the lid switch defeated, I tried setting the machine to wash letting it fill and agitate, then shutting off the machine with the timer switch and advancing the timer to the spin position and restarting the machine briefly, then shutting it off again with the timer switch and restarting it briefly. In every instance of repeated attempts of this approach the operation is as desired. Agitate, pump only, spin. It appears that somehow the motor pausing (and reversing as appropriate) under control of the timer does not cause the transmission to shift properly, but my pausing it and reversing it manually with the timer switch does result in proper operation. This is despite the fact that the motor appears to pause appropriately when under timer control. What else can cause the transmission to shift improperly? Is it possible, for example< that the motor starts "jerkily" or with a "stutter" that causes it to inadvertently shift the transmission improperly? When I start it manually, it the motor does opeate the transmission normally though.