My 95 F-150 XLT Extended Cab 2wd pickup has developed and shudder when the automatic transmission shifts up through the gears. It shudders quite a bit around 45 mph when it gets ready to go into overdrive. I've had people tell me it's the torque converter and others tell me it's impending catastrophic failure of the transmission internally. Yesterday the transmission also started to slip when in overdrive. It seems to get worse as the tranny warms up as well. has anyone else had this issue? I'm very concerned and am wondering how much it's going to cost to get this issue fixed.
Thanks!

 

If you change the trans fluid, including the fluid in the torque converter, when the shudder first develops it will often go away. If it shudders for a while then the torque converter will need to be replaced.

 

OK..Now here's a real stupid question....how do you change fluid in the torque converter?

 

Sometimes changing the fluid will help eliminate shudder. But usually shudder, especially as you describe it happening at 45 as you approach lock up, means that the clutch in your TC is slipping which causes the fluid in your tranny to overheat which makes the seals brittel and causes debris to circulate in the tranny. You will know you have gone too far when the tranny starts to have intermittant hard shifting. If you change the fluid before this happens, you have a chance. otherwise, you will porbably need at least a minor rebuild and new TC.

Most TCs have a drain plug. If you see a rubber plug or a removable plate at the bottom of the bell housing, you can open that and have someone tap the starter until you see the drain plug. Remove the plug and get ready for a long steady drain.

To refill the TC, there are a couple schools of thought. Some of us don't like it dry on start up. If you have one of those fluid pumps with a long hose you might stick it in the drain hole and turn the TC by hand(IGNITION OFF), usually a big screw driver works, until the drain hole is maybe 1/2 way up. Then pump until fluid dribbles out. BUT BUT BUT, be sure you can reach up in there to replace the plug. My E4OD does not have room for this so we go on to method #2.

Method 2...Replace the plug and button things up. Then put in about 1/3 to 1/2 half the capacity listed in your book. Note that refill capacity when you drain the TC is about double just dropping the pan, I think my tranny takes 15 qts with TC and about 8qts without, so I would add about 7qts to start. Start the engine and let it run in park for a few seconds. Turn it off and add more fluid(4 or 5 qts) and start etc. When you get to about 3/4+ of the total fluid, start measuring the dipstick level and add fluid as required.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

I appreciate the info and help Jim! I hate to think there might be massive internal damage to the tranny. I've had 5 different tranny shops tell me 5 different things that could be wrong with this unit and I figured i would post here in the hopes someone might have a good idea of what direction to go in here. So far Jim, your suggestion makes the most sense and by changing the filter and fluid I can get an idea of the internal condition of the tranny as well without having to spend a bunch of money to have someone tell me the fluid is dirty and needs changing. I'm open to any and all suggestions as well..but I will be draining the fluid today and will hopefully be able to take care of this problem without having to sink thousands into the tranny. Thanks a million Jim!

 

You can either do it as Jim Henderson described, or use this method:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/article/...nsmission.html

For those of you with a 2002 or newer you'll have to use this method because there is no drain plug on your torque converter.

 

If you haven't gotten to the harsh shifting phase there is hope. Perhaps in this case only the TC needs to be replaced and the system flushed out. Dropping the pan can tell you a lot. Maybe even just a fluid change is all you need.

Once you get to the harsh shifting phase, especially if the fluid is a bit brown or brownish pink, then you probably have some damage. I got to the intermittent harsh shifting phase and when I had the tranny rebuilt they had to replace the sun shell, the valvbody, some solenoids and the clutch pack and upgrade the TC. This cost about $2500 back around 1998. I told the shop make it bullet proof for towing so the price is possibly higher than the usual.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson