AUTOALIGN ISSUES

I'm getting serious issues using AA.  First, when I try to align more than a quarter turn, I get motorboating on playback.  Second, and a bigger problem, on playback, more often than not, I get a loud cracking sound and all audio cuts out; all I get is the very loud "crack" on playback - no audio (though the meters are going).
 
Anyone else having similar issues or have any ideas?
 
Thanks in advance.