Transmission Shudder.. Wonderful

[solaris=amazing]

95 tbird 4.6, between 30-40mph, while going either uphill or downhill in overdrive i'll get a 1 second shudder. Maybe it's just the tc hopefully, it doesnt happen anytime else. If i drive with overdrive off (which i mainly do cause lots of stop and go) IT WILL NOT HAPPEN. Fluid is fine also, was always well maintained. It's funny cause that only happens while accelerating SLOWLY between 30-40mph, if i punch it, it wont happen. Other then that, everything is fine with the trans.

[thunderbird muscle]

Where are your rpms at when this happens.

[solaris=amazing]

Honestly i don't know, guessing between 2000 and 2600 rpm. Pretty sure it's 2nd gear going into 3rd. Hopefully it's only the tc locking up.

[thunderbird muscle]

That sounds like what it is to me. That was why I asked about the rpms. Sometimes the tc will give a slight shutter so I don't think it is anything serious.

If you are worried drop the pan and see if you see any metal.

[blue95tbird468]

I dont think it would be the TC because it starts fading out at 25MPH and completely disables at about 32MPH. Unless its freaking out when its disableing....

[sandsport250]

i actually had a shuddering, or felt more like a slipping in and out of gear around 35-40 mph, in my t-bird. i took it to many tranny shops, they said its needs to be rebuilt, untill one guy drove the car. he was a really good freind of mine, he said change the spark plug wires. i though he was crazy, but as it turns out, there was nothing wrong with my trans at all. it was just spark plug wires. give it a shot first. couldnt hurt, it didnt seem to happen with over drive, as often but it still would have a few occurences. if you floor it, didnt happen, babied it, didnt happen. only on what seems to be normal driving conditions.

[solaris=amazing]

I had a complete tranny flush at avis, they took out everything out of the tc, and flushed it with that machine (forgot the name). And that day, it didn't make a differance, but day after day, it got better. The shudder was less and less. Then, it was smooth. No shudder at all. So i guess like many people have told me, get this done-and it worked. Everything perfect, then BAM, old fart runs the red light, and my cars in the body shop now.

[sandsport250]

aww, sorry to hear that. the only reason i never got the tranny flush, tourqe converter and everything is my car has almost 80,000 miles, so they told me at a few places that if they clean out my entire trans, it would probably blow all of the seals when i put it in gear, they said it wouldnt even leave the lift. so i never went with that.

[ModMech]

Shudder is very often mistaken for a bad plug wire, and is VERY often used by dis-reputable shops to perform a needless trans "rebuild", when ALL it needs is fresh MERCON V fluid, and a few hundred miles to "work in".

[sandsport250]

yeah thats how i feel. aamcco wanted to do a new trans, even after they did their diagnostic on my car. and it turned out to be plug wires. thanks to another shop that told me that.

[solaris=amazing]

ModMech, thats what my mechanic told me, get the complete flush, then let it "work in". I drive 30-50 miles a day, so just about the 3rd day, it was completely gone. I did it at avis cause they do it on the spot-instead of leaving it, ya know. Also, yeah sandsport250 sometimes it's bad to do a complete flush-mainly when the fluid HASN'T been changed regularly.

[ModMech]

Absolutely correct! If you ATF is older than 4 years/75,000 miles or is burned, you might just KILL it by chaning the fluid.

[compewterman]

I have a 95 4.6 took it to jiffy lube and had it flushed completly along with tc. it ran exceptionly the only other thing I idid was go to local B&W auto parts store and purchased for $6.99 Dr.Tranny Instant Shudder Fix and it was never heard of again. hope this helps And also... 89k miles on it