tranny or misfire?
Member
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 73
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From: Church Hill,TN.
I pulled my cop's and cleaned some build up off where the wire slides on the cop side. A few of them had alot of arc build up.Still Had the Shutter at 45-50 mph.But has better accelleration. Then I put some Dr. Tranny Transmission Shutter fix in ,,,Trans shifts as smooth as New . Can pick up a tube at Oreilleys Auto. Well worth a try!!!
Junior Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 3
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I had this problem around 90K, flushed the trans and it went away. Had my plugs changed at 100K. At 118K the shudder came back. Changed fluid and filter this time instead of flushing but it's still there. Added Lucas trans fix thinking it might be a worn OD or the Converter but no improvement. What are COPS? I have no CEL and it's been doing it for some time, never thought it would be a misfire.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,490
Likes: 18
From: Indianapolis, IN
If you have COP's then those eliminate the plug wires because they place the coil on the plug. The only wiring is for the engine harness and you sure don't want to be changing that unless you absolutely have to. LOL
On these shudders, I often see people shotgun it and do several things to 'fix' the problem all at the same time instead of doing one thing at a time to isolate the real issue. Most often they will have in their head that it's specifically one of the things that they addressed and because the problem is gone they will think it was what they thought it was. Now we all know how that is flawed thinking unless it's us doing it when we are caught up in that thought process. We all are guilty of it from time to time.
Usually, on these newer vehicles, these shudders are igniton related. Back in the 90's there were definitely a lot more torque converter related shudder issues, but that has changed. Particularly the introduction of Mercon V took care of a lot of that, but there were also changes made in the converters and transmissions as well.
But please do one thing at a time when trying to fix a problem unless you really don't care what the issue is and just want it to go away right frickin now and are willing to address nearly every possibility all in one shot. I have been in that position many times. Several of those were when I had to head out on the road for a long trip and had a problem that I needed corrected and that I didn't have a definitive cause for.
For this issue I have a spare couple of known good COP's that I swap in starting in one corner and work my way around to see if that fixed it. I have often had the problem go away from just unseating and re-seating the cops. So sometimes it isn't the easiest to trace down.
Darrin
On these shudders, I often see people shotgun it and do several things to 'fix' the problem all at the same time instead of doing one thing at a time to isolate the real issue. Most often they will have in their head that it's specifically one of the things that they addressed and because the problem is gone they will think it was what they thought it was. Now we all know how that is flawed thinking unless it's us doing it when we are caught up in that thought process. We all are guilty of it from time to time.
Usually, on these newer vehicles, these shudders are igniton related. Back in the 90's there were definitely a lot more torque converter related shudder issues, but that has changed. Particularly the introduction of Mercon V took care of a lot of that, but there were also changes made in the converters and transmissions as well.
But please do one thing at a time when trying to fix a problem unless you really don't care what the issue is and just want it to go away right frickin now and are willing to address nearly every possibility all in one shot. I have been in that position many times. Several of those were when I had to head out on the road for a long trip and had a problem that I needed corrected and that I didn't have a definitive cause for.
For this issue I have a spare couple of known good COP's that I swap in starting in one corner and work my way around to see if that fixed it. I have often had the problem go away from just unseating and re-seating the cops. So sometimes it isn't the easiest to trace down.
Darrin
Junior Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
I have only been doing 1 thing at a time. As you can see from my mileage. I ordered COPS today, $105 for a set on ebay (I own an independent garage/body shop, i do the body work and my partner is a mechanic, our wholesale cost on 1 COP is $50 or $54! and retail is $117 or $120!) . My partner swears I would have thrown a code if its a misfire but I have proven him wrong many times with things I have learned about my truck on this forum (he swore I would have to buy a new drive shaft instead of being able to change my u-joints myself
). So I will see if this works and I can prove him wrong again. I still am chasing a rearend noise that after almost 10K miles is driving me nuts, I might tear it apart and replace all the bearings just because.
). So I will see if this works and I can prove him wrong again. I still am chasing a rearend noise that after almost 10K miles is driving me nuts, I might tear it apart and replace all the bearings just because.
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 2
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Had a similar issue, it was COPS and/or Plugs.
I've got a 2002 Expy 4x4 with the 2V 5.4, about 154,000 on the clock.
Had the same sort of issue on light application of the gas when running approx 55-60 in OD. I could have sworn it was a tranny issue. Tried adding a tube of the Dr. Tranny "Shudder Fix" and the shifts smoothed out some, but still had a pretty bad shudder under light accel at certain speeds and RPMs. No CEL, and no codes found with my cheapo Costco code reader.
After the "shudder fix" didn't fix it, I found a post about lean misfires. This sounded exactly like what I was feeling, so I decided to bite the bullet and replace all the COPS and plugs.
I had previously replaced the plugs on the driver's side at about 70K, along with one of the COPS. I then replaced another COP (or possibly the same one) at about 130K or so, last January (got to do this one in the snow up at a cabin we rented in Lake Tahoe). That job added to my tool collection!
So the plugs on the driver's side (Bosch Platinum) had about 80K on them, whereas the ones on the passenger side were the original Motorcraft ones from the factory, with 154K on them (can you tell that I really did not want to change these??!?)
Took about 5 hours, and a variety of wobbles and sockets. I replaced the COPS with a set I bought on eBay after the one went bad last year, and the plugs I replaced with Motorcraft SP-479's. I put a VERY light coat of Permatex Anti-Seize on the threads (light as in: brush some on, then wipe 90% off with a shop rag, and none at all on the tapered part of the plug). When I got done, I was pleased that the shudder was completely gone, and the truck was accelerating MUCH better than before.
All's well that ends well.
-Barrey
Had the same sort of issue on light application of the gas when running approx 55-60 in OD. I could have sworn it was a tranny issue. Tried adding a tube of the Dr. Tranny "Shudder Fix" and the shifts smoothed out some, but still had a pretty bad shudder under light accel at certain speeds and RPMs. No CEL, and no codes found with my cheapo Costco code reader.
After the "shudder fix" didn't fix it, I found a post about lean misfires. This sounded exactly like what I was feeling, so I decided to bite the bullet and replace all the COPS and plugs.
I had previously replaced the plugs on the driver's side at about 70K, along with one of the COPS. I then replaced another COP (or possibly the same one) at about 130K or so, last January (got to do this one in the snow up at a cabin we rented in Lake Tahoe). That job added to my tool collection!
So the plugs on the driver's side (Bosch Platinum) had about 80K on them, whereas the ones on the passenger side were the original Motorcraft ones from the factory, with 154K on them (can you tell that I really did not want to change these??!?)
Took about 5 hours, and a variety of wobbles and sockets. I replaced the COPS with a set I bought on eBay after the one went bad last year, and the plugs I replaced with Motorcraft SP-479's. I put a VERY light coat of Permatex Anti-Seize on the threads (light as in: brush some on, then wipe 90% off with a shop rag, and none at all on the tapered part of the plug). When I got done, I was pleased that the shudder was completely gone, and the truck was accelerating MUCH better than before.
All's well that ends well.
-Barrey