Stuttering tranny behavior

[NYGarageQueen]

Hey all,

So the girl has been sleeping in the garage for the winter and I finally took her out today for her initial cruise and to get an inspection. Besides the fact that the shop had to take all my tint off to pass and leave glue residue (that, a different story) had a nice run with her. I noticing some concerning behavior from the transmission that I am trying to track down. While driving under 40, depending on speed most of the time I notice she will shift through the gears smoothly - but I get a few situations where either on low acceleration from OD to third I will get stuttering as the car tries to downshift. I hit the OD button and I am finding that is not helping, well sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. I also noticed at one point, coming to a complete stop slight stuttering from the car, right under 1,000 rpms sitting at a light. I will throw the car in neutral and it seems to smooth out.

I usually am not having a problem when she shifts through the gears and I try local driving with OD off - again this only happens sometimes - it is not constant so basically when I am waiting for it to happen to try and remember what gear I am in or RPM, its fine. Then when I stop paying attention, it might creep up, lol.

I have my OBOII computer interface that I can run to my laptop so I can monitor shift points and possibly try to graph out when this happens, just have not gotten to that point yet.

I checked the fluid a few times, especially after a drive - clean, full and no metal shavings at all.

Being that the car only has 30,400 miles on it, I am also assuming that the fluid might have never been changed, so I am thinking of changing that in the next few weeks.

Any thoughts? Is this related to the factory shifting programing? I have seen a bunch of threads that usual result to that - and to get a tune to address which I am okay with doing. I am not really used to these transmissions, as all my other vehicles were Vics - besides that frankinvic I built with my extra Marauder motor and tranny, but I never drove that much so I dont have a general feel.

Thanks all

[BLACKMARAUDER04]

Change the fluid ASSP.
Recommended maintenance is at 30,000 mile intervals on the transmission . First time I had to change the fluid I had the same symptoms. Cleared up after changing the fluid. Drop the pan and inspect.
Clean off magnet and replace.


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[NYGarageQueen]

Change the fluid ASSP.
Recommended maintenance is at 30,000 mile intervals on the transmission . First time I had to change the fluid I had the same symptoms. Cleared up after changing the fluid. Drop the pan and inspect.
Clean off magnet and replace.


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Sounds good! I took a look at the service history and did not see it changed, and figured when I bought the car at 30,000 the place did not do that either, which is fine because I wanted to drop the pan anyway and inspect. I will try to knock that out this weekend or next, then if the issues go away I will maybe to do the tune next :)

Thank you sir!

[NYGarageQueen]

Actually one other question- and I know this has been debated over and over, but thought I asked due to the age of the fluid and the miles and the fact that the transmission is acting most likely because of the fluid.. do you guys recommend a flush over a pan drop and drain? I figure the pan drop I would get the majority of the fluid out after a few changes, but being the age of the fluid.. just wondering because my local dealer is is two week wait for appointments.

[RubberCtyRauder]

Oem shift schedule is terrible, designed to get to OD for economy. So in and out of Third,OD is common. Get a tune from MOs Speed Shop here in vendor forum. He is member but does not frequent as often. Most of us have a MOs tune. It improves shift schedule to keep car in power band and not hunt and search back and forth. It harms nothing, downloads thru OBDII port on a SCT xcal. The xcal then stores the oem program that can be reloaded if ever needed. Can all be done over phone, email, usps. Car will feel like a new car and 800 lbs. lighter.

[justbob]

Do yourself a favor and buy a pan plug for future drains. [emoji1303]

And I’ll save you the freak out post “What is this white bobber looking thing I found laying in my pan??!!”

It was originally a plug for the dipstick tube. Throw it away.


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[Joe Walsh]

Do yourself a favor and buy a pan plug for future drains. [emoji1303]

And I’ll save you the freak out post “What is this white bobber looking thing I found laying in my pan??!!”

It was originally a plug for the dipstick tube. Throw it away.


