In February, I bought this very nice 1993 F250. My first truck after a long line of cars and vans. It's a 5.8L and it has 125,000 miles on it. I didn't really know much of it's history, but everything about it was clean and appeared well taken care of. Having worked on my VW's, my Saturn, and my Plymouth mini van for the last 10 years, I felt that my automotive skills would be enough to keep this higher mileage truck running as my daily driver.

Recently the transmission has been exhibiting an odd behavior that I hadn't ever experienced before. While driving normally, around 50mph with the transmission in OD, if i lightly goose the gas, i get a very apparent vibration/soft groaning noise that is easlily heard and felt in the cab. If i goose it harder, the noise disappears and the trans upshifts to 3rd as it should. If I keep the trans into 3rd by hitting the OD off button, the symptom basically disappears. I started doing research and have gotten very confused. Some sites say that I am hearing Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) shudder. Some places say this is an early warning of a Torque Converter failure. Some other places say that this is a common design flaw and can be eliminated with inline wiring harness micro-processor controllers. Yet other places say that a new solenoid shift pack is needed. I guess my question is, is there a way to narrow down whether my TC is failing? or should I start with micro-processors to increase the trans line pressures? The fluid level is proper. The fluid itself is clean, healthy pink in color and does not smell burned. The trans doesn't appear to be leaking at all. I do not know when it was last serviced with a filter. I plan to try this first. If I don't manage to get to do a service for a few hundred more miles, do you think that i run the risk of extreme damage?

I thank everyone who took the time to read this
-sean