Okay- I don't have a truck, but I'm looking for help everywhere. I have a 94 T-Bird with 4.6 and AODE..

My problems are with the tranny I assume. When I am in third gear I can hear what sounds like a bearing starting to go bad, but I didn't think there were bearings in auto trannys...This is my first auto tranny ever, so I'm not real familiar with them. The noise goes away if I put it into O/D or shift down into second...another thing, I don't know if it's related or not..when I put it in neutral someitmes there is a vibrating noise when I rev it..if I put it in park and rev it there is no noise..I'm thinking maybe catylitic converter heat shield, but who knows..

Thanks so much in advance for any help you all can provide me,

Sean

 

94 T-Bird with 4.6? The transmission it's got is called a 4R70W. Basically, it's a more advanced (read complicated) version of the AODE. I'm not sure what a bearing going out feels like, but it sounds like you may have the infamous "torque converted shutter." If so, I have some good news, and some bad news. The good news is that simply flushing out all the old transmission fluid and refilling it with new fluid will cure the torque converter shudder (if that is your problem). The bad news is that the 4R70W is a really picky eater, and if you put anything other than Mercon V ATF fluid in there, the shudder will come back. And as far as ATF fluid goes, Mercon V is considerably more expensive than the glorified power steering fluid you buy at Wal-Mart. Even if that's not your problem, you should flush & refill the transmission anyway. It's one of those regular maintainence things that should be done every 30,000 miles, if only on general principle. And for what its worth, take care of that T-Bird, and she'll take care of you. I've got a '95 Thunderbird with a 4.6 and 4R70W, and she's got 202,000 miles on her and still running strong.

One last thing,

www.tccoa.com

That's the Thunderbird & Cougar Club of America website. You don't have to be a member to use the message boards, and there are a lot of people who know these cars inside out (much better than I do!). Go there, and you'll find all the help you need!

 

Sounds like you have a torque converter problem. The only time there is a mechanical link between engine and trans is during direct drive torque converter lockup (3rd gear) which is 1:1 ratio. The converter locks to eliminate slippage. Sounds like your converter might be going bad, because the converter also plays a vital part in idling because of stall speed. I think you might want to look into replacing the converter or having the converter rebuilt before you investigate further. Its the cheapest, and most problems people have with their transmissions are in the converter.
-John