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My 'freak out bobber' was yellow....:D

https://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?109070-WTF-is-that!&highlight=

[NYGarageQueen]

Oem shift schedule is terrible, designed to get to OD for economy. So in and out of Third,OD is common. Get a tune from MOs Speed Shop here in vendor forum. He is member but does not frequent as often. Most of us have a MOs tune. It improves shift schedule to keep car in power band and not hunt and search back and forth. It harms nothing, downloads thru OBDII port on a SCT xcal. The xcal then stores the oem program that can be reloaded if ever needed. Can all be done over phone, email, usps. Car will feel like a new car and 800 lbs. lighter.

Sounds good, I will reach out to him regarding the tune. From what you said and what I have read, this seems to be the best option overall anyhow.

[NYGarageQueen]

justbob
Do yourself a favor and buy a pan plug for future drains. [emoji1303]

And I’ll save you the freak out post “What is this white bobber looking thing I found laying in my pan??!!”

It was originally a plug for the dipstick tube. Throw it away.



Will do, looks like it makes future changes a breeze to be done when I do my oil changes.

I was able to get into a dealership on Friday for the flush, unless anyone thinks I am better off just dropping the pan and doing a few cycles of that? Either way I am going to need to drop the pan, replace the filter, check the magnet and install the plug..

[BLACKMARAUDER04]

Do not flush.. drop the trans pan. Its not that much more in labor. Speakership is expensive.


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[RubberCtyRauder]

https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-6724-265-813.aspx

[NYGarageQueen]

Do not flush.. drop the trans pan. Its not that much more in labor. Speakership is expensive.


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Okay makes sense, the money that would of been spent on the flush can be spent on the pan and filter, so looks like I will drop the pan tomorrow instead of going to the dealer :)

[BLACKMARAUDER04]

Wow! $20.66 at Amazon. However, I like to change the filter and look at the magnet every 30,000 miles rather than just drain the pan. Plus the gasket is re-usable.


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[NickT02LS]

Also make sure what you are feeling is not ignition coils failing, kind of strange bucking under light load

[fastblackmerc]

As mentioned, get a deeper pan with a drain plug or put a drain plug in your pan. Every oil change or every other change drain the tranny fluid and add new fluid. You might also want to add an extra tranny fluid cooler.

[blazen71]

Also make sure what you are feeling is not ignition coils failing, kind of strange bucking under light load Yes, this too. A new set of GT500 coils isn't too expensive to replace for peace of mind! Be sure to get OEM if you go this route.

https://www.amazon.com/Ford-Racing-M-12029-4V-Ignition-Coil/dp/B00BRLXY9U

[NYGarageQueen]

So wanted to update everyone - I decided after going back and forth to take it to the dealer, mainly because I don't drive it a lot and figure it would take a while to get all the fluid out after a few pan drops and suspecting the fluid was original, I wanted to get it all flushed out. So I had them do the fluid exchange, drop the pan and change the filter while they were at it. Dust plug was still in the pan, so that confirmed my thought that this fluid is the same since out of factory and was most likely as most of you mentioned the cause of the crappy behavior from the tranny. Unless there was a fluid exchange previously, maybe. The service history on the car was dealerships, and nothing indicated tranny service at all. They saved the plug for me, lol.

Anyways, I took her out after and all those issues disappeared so you guys were spot on. Next is the tune, I already have the scanner from past builds. I still notice the "seeking" issue with OD sometimes, but it is not as noticeable as before - I will see if I still notice it after the tune. I am going to replace the pan most likely at the end of the year after I get some driving in (let the new fluid cycle through) with the plug, and then will add this to my change schedule with my oil changes.

Speaking of the tune, is there any specific configuration I should be asking for from MO's speed shop?

Thanks

[blazen71]

No, Moe will ask what you've done to the car, any modifications, and then set you up with the tune. Moe and Jeff are great guys to work with and they really go out of their way to help their customers! I've purchased many parts from them and have done countless remote tunes. I am very happy with them and will continue to support them!

[NYGarageQueen]

No, Moe will ask what you've done to the car, any modifications, and then set you up with the tune. Moe and Jeff are great guys to work with and they really go out of their way to help their customers! I've purchased many parts from them and have done countless remote tunes. I am very happy with them and will continue to support them!

Great, thank you for the info and recommendation!