98 TC shimmys when shifting...

GREAT FORUM!!!

My wife's 1998 Town Car had a slight shimmy (engine minor sputter) when shifting gears when starting off. Transmission shop suggested that it was not transmission, just engine skipping under the strain of the gear change.

We had a tune up - new plugs, air & gas filters - and that solved the problem, but only temporarily. It is now shimmying worse than before.

Her 1992 Crowne Vic had spark plug wire problems. Could this be a similar problem??

Thanks for any reply

H. West
Sarasota FL

This one is going to be difficult to diagnose.

The transmission shudder is very similar to a misfire, especially when it's not severe. Some describe both conditions as driving on little ripples in the road.

Yes, plug wires and Coil Packs could be the real culprit however, being that the condition only manifests itself at those 'under-load' shifting points, a Dyno test may be the only way to nail it down, until the problem gets really obvious.

Every 30k to 40k miles you need to flush and replace your Transmission Fluid, including cleaning the pan and replacing the Filter. Regardless if you're having any problems, this is required maintenance. I've thrown that into this conversation because, the Transmission shudder that plagues these cars is kept at bay when we keep our transmissions clean, at the recommended intervals, with the recommended fluids. Most of us also use some kind of name brand additive as well, Lubegard (http://www.lubegard.com/automotive/index_trans.html) is the most recommended. The shudder can be mistaken for misfires, and it does occur during shifting.

An OBDii Scan should also be done to check for intermittent, stored, error codes. This could identify a misfiring coil pack, dying fuel injector, bad spark plug wire, etc when the condition isn't constant. A constant problem (error) would cause the Check Engine Light to remain lit after the engine is running.

Have a look at your miles, keep in mind the service interval for trans. fluid flush, take the steps required, check for stored OBDii codes.

We have a few Conti owners that live with a similar problem, no-body can figure it out, one of 'em recently traded the car from frustration.

Every 30k to 40k miles you need to flush and replace your Transmission Fluid, including cleaning the pan and replacing the Filter. Regardless if you're having any problems, this is required maintenance. I've thrown that into this conversation because, the Transmission shudder that plagues these cars is kept at bay when we keep our transmissions clean, at the recommended intervals, with the recommended fluids. Most of us also use some kind of name brand additive as well, Lubegard (http://www.lubegard.com/automotive/index_trans.html) is the most recommended. The shudder can be mistaken for misfires, and it does occur during shifting.

Sounds like very informed feedback to me. Will do the maintenance on the transmission, and move on from there.

Thanks for the feedback!!

H. West

Just had the same problem on a 97 vic last week, had engine ping and sputter when changing gears under lite load. Turned out to be spark plug wires. Your 98 has a coil over plug system that are know to go bad and are more then likely still factory since many people dont run out to replace them due to cost.


GREAT FORUM!!!

My wife's 1998 Town Car had a slight shimmy (engine minor sputter) when shifting gears when starting off. Transmission shop suggested that it was not transmission, just engine skipping under the strain of the gear change.

We had a tune up - new plugs, air & gas filters - and that solved the problem, but only temporarily. It is now shimmying worse than before.

Her 1992 Crowne Vic had spark plug wire problems. Could this be a similar problem??

Thanks for any reply

H. West
Sarasota FL