My 2000 F-150 has a shake/vibration at freeway speeds when accelerating. It only happens when the truck is in high gear and overdrive is on. I thought at time it may be just the engine shuttering that it was not down shift at 45-50 when only turning about 1100 rpm but it also occurs at higher speeds when the engine is turning rpms. The problem is intermittent and the dealer has been helpless on any ideas. Any thoughts or similar problems?

 

Could it be an ignition miss? I would describe it as a "stumble" from the missing cylinder(s). If it's high mileage (80k miles), the plugs and wires might need to be replaced.

 

My 97 has a shudder at 35-40 mph. It does it when upshifting or downshifting. The truck just acts like it doesn't really know what gear to be in. Tranny ?

 

You might try searching for "shudder", "shutter", "vibration" in the Transmission forum. I did a quick search: torque converter issues or (drum roll, please) plugs and wires, among other recommendations.

Best of luck,
Curt

 

If it only does it in O/D under load, like going up a slight grade, then it is more than likely T/C shudder - you need to flush your transmission, completely change out the fluid and filter. There are several topics on this board that will help you figure out whether you are able to do this yourself, or if you need to take it somewhere and have it done.

The recommended service interval is around 30K - I made it to 75K before I got the shudder - if you're due, then that's probably your issue - change it.

BTW, if you do it yourself - when you drop the pan, if it's never been done before, you will find a small yellow plug with an o-ring around it. Don't freak out, it's supposed to be there.

Good Luck,

Jamie D.

 

Yeah, I tried that. I only drained it from the pan, cleaned the magnet, and replaced the filter. It still does that though. I know there is more oil in there though. The torque converter?? Does that need drained too or was what I did sufficient.

The little yellow plug is there from the factory. Mine was still in there and I did this at 118,000 miles ouch!! That can't be good on the tranny. I bought the truck with 116,000 miles on it.

https://www.f150online.com/galleries...5995-thumb.jpg

 

The truck has 41,000 miles, I had the tranny flush at 34,000 miles last winter when I first had the problem. It is a interminent problem that seems to show up in the colder weather. The check engine light came on yesterday with a P0305 code for a #5 misfire, so wish me luck finding the plug and coil for replacement.

 

Nope.....not good - I can't believe it wasn't bucking like a rodeo bull. You need to change it again, and drain the torque converter this time. Your '97 should have a drain plug on it, look for a round rubber cover on the bottom of the bellhousing, you'll have to put a socket on the crankshaft pulley nut at the front of the engine and turn it over until you see a bolthead on the T/C (look through the hole with a flashlight after you pull the rubber plug out of the bellhousing). It takes a good 45 min. to an hour to completely drain. Pull your pan again, too, and replace the filter and clean the magnet. Also, use Mercon V (expensive, but it has more friction modifiers to help eliminate the shudder). You'll probably get 10 to 12 quarts in there once you drain the converter.

SpeedRacer - yep, must be a coil....

Good Luck!

Jamie D.

 

Thanks for the advice Jed.

I will try that next weekend. Peace

 

Thank you all for your thoughts, I replaced the #5 coil and plug tonight, getting new front rotors tomorrow before I take it out of the heated garage. I can understand why the 5.4's blow plugs, just over 4 threads of engagement it should not take an engineer to understand the force on the threads every time the cylinder fires and the threads fail from fatigue. Guess the engineers at Ford missed class that day.