1995 Lincoln Town Car Trans shudder?

[dja4260]

Recently inherited a clean 117k mile Lincoln Town Car. I have all the maintenance/history in an organized notebook. It recently had every fluid changed by a Ford Dealership along with a number of other items. The engine compartment is clean. You could almost eat off of it! It has the 4R70W transmission.

What it is doing:

Every once in a while when driving around 42-44 MPH OR coasting down hill @ 25-30mph on my street the car feels like the car is every so slightly lurching forward, a back and forth motion, something transmission related. It doesn't have a tach so I can't give an RPM. When coasting downhill it's more noticeable.

When applying the brakes, the car will shudder before coming to a complete stop at about 3 mph. It's slight and not violent.

Otherwise the car shifts and runs great...

The trans fluid looks fresh, and slightly overfilled....Thanks Ford Dealership (in a different state so no recourse) I was going to suck some fluid out of the dip stick and replace with something such as LubeGard, Amzoil, etc to get level perfect.

Thoughts, advice?

 

[tnt_motorsports]

Recently inherited a clean 117k mile Lincoln Town Car. I have all the maintenance/history in an organized notebook. It recently had every fluid changed by a Ford Dealership along with a number of other items. The engine compartment is clean. You could almost eat off of it! It has the 4R70W transmission.

What it is doing:

Every once in a while when driving around 42-44 MPH OR coasting down hill @ 25-30mph on my street the car feels like the car is every so slightly lurching forward, a back and forth motion, something transmission related. It doesn't have a tach so I can't give an RPM. When coasting downhill it's more noticeable.

When applying the brakes, the car will shudder before coming to a complete stop at about 3 mph. It's slight and not violent.

Otherwise the car shifts and runs great...

The trans fluid looks fresh, and slightly overfilled....Thanks Ford Dealership (in a different state so no recourse) I was going to suck some fluid out of the dip stick and replace with something such as LubeGard, Amzoil, etc to get level perfect.

Thoughts, advice?

I’d get the fluid to the correct level before adding any additives. See if that helps.

Just my $0.02

 

[JimPghPA]

Personally, I have never used it, but there are many sites such as YouTube and a few others, that claim that while in general most additives are snake oil ( useless products only after the the money in your wallet ) one of the additives that Lucas makes that actually works is there automatic transmission fluid additive. Some say such additives only thicken the fluid to bring pressure up when a pump is not sealing properly, or other areas require a better seal.

Check out the YouTube videos about Lucas transmission additive, and the other brands also.

 

[OVERKILL]

Get the fluid level right. If that doesn't help, Lubeguard might.

 

[Rob_Roy]

Was the transmission serviced with Mercon V fluid? Ford came out with Mercon V for multiple reasons, but a big one was torque converter shudder. Your car has a drain plug on the torque converter, so changing the fluid is fairly simple if needed.

 

[bdcardinal]

Was the transmission serviced with Mercon V fluid? Ford came out with Mercon V for multiple reasons, but a big one was torque converter shudder. Your car has a drain plug on the torque converter, so changing the fluid is fairly simple if needed.

I would try this also. Maybe drop the pan and change the filter. Mercon V fixes a fair amount of shudder on the 4R70Ws where people still used Mercon.

 

[Nick1994]

Is the idle high? Might be a vacuum leak if so.

My Jeep's idle is high when I have the cruise control servo hooked up, because the cable is kinked internally. This makes the transmission which is perfect normally, very sloppy and lurchy.

 

[clinebarger]

Un-Pin or temporarily cut the TCC Solenoid Control Wire at the PCM, Leave a few inches from the PCM so you can repair the wire later.

The TCC Solenoid Control circuit is located in cavity 54, And the color is Purple with a Yellow tracer.

Test drive the vehicle under the same conditions......
*IF the symptoms are now gone, You have what we call TCC Shudder.
*IF the symptoms persists....Get back to us.

As stated above....Double check ATF level.
I usually have these thoroughly flushed with fresh Mercon V, Then drop the pan & swap the filter. NEVER had an issue using a flush machine on these, DO NOT add any flush chemicals!

If TCC Shudder persists with 100% fresh Mercon V, Add 2 ounces of Lubegard Instant Shudder Fixx.

 

[dja4260]

Un-Pin or temporarily cut the TCC Solenoid Control Wire at the PCM, Leave a few inches from the PCM so you can repair the wire later.

The TCC Solenoid Control circuit is located in cavity 54, And the color is Purple with a Yellow tracer.

Test drive the vehicle under the same conditions......
*IF the symptoms are now gone, You have what we call TCC Shudder.
*IF the symptoms persists....Get back to us.

As stated above....Double check ATF level.
I usually have these thoroughly flushed with fresh Mercon V, Then drop the pan & swap the filter. NEVER had an issue using a flush machine on these, DO NOT add any flush chemicals!

If TCC Shudder persists with 100% fresh Mercon V, Add 2 ounces of Lubegard Instant Shudder Fixx.

Thank you! I'll do this whenever feasible! I'm also going to call the dealership and see what fluid they used during the trans fluid sway.

 

[dja4260]

I pulled a shy quart to get the trans fluid level to where it needed to be. I didn't drive it much after extracting the fluid so I'll go for an extended drive tomorrow and report back.

 

[Cujet]

Is the idle high? Might be a vacuum leak if so.

My Jeep's idle is high when I have the cruise control servo hooked up, because the cable is kinked internally. This makes the transmission which is perfect normally, very sloppy and lurchy.

I was going to suggest this, but Nick1994 beat me to it. I have a friend/co-worker who experienced something similar on the same car. It was a vacuum leak.