Transmission shudder

[thebigdu]

What's sad is everything is fixable.
Everything.
There's nothing that's unfixable.
It's a mechanical assembly.

But the system is broken for getting the mechanical assembly (truck) properly diagnosed and thus repaired.

Large part apathy
Considerable part lack of skill
No small part arrogance

And it's not a single brand phenomenon.
This is a Forum for Ford's F150. So the broken system is discussed here as Ford centric.

And it's not just an automotive industry issue. It's widespread across multiple industries. In fact the current modern consumer is surprised, and will share praise, for any enterprise that actually treats them as a valued customer if/when service or warranty is required.


I wish I knew what the solution was for someone who is unfortunate enough to have an F150 with a defective torque converter, or auxiliary pump, or cylinder miss, or........ whatever is the real source of the problem with their truck.
If it were mine, I am fortunate enough to have tools and some basic understanding/skill, along with some measure of tenacity, to possibly identify exactly what's the source. At least at that point I would only be facing the challenge of getting the dealership to facilitate the acquisition of necessary parts and the replacement procedure.

I'm afraid the days that you can just drive up to your Ford/Ram/Chevy service department and tell them something isn't right, hand them the keys, and go home believing that your truck and plight matters to another human being?........ Is in rare supply.

Damn it, Snake, stop with all of your well thought-out logic and reason! Sometimes we just want to be angry!

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[Chase]

Have a 21 3.5 with 16k and had the TSB update 2k miles ago. Still shudders but not as bad (90% good now which I can tolerate). Also running 89 fuel. 91 seems to make it near 100%. Seems the 91 doesn’t help everyone but worth a shot if you haven’t tried it yet. Going to be trading this in after the 3 year warranty is up for peace of mind in the long run

Well, couldn’t tough it out any longer. Traded mine in for a 2021 XLT 2.7 with 20k miles on it. I immediately noticed during the test drive that it was smooth as butter in 8-10 gears. Have owned for 3 weeks now and still smooth. Bonus is that I went through a custom truck dealer and it came with a brand new 6” lift on 35x22x12.5s

 

[BamaTruck06]

Well, couldn’t tough it out any longer. Traded mine in for a 2021 XLT 2.7 with 20k miles on it. I immediately noticed during the test drive that it was smooth as butter in 8-10 gears. Have owned for 3 weeks now and still smooth. Bonus is that I went through a custom truck dealer and it came with a brand new 6” lift on 35x22x12.5s

I traded mine in as well. I went to another dealer to try and fix it. They told me it just needed a balance. This is after they had it for TWO weeks. Of course it didn’t fix It. When I brought it back, they acted like they had no clue and they told me I would need to leave it for months. Plural. I will never buy another ford. Their products are trash. It’s so bad, all the dealer service departments are backed up by months. I’m seriously considering selling my Stocks in the company as well. This has seriously cost them. My family has been loyal ford drivers. My mother wants to by a new edge and has decided against it after I showed her all the quality control problems ford has been having.

 

[JoeSTi]

My 22 3.5 has been to the dealer once already for this shudder. The did some transmission reset. Came back within 50 miles. I decided just to go ahead an tune it to try to resolve the issue. No sense in even having the dealer mess with it. I have not seen one instance of this issue actually being resolved by the dealer. I spoke with Windfield at Goosetuned and he seems very confident his tune and tcm tune will resolve the issue. Ill report back and let you guys know how it goes.

 

[thebigdu]

My 22 3.5 has been to the dealer once already for this shudder. The did some transmission reset. Came back within 50 miles. I decided just to go ahead an tune it to try to resolve the issue. No sense in even having the dealer mess with it. I have not seen one instance of this issue actually being resolved by the dealer. I spoke with Windield at Goosetuned and he seems very confident his tune and tcm tune will resolve the issue. Ill report back and let you guys know how it goes.

Have you been receiving the OTA updates? I believe it was 3.5.2 (???) that updated the PCM for certain trucks. I had a bad shudder as described in this thread (light throttle at highway speeds), and it is virtually/completely gone since the relevant update.

 

[JoeSTi]

Have you been receiving the OTA updates? I believe it was 3.5.2 (???) that updated the PCM for certain trucks. I had a bad shudder as described in this thread (light throttle at highway speeds), and it is virtually/completely gone since the relevant update.

I dont think so but it was at the dealer last week and they were not able to fix it, I was planning on tuning my truck anyways so hopefully this kills two birds with one stone. Can I go into my settings to check for an over the air update?

 

[thebigdu]

I dont think so but it was at the dealer last week and they were not able to fix it, I was planning on tuning my truck anyways so hopefully this kills two birds with one stone. Can I go into my settings to check for an over the air update?

I don't think so, but I believe one of the guys on here can check for you if you provide your VIN.

 

[Tsuga]

Have you been receiving the OTA updates? I believe it