Trans shudder, 1st to 2nd gear

GenesisGuy70 · Jan 6, 2015

Car in question is the one in my signature. Currently at 104K miles.

I have noticed lately a shudder when the car is shifting from 1st to 2nd and a light shudder from 2nd to 3rd but nothing in the high gears. This is the 6F50 tranny.

I have no idea what it is or if it's really even a concern.

Thoughts?

Thanks

Throt

RamFan · Jan 6, 2015

Ever change the fluid?

901Memphis · Jan 6, 2015

Those transmissions need a lot of fluid changes for starters. At least one drain and fill every 30k

michaelluscher · Jan 6, 2015

If still under powertrain warranty, book it in.

If not, drains and fill with Mercon LV.

GenesisGuy70 · Jan 6, 2015

Sorry should have mentioned it earlier;

Yes, tranny was flushed @ 99K miles. Maybe that whole flush killing your tranny myth is true after all. Hoping not though.

HerrStig · Jan 6, 2015

How big is the horse trailer

. Change the fluid, quickly, maybe Mobil One synthetic fluid.

SF0059 · Jan 6, 2015

Are you sure you got the right fluid? Change it to verify and add a bottle of LubeGuard Platinum for good measure.

Nyquist · Jan 6, 2015

A poorly running engine can show up as a transmission issue as well if the right conditions are present. When was your last tune-up/fuel filter?

Colt45ws · Jan 7, 2015

Originally Posted By: Nyquist
A poorly running engine can show up as a transmission issue as well if the right conditions are present. When was your last tune-up/fuel filter?

Yup, just dealt with this on my CVPI. I thought it was shuddering (slipping 1st) when taking off at high throttle. Later I was going up a hill @40mph (in OD, locked) and it started randomly stuttering. So thats how I figured out it was dropping a cylinder under high load. I replaced the bad coil and it went away.
It never set a code for misfire.

GenesisGuy70 · Jan 7, 2015

Very good point. Hadn't given an engine issue much thought. When I bought the car @ 99k miles it still had the original plugs so I changed them out. So it just had a tune-up 5K miles ago. As for the fuel filter, Ford, in a stroke of stupidity, made the system with a lifetime filter. It is unaccessible without dropping the tank. The worst it ever did it too was under a pretty heavy throttle going up a hill from a dead stop. And I will have to say now that I think about it, it only does it under load, if I'm driving it easy, never a shudder.

GenesisGuy70 · Jan 7, 2015

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Originally Posted By: Nyquist
A poorly running engine can show up as a transmission issue as well if the right conditions are present. When was your last tune-up/fuel filter?

Yup, just dealt with this on my CVPI. I thought it was shuddering (slipping 1st) when taking off at high throttle. Later I was going up a hill @40mph (in OD, locked) and it started randomly stuttering. So thats how I figured out it was dropping a cylinder under high load. I replaced the bad coil and it went away.
It never set a code for misfire.

How did you know which coil it was? This version of the Duratec has "coil on plug" so it could expensive real quick.

Colt45ws · Jan 7, 2015

Well, Im lucky enough to have another car with the same engine, so I stole a coil off it and tried it in every hole. I got good at replicating the conditions it would fail under. Just kept driving up and down the road, stopping to move it to the next hole. Bad part was I ended up moving it 8 times since I started at #1 and #8 was the bad one.
There are ways if you have access to the computer data, it records misfire events on each cylinder, so you would be able to see the cylinder with the much higher number would obviously be the bad one.
It detects the misses, but only sets a fault code if it crosses into where it can be damaging for the emission components. A marginal coil can run a long time without setting a code especially since the computer multi-strikes the coils at low rpm. A coil has to be nearly completely dead for it to say anything about it.

GenesisGuy70 · Jan 7, 2015

I have an Autel MaxiScan MS310 OBDII scanner, so I'll have to hook that up and view the live stream engine data. I'm not sure if this one displays misfire information though, I've only ever used it to get DTC's and to reset them. I find it strange that the check engine light wouldn't illuminate from even one misfire.

GenesisGuy70 · Jan 7, 2015

Checked the fluid, level was perfect and color was good. Scheduled a diagnostic at the Stealership, guess we'll find out. I ran the scanner while driving and viewed the live data, this one isn't "techy" enough to display misfire counts on each cylinder. Maybe I'll mention it to Ford tomorrow and see if they can run the engine through the paces and monitor it.

michaelluscher · Jan 7, 2015

Originally Posted By: Throt
Checked the fluid, level was perfect and color was good. Scheduled a diagnostic at the Stealership, guess we'll find out. I ran the scanner while driving and viewed the live data, this one isn't "techy" enough to display misfire counts on each cylinder. Maybe I'll mention it to Ford tomorrow and see if they can run the engine through the paces and monitor it.

May I recommend a OBDLink MX and FORScan
Hands down the best and most featured tool for a late model Ford product this side of a dealers IDS.
Comes with ScanXL, which does $Mode6 on Windows and Android.

GenesisGuy70 · Jan 7, 2015

^^ Very cool products. Had never of heard of them before now. Are you sure it will provide that level of information? I mean info like cylinder by cylinder misfire's etc? Seems cheap for that level of capability and you know what they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

michaelluscher · Jan 7, 2015

Originally Posted By: Throt
^^ Very cool products. Had never of heard of them before now. Are you sure it will provide that level of information? I mean info like cylinder by cylinder misfire's etc? Seems cheap for that level of capability and you know what they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

OBDLink MX comes with OBDWiz for Windows, which netted me Mode $6 data on my '06 Taurus.
Also, if you've got an Android Device, Their free OBDLink app in the play store also brings it along.

http://forscan.org/home.html

FORScan is a separate software, but it also free, and does many interesting Ford specific items (Airbag/ABS/GEM, etc.)

As long as you've got a Windows PC with Bluetooth that you can have within Bluetooth of your car (who doesn't have a newish laptop?), and a MX, your set.

If you've got Amazon Prime, $100 and two days you'll have it.

Trans shudder, 1st to 2nd gear

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