[CJ5inNE]

Well here's the scoop. I got a call at work yesterday from the lil lady saying that her car was acting strangely. It developed a rather bad shudder from take off,up hills, and shifting into third around 40. I assumed it was an overdrive shudder, and thought Id check the fluid. So I checked it...browner than..well it was damn brown Ill say that. and it smelled terrible. So last evening I pulled the pan and drained all the fluid, when I dropped the pan I found the little plug for the dipstick tube that pops out when they insert it in the factory. Which means the pans never been dropped which says to me...hey the tranny fluid hasn't been changed in 102,000 miles. crap. So I put on a new filter, drained the converter, and slapped it all back together and put new fluid in anda bottle of treatment. let it warm up and took it for a spin. It drove alright at first...still did it but didn't seem to be as bad. Then it got worse,and worse, and by the time I got it home 15-20 min. later it was shuddering the entire time 0-80,as soon as it goes into gear it shudders (shakes the whole car), whether its reverse or forward. Im going to check the maf thisafternoon, and the plug wires to make sure I don't have a real bad miss, but Im almost certain its the tranny. Any thoughts? Right now the plan is to trade it in on something else this weekend...but we'll see.

Thanks for your help,
-Pat

 

[Robinson]

youre using Mercon V fluid right? if you arent, then you should. if its still a problem you might have well just fried your torque converter. 102k without a flush is pretty harsh.



btw, your tranny is a 4R70W, not an AOD.

 

[CJ5inNE]

Thankya for the info,
Newer fords really aren't my arena so I was just going on what I knew.Yeah I did use the mercron V fluid. And as far as the fluid change goes, apparently the dealer she got it from never looked and I never really would have expected her to know about changing it every 30,000. I don't even think shes put that much on it since she got it, I wasn't really in the picture when she aquired it, and to be honest it never had any tranny problems before so I never thought to check it myself. But you do think its a TC problem and not the rest of the tranny? If thats the case I could just pull it and put a new one in, but if it was the transmission itself she was just going to trade it in on something else. Shes been looking for something new anyway.
ahh well,

Thanks again,
-Pat

 

[Robinson]

TC shudder is pretty common on high mileage cars. the only fix is to flush it or replace it. these transmissions are usually pretty strong, but the 94/95 were a bit weaker. i doubt its the actual transmission but it is possible.

 

[392Bird]

I have done a few of these nasty ones, and most did fine on a second complete flush. The 1st one left a lot of crap in the cooling lines, cooler section of the radiator, and all of the passages in the trans. The drain on the converter leaves about 1/2 quart in it also. The filters in the automatics do a poor job since they only catch the largest paticals.

I would give it another flush before I gave up on it, and spent the big bucks.

 

[CJ5inNE]

Well, I guess another 30 bux for fluid and a filter would be alot better than a new converter or trading it in. Ill try and get to it tomarrow night and see what happens. I have to put an alternator in an areostar,lol could take me all night.

thanks,
-Pat

 

[bill_s]

The AOD doesn't have a TCC, so hard to believe the TC's fried.

Since it seems to be OK cold, and acting up hot, would be worthwhile to check the line pressure and other pressures too as it warms up. May not be much you can do except rebuild, but a BIG cooler might keep it driveable for a while longer.

 

[WhiteBird101]

He doesn't have an aod. He has a '95 bird, therefore has a 4r70w, which is electronicly controlled, therefore has a tcc

 

[CJ5inNE]

The AOD doesn't have a TCC, so hard to believe the TC's fried.

Since it seems to be OK cold, and acting up hot, would be worthwhile to check the line pressure and other pressures too as it warms up.

Yeah we already discovered it wasn't an AOD (damned if I knew I haven't owned anything newer than a 86 Ranger) and like I said earlier it shudders constantly now, cold, warm, in gear, a little bit in nutral, forward, backward, 2mph and 80mph. I haven't had a chance to flush it again so Its been sitting in the garage, Im going to try it tomarrow evening and see if it helps any. How many quarts of mercon V should I get? I already had some so I honestly don't remember how many I used. If this doesn't do it, I guess its off she goes. Anyone want to buy a $3,000 bird?

Thanks folks,
-Pat

 

[AverageJoe]

Have you thought about the 1-2 2-3 accum pistons and other things that are recommended to be changed?