Hey everyone, I haven't posted in hear before and didn't find anything similar to my problem doing a search so I thought I would start a thread.

I have a 2014 explorer sport with the 3.5 ecoboost. I have an issue with a shudder/ jerk sensation when doing between 50 at 60 in 6th gear. Its very slight and is only noticeable on smooth roads (which in central Texas there aren't a lot of.) Typically happens on slight acceleration or climbing hills. It has been to the dealership several times and they can't figure it out. Only happens at those speeds around 1500 rpm in 6th gear. Nothing above 60 and nothing below 50 really. Its just noticeable enough for me to be annoying.

Dealership's first solution was a new PTU for the all wheel drive. Next solution was to completely remove transmission software and then reinstall and have it go through the learning process. Neither "fix" worked.

Has anyone had similar experiences and had a fix for it? I have searched google and found a few similar problems but on f150s with the ecoboost.

 

How many miles on the Explorer? Has it been getting progressively worse? Even a little bit? What if you put the vehicle in some of the other drive modes - particularly snow mode - is it different? Could be drive shaft u-joint getting worn out.

 

I haven't changed it into any of the other drive modes because it is only happening at cruising speed between 50 at 60 in 6th gear. If i manually downshift to 5th the problem seems to go away. Once it is above 60 there are no issues. The dealership recently thought it could be the axle shafts, they said they have heard of some of them being out of balance and causing an issue. My comment was, if that is the case, then it should be happening in other gears, not just 6th...

The explorer has about 31k on it. It doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Its just a weird little shudder, almost like it is slipping but that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

COULD it be an engine miss at a particular rpm / load combination ?!?

I was fooled by that in a Jeep once...

 

It could be a miss and thats what i first thought it was. unfortunately, the dealership cant seem to find anything.

 

document, document, document

and try another dealer before the 36k warranty is out ?

 

Most likely its torque converter shudder. I have seen this trans do this a few times and its pretty easy to diagnose with Ford's IDS. All they have to do is monitor TCSLIP_ACT and TCSLIP_DSD pids while driving it. Any shudder will show up as a sawtooth pattern on TCSLIP_ACT.

 

If it is a torque converter shudder, is there a fix?

They claimed they did a lot of monitoring and driving but can't find anything. I think the problem is, they aren't driving it in a way that would make it happen. I believe they are driving it hard thinking its some violent shudder, no matter how many times I have explained that it is only under light load between 50 and 60 in 6th gear.

It is going back to the dealer on Tuesday next week for the tech to have another look at it.

 

Yeah replace the converter and change the fluid. None I have done have came back with the shudder. Some were so bad it felt like an ignition misfire.

 

If they can't duplicate it ask for a flight recorder. You may have to pay a deposit but will get it back when you return it. It basically monitors all the sensors all the time and when you feel the concern you press a button and it makes a recording. Then you go back to the dealer and the tech downloads the recordings and looks for anything out of whack

 

great input 70f100 !!!

thanks for the help !

 

Thanks for the replies! The explorer is at the dealership this week. They said they will likely just put a new torque converter in it based on the replies from this thread and their inability to figure out any other fix. We will see if this takes care of it at the end of the week.

 

Well.... new TC was installed and I still have the same issue.... Its just enough to bug the hell out of me since I drive this ting 60 miles a day. I have asked for a flight recorder but the service manager says they do not have spare to loan out and none of their sister stores do either. Any more suggestions?

 

Anyone have any ideas? It is back at the dealership and they are going to start over with it but I am not hopeful at this point.

 

One last idea. Rotate the tires. BUT rotate them in a criss-cross pattern so that all four tires are now rotating in the opposite direction. I once had an SUV with a tire that had an internal belt separation. If the feeling of the shudder changes in any way you may have a bad tire. If so, have a shop try to dynamically balance the tires. That should find the bad one.