Ok is it just me or did all of our trans start acting up at the same time?!?!?!

Well mine is a 98 4.6L 2wd with 92000 miles on it, and on my trip back home from the Toronto area last week my trans would shudder when cruising along on the freeway. I went in over the weekend and had a full service oil change done and they checked the trans and said it could use a service but it was fine, just the fluid was dark. Anyways that was on Saturday and here it is two days later and it has gotten much worse however it is only doing it in 4th gear.

I have had the trans serviced twice, since i bought the truck new. Once by Ford at 19000 miles when the o/d light was flashing and then by a local shop that exchanges the fluid in-line at 49000 miles. I know that I am do for another service however I don't want to pay for the service and then have to pay for major work on the trans anyways. My question is would a trans service correct the problem or should I plan on having to have major repair done on it? Also any ideas as to what is wrong with it?

 

Something to do with the cold?

Just my thoughts...dunno bout your actual problem though

 

Does it come and go, or is it a steady thing at certain speeds. If it comes and goes, especially when dropping back into gears, it may be u-joints. They will make a grinding type of noise, or possibly a wienny (sp) sound. Not sure, but just some thought there.

 

It seems to be at any speed when in fourth gear. I have seen it happen anywhere from 40-70mph. it only happens when on any kind of an incline or under acceleration where it dosen't downshift. The odd part is that it is only happening in fourth gear, 1-3 are all fine. As for sound I really haven't heard anything but I will try to listen to it today.

Thanks for the input.

 

I just went through the exact same thing. The truck would only shutter in top gear or overdrive and only when going up an incline. It was driving me crazy and I had no idea where to even start looking for the problem. I took it a local transmission shop that has been in business for long time and has a great reputation. They told me it was the torque converter and that there is an additive that you can put in that will stop it. So I had that the torque converter serviced and the additive put in. At first it seemed that it worked and the problem went away. Then just after a day or so it came back. I called the shop and they said that it might take another tube of the additive because the Ford transmission takes so much oil. They gave me another tube, free of charge. It just happens that the sales rep was standing right there when I walked in and he confirmed that it will take 2 tubes and that it would take about 100 miles to see a difference. I noticed a difference right away and for now it seems the problem is gone. The sale rep said if this didn't work, then it was time for a new torque converter. Hope this helps.

 

i have my tranny serviced every 30,000miles 1st time at the dealer ($170.00) because there was a confusion about the fluid type. the 4R70W takes a high grade synthetic tranny fluid,
" Dexron V " i believe and alot of it. but i don't recal it takeing any kinda of additive.

the rear end takes additive(2 tubes) cause it's standard tranny oil.

when i stood under the truck, when it was serviced the second time a couple of months ago at a my local Lee Myles Transmisions shop. he did not add anything but the tranny fluid. it was there cause i thought there was a problem. but after cutting the filter apart to look for pieces. all there we found was dirty fluid.

just thinking out loud. (things that make you go HHMMM)

 

speedy46

You said this only happens going up inclines and acceleration. Does this happen on the 3-4 shift? From what I have read about this transmission you are experiencing torque converter shudder. Basically the oil/friction material is getting too hot. You need to make sure you are using the Mercon V trans. fluid and also look into getting an additional transmission cooler before too much damage is done causing you to loose 4th gear.

 

i have 99 f150 with 93,000 miles . mine did the same thing yesterday. in high gear when i give it a little gas it shutters,
during takeoff it shifts up perfect,everytime. just downshift from overdrive. i was wondering what the name of the additive was
that was added to temporaly solve this problem.

 

Thanks for all the input, after driving it today for 60 miles here is what I have observed. First off there is no noise so I think that the U-Joint has been ruled out. As for the shifting it is shifting from 1 through 4 without any problem. The trouble only occurs once in fourth gear. As for the fluid I am using Mercron V so I know that is not the problem. Now to the interesting part, I have had the truck since it was new and never had any problem with the trans not cooling. So why after 92000 miles and in the middle of fall with temps in the 40's would there be a cooling problem? Could this be a sign that the filter is too dirty and is not allowing enough fluid to flow through to keep it cool? Next the torque converter makes since except that wouldn't that cause a problem with more than just fourth gear? Anyone think that simply taking it in and having a trans service performed can take care of the problem?

 

The name of the additive is lube guard or Dr trany. If you look at some of the other post on this web site look for torque converter shudder. There are other people that are having the same problem and they all have used this product to try and solve it. The thing that I don't understand is why all of sudden is everyone having this problem, or didn't people talk about it before. I have a 1995 and I am seeing people talking about their 1999 and 2000 models doing it. Are the transmission all the same, are the torque converts the same? Just seems to be a little weird, maybe the oil has changed?

 

When was the last time you gave your ENGINE a tune-up? I had a problem something like what you are talking about (I have an '02 5.4 and 4R70W 4x4) and the problem turned out to be a bad plug. Actually, the counterbore that the plug resides in was full of water so the top of the plug was under water (good old #4). The problem was REALLY pronounced in OD at about 1500 RPM. The engine is under a significant load at this speed. I had the truck at my local dealer for a week and they didn't find the problem. I figured a set of plugs couldn't hurt it anyway and I found the problem.--The weard thing is that as bad as it was running, it never set a code of any kind.

Spend a few bucks on a set of plugs and (for your engine) wires before you go blasting into a $2500 tranny rebuild.

Hope this helps---I know my situation had me ready to sprinkle the D@mn truck with gas and BURN it DOWN.

Sidewinder.

 

Actually I changed all of my plugs a little over 12000 miles ago. However I do know what you are talking about as I had the same problem previously only it was only under acceleration. This is occuring when criusing or lightly accelerating. Eitherway I will pull #4 and see if it's water logged. It especially sounds interesting since before the problem started I visited Niagra Falls on the Canadian side, where it is always raining. Still wouldn't the water cook off since the truck was then driven over 250 miles back here to Michigan at freeway speeds the entire way?

 

Negative on the "cooking off". The only way I could get the water out of mine was to pull the COP and stuff a paper towel in the hole...Then pull the plug and clean up the top with a scoth-bright pad.

I know one thing, when you have a bad plug or coil pack on these trucks and the stupid computer doesn't tell you what's going on, it can make you pull the hair out of your head trying to figure it out. This is because the computer is always trying to adjust things like timing and fuel mixture to compensate for any sort of miss. This further shields the REAL problem. What ever happened to the days when we could adjust or timing by losening a bolt and twisting the distributor????? I am in no way saying that was BETTER---Just alot EASIER to work on and troubleshoot.

Sidewinder

 

I actually had the same problem with mine only it seem to not matter what gear it was in. It happened only on one trip, as soon as the ignition was shut off, and the truck was restarted it no longer did it, but the truck feels sluggish now. I was thinking the torque converter too, since I have been towing my jeep and my truck has 33's and stock 3.55 gears. I have not noticed anymore significant "jolting" though. Is it possible a coil is shot and the computer adjusted for it and now I am only noticing an overall loss in power?

 

Well I checked out the posibilty of a water logged plug and did not find any water and the plugs look fine. I now have started to pickup the shudder in 3rd gear as well. I am starting to worry about getting stranded on the side of the road especially with a 60mile a day drive. So I am doing the unthinkable, I called the dealer that repaired my trans 4 years and 73000 miles ago and I take it in to be diagnosed tomorrow at 7am. I hate taking it to dealers as they always seem to say they "could not verify concern" crap. At least now it is happening all the time perhaps they can figure this thing out.

Speedy