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The condition of your trans is what it is after 188,000 miles of churning around in the same fluid from day one... Hopefully, the level is still good? Wonder it the dipstick was ever checked?
The shudder comes from the fact that there is old fluid in the system and it does not have the same lubrication properties as newer fluid would have.. When the TC 'locks', this is when it's essentially like a manual trans and a clutch plate.. The old fluid has no lubrication properties (or not enough) to allow for the locked condition, so it's like when you bog down a manual shift trans... You get a shudder...
I'd drain the pan and replace the filter and hopefully, you have a model that has a drain plug on the TC and you can drain that. Fill with just your ordinary Ford spec trans fluid and hope for the best!
I've got 198,000 miles on my trans (E4OD). I did a full drain of it when I first got the truck with 63,000 miles on it and then I've been doing YEARLY service pan drops ever since. Sure, it's only 6 qts with a pan drop, but doing it yearly, keeps it fresh enough for me and I do tow a TT with it in the summer time and my fluid is nice and clear and red each time...
Buying a used vehicle is a 'crap shoot' no matter what the miles are on it, so just take what ever happens with a grain of salt and if you weren't prepared to do some major mechanical work when you bought it, then?????
Good luck!
Mitch
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