In the early to mid 90s there was shudder issues with the F/M/L cars.
It was largely a program shift sked. issue along with fluid and clutch design.
Here in this forum with the trucks and being in the late 90s into the 2000s, the shift sked, and internal design changes have all but eliminated the shudder except for an honest fault.
Ford knew they had issues so worked them out over the years.
You can't really compare the two different time periods now for the same transmission type.
All the AODE/4R70 and 4R70W are shifted by the PCM according to speed and TPS angle as well as an internal mechanical govenor.
The tag on the outside of the transmission tells what version and design change level it has.
The only way to alter lockup application times is to change bits set in the program line to change the operating point or have a custom shop alter the valve body or apply an external time delay to the lockup lead.
Baumann Engineering has a stand alone controller that can be programmed to do about anything one would want to do within reason.
The PCM shift sked is determined by what application the trans is used in.
A heavey car like yours calls for a different setting than a lighter Mustang would call for using the same transmission.

Good you have eliminated your issue so easy.

 

Thanks. Yes, when I bought the car in June, I noticed an occasional slight shudder when it would try to go into "lockup", but it would wait until it was already in 4th. It had got pretty bad if I was going between 30-40 mph and under a load. After I changed out the old fluid (which had 184K miles on it!!), I also put on a new filter. I was told to use Mercon V (to eliminate the shudder), which I did. The shudder was gone almost instantly, but I cant recall if at that time I had this going into lockup in 3rd gear or not. I wish I could remember... maybe slightly, but its become where its noticable now. I was told not to fret over it by the guys on the Lincoln board... one guy said his done it, but no one else chimed in, so I was kinda wondering about it. It shifts really smooth through all of the gears, which I guess is normal for these Town Cars. Its just that lockup that engages within a second after it shifts into 3rd is a little annoying... it gives that feel as if its shifting twice within a second or two. I also put in some of that Lubegard red to help it out, even though the shudder was gone, I heard this was good for your tranny. I only gave $1800 for the car, its really nice, so I guess I will drive it until the wheels fall off and still come out OK.

Thanks again!

 

I have good news on mine. 1997 4.6. My transmission shudder was when it would shift into overdrive. Did not do it all the time, but quite frequently. On a side note, I am a little surprised that there can be any question as to whether this type of condition is spark or transmission related. No comparison. I have changed plugs, wires, COP in the past when I had spark failure, but this is entirely different feel.

Anyway, I determined to have a trans oil change to see if that would help. I asked the fill quantity when the pan was dropped, changing the filter and gasket. 6.5 liters. I asked total volume capacity on a new install, 15.5 liters. Obviously I was not contented with that. So, I had the pan dropped, filter replaced, the had it hooked up to a suction machine and tranferred/turned over 22 more liters (6.5 new to fill after filter, and 15.5 more for full turn over). Anti shutter was added.

The good news, not one shudder. Much smoother shifts. Quite amazing. Seems to labour less in OD now. Not sure why, but I am very happy regardless.

 

I had the same shudder at 45-50mph and was dead-set that it was the tranny's fault. After fluid change it seemed to go away, then it came back later. I re-read this thread and picked up on blugrass7's posts. Ordered 8 COP's off ebay and new Autolite iridium XP's and replaced everything. Truck runs like it was new now. Tested the old COPs and found two that were out of spec. Would never have believed that a bad COP would do that.

 

This is pretty interesting. I have the same shuddering problem, but it occurs under load and downshifting. Just this afternoon, at an idle and low RPM/speed it feels like this is a cylinder missing. I intentionally drove around the neighborhood slowly and the service light did come on. I have not had a chance to check the code yet, but do you guys (Bluegrass especially) think this is the same problem, a coil?

I have 215,000+ on this sucker, but only 50,000 or so on these plugs. The COPs are definitely original.

 

The COPs or the plugs could be the problem. I had about 25M on a set of plugs when I started to get the shudder under load. Two of them were ashed over pretty well. The shuddering quit when I changed plugs. I had also changed trans fluid and filter and cleaned the throttle body at the same time. I'm thinking it was the plugs missing under load.

 

Well, I happened to have an extra COP, so I went through, one by one, and swapped them out. There is still a problem. I have a friend with a good cide reader and we are going to connect it and go for a drive, hopefully we can fix this easily and inexpensively. That being said, with the mileage in the truck I may change out all the COPs anyway.

 

My fathers has a 2000 f150 with a 4R70W transmission which was rebuilt about a month ago and ever since then there was a very small shudder at 55-60 mph...

Gradually the shudder at 55 mph to 60 mph has gotten worse were you can feel it in the steering wheel and floor board. So we decided to returned it to the transmission shop and they told us it was the U-Joints.

1. We then went ahead and replaced the U-joints front and back of the drive shaft. "The shudder was still there."

2. Put new tires had balanced them*

3. Replaced the wheel bearings"

The shudder was still there so we decided to jack the truck up and run it while the wheels were off the ground to see if it was the rear end...

The shudder was coming from the transmission. We then took it back to the transmission shop...

They then decided to take it apart and try and find the problem.. They replaced the Torque Converter and that did not fix it. So far the truck is still in the shop and they have yet to find the problem. I think they are replacing the casing to see if that fixes it. They don't know whats wrong with it.

Any ideas?

 

Toplait, it's a shame to do all that work for a faulty coil.
The give-away is the road speed at which it occurrs.
In that speed range the EGR opens and leans out the fuel to air ratio.
If there is a faulty coil with low spark output, that cylinder will missfire and cause the studder and jerking.
Certainly you will feel the whole truck shake because the PCM normal operation is upset for short intervals. The ignition timing even retards making the shudder worse yet.
There are two ways to look for the offending coil.
One, use a scanner with a Trap feature so when it happens the data is froze.
Two, look at the missfire monitors in diagnostic mode 6, test 53 for the cylinder with the high count.
At 55-60 mph, the converter is locked up in OD so there should be no shudder do to the hard lockup.
The offending cylinder can cause the PCM to do all kinds of effects as a result because it's not normal operation.
It looks like all this is a coinsidence just after the transmission work was done. Or the faulty coil was there to begin with and causing the drivabilty issue blaming it on the transmission unless there was other known issues.
Good luck.

 

I am experiencing the same thing and my check engine lite came on so I had an auto supply store check the code and he said it was a shifting module or a sensor on the module. Where can I find information on the shifting module if there is such a thing on my transmission?

 

I'm having the same problem and was told it is a shifting module, where is the shifting module on the transmission?

 

There is no shifting module.
The trans is electric shifted from the computer through the cable harness and Trans range switch on it's side.
When you get codes read you must have the number as it tells which 'solenoid' is involved (A through E) in the issue and the nature of the problem so it is connected to how the trans misbehaves for diagnostics.
All the control solenoids are located on the Valve body.
The computer monitors their electrical current and voltage to detect when they are not working correctly.
The fluid has to be drained and Pan removed to get at them.
Good luck.

 

I have been experiencing the same shudder between 45-50 mph on my 1994 F150 with 5.0 V8 and 4R70W trans. This started soon after I replaced the distributor due to a bad PIP sensor causing a no start. This engine has the old style coil which I replaced when trying to figure out my no start problem. The plug wires and spark plugs were changed about 2 years ago, approx 40k miles. I am wondering if my plug wires are not routed correctly causing the misfire/crossfire resulting in the shudder? When our weather warms back up I will replace spark plugs and check the plug wire routing.

 

I have a 1999 F-150, 4wd with the same shuddering problem, At least it sounds very, very similar. My truck also shudders at around 110 kph or so but stops when I accelerate. It's been bugging me for months and months.

My friend thinks it's the torque converter but i dont know.

 

Had the same problem. Mine was solved with new plugs and plug wires. Before this put in new coil pack which did not solve the problem.

Had 88k miles and the plugs looked like s$$t. Will not go longer than 50k miles on the new set.

Just so you know I went thru that whole bunch of tranny issues, u joints and what ever else was mentioned. Even did the full tranny flush and filter change to see if there were any signs of tranny problems. No sign of tranny problems but it sure shifts snappy now.

Good luck and let us. Know what solves your problem.