1997 Ford F150 4x4 shudder?

[mikeg5]

I hear the word shudder but i guess i am not exactly sure what that means as far as transmission shuddering..

however its my dad's truck and when he takes off from a stop you feel a shudder like feeling. i dont think it does it as the transmission shifts at higher speeds. just take off..

to me this sounds more like a u joint and not the transmission. the truck has almost a 100k miles. any ideas?

 

[tig1]

Most likely you need to change the transmission fluid. While you are at it, drain the torque converter. Notice the rubber plug on the bottom of the bell housing. Pry it off and rotate the engine until you see the drain plug for the converter. Bad transmission fluid is the most common reason for transmission shudder.

 

[drivewaytech]

Could be the u joints need to be replaced, or you may need a transmission flush. A good friend of mine experienced the same thing, but only at high speeds. The flush (BG products) cleared up the problem. Same thing for myself on a Plymouth Grand Voyager. Again, this was shutter at high speeds on both vehicles, which leads me to believe it's a u joint problem or trans mount has loosened.

 

[mikeg5]

yeah you only notice this at take off.. he will have the transmission serviced as well. we are going to do multiple drain and fills. probably use valvolin maxlife since its approved for MERCON.. as for the u joints how do you check them??

 

[punisher]

If it is a single shudder or thunk from a takeoff, the splines on the driveshaft splines are binding. FoMoCo has a special teflon grease to fix the problem.

 

[mikeg5]

Originally Posted By: punisher
If it is a single shudder or thunk from a takeoff, the splines on the driveshaft splines are binding. FoMoCo has a special teflon grease to fix the problem.


kind of yeah. you can only feel it at take off and thats it. isnt the shaft and all on that ford all sealed?? i dont think there are any grease fitting under that truck. keep in mind i have not been under that truck in a few years. my dad rarely does anything to it other than change the oil.

 

[punisher]

Originally Posted By: mikeg5

kind of yeah. you can only feel it at take off and thats it. isnt the shaft and all on that ford all sealed?? i dont think there are any grease fitting under that truck. keep in mind i have not been under that truck in a few years. my dad rarely does anything to it other than change the oil.


I'll stand by my previous post.

 

[mikeg5]

Originally Posted By: punisher
Originally Posted By: mikeg5

kind of yeah. you can only feel it at take off and thats it. isnt the shaft and all on that ford all sealed?? i dont think there are any grease fitting under that truck. keep in mind i have not been under that truck in a few years. my dad rarely does anything to it other than change the oil.


I'll stand by my previous post.


can you expand on that please? i do not know much about the f150

after speaking with a ford tech he said ujoint or clutch in the rear end.. never heard of a clutch in the rearend maybe you can expand on that as well.. again i do not know much about the f150

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: mikeg5
Originally Posted By: punisher
Originally Posted By: mikeg5

kind of yeah. you can only feel it at take off and thats it. isnt the shaft and all on that ford all sealed?? i dont think there are any grease fitting under that truck. keep in mind i have not been under that truck in a few years. my dad rarely does anything to it other than change the oil.


I'll stand by my previous post.


can you expand on that please? i do not know much about the f150

after speaking with a ford tech he said ujoint or clutch in the rear end.. never heard of a clutch in the rearend maybe you can expand on that as well.. again i do not know much about the f150


it has a clutch type LSD.

 

[mikeg5]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: mikeg5
Originally Posted By: punisher
Originally Posted By: mikeg5

kind of yeah. you can only feel it at take off and thats it. isnt the shaft and all on that ford all sealed?? i dont think there are any grease fitting under that truck. keep in mind i have not been under that truck in a few years. my dad rarely does anything to it other than change the oil.


I'll stand by my previous post.


can you expand on that please? i do not know much about the f150

after speaking with a ford tech he said ujoint or clutch in the rear end.. never heard of a clutch in the rearend maybe you can expand on that as well.. again i do not know much about the f150


it has a clutch type LSD.


ahh gotcha makes sense now thanks for the clarification

 

[Jason2007]

Could be that the U-joints are shot or the Traction-Lok unit is wore out or just the fluid is worn out.

 

[Zaedock]

Originally Posted By: Jason2007
Could be that the U-joints are shot or the Traction-Lok unit is wore out or just the fluid is worn out.


You shouldn't feel the LSD while taking off in a straight line on pavement.

Pull the rear driveshaft and grease the output splines, as previously mentioned. Check the driveshaft u-joints while it's out.

 

[mikeg5]

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
Originally Posted By: Jason2007
Could be that the U-joints are shot or the Traction-Lok unit is wore out or just the fluid is worn out.


You shouldn't feel the LSD while taking off in a straight line on pavement.

Pull the rear driveshaft and grease the output splines, as previously mentioned. Check the driveshaft u-joints while it's out.


noted thanks!

 

[mikeg5]

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
Originally Posted By: Jason2007
Could be that the U-joints are shot or the Traction-Lok unit is wore out or just the fluid is worn out.


You shouldn't feel the LSD while taking off in a straight line on pavement.

Pull the rear driveshaft and grease the output splines, as previously mentioned. Check the driveshaft u-joints while it's out.


out of curiosity why would you have to grease the splines? its sealed yes? again i am just curious.. trying to learn something

 

[punisher]

For whatever reason FoMoCo didn't do all of the road testing they should have on that model (no news there if you ever worked on Fords, especially the intro year of a new model or powertrain). There is an incompatability with the grease and whatever metallurgy FoMoCo used on that spline assembly. When you come to a stop, the rear axle rotates forward, effectively lenghtening the driveshaft. When you apply power the splines are under load and bind as the axle rotates under load. Eventually the load overcomes the binding and the whole trans/driveshaft snaps back to it's normal position. Ford just speced another type of grease to alleviate the problem.
It has nothing to do with them being sealed, Ford just didn't do their homework on this one.

 

[mikeg5]

Originally Posted By: punisher
For whatever reason FoMoCo didn't do all of the road testing they should have on that model (no news there if you ever worked on Fords, especially the intro year of a new model or powertrain). There is an incompatability with the grease and whatever metallurgy FoMoCo used on that spline assembly. When you come to a stop, the rear axle rotates forward, effectively lenghtening the driveshaft. When you apply power the splines are under load and bind as the axle rotates under load. Eventually the load overcomes the binding and the whole trans/driveshaft snaps back to it's normal position. Ford just speced another type of grease to alleviate the problem.
It has nothing to do with them being sealed, Ford just didn't do their homework on this one.



thanks man ill let my dad know before he takes it in

 

[OVERKILL]

The 4R75W is known to suffer from minor TC shudder. Switching it to Mercon V typically fixes it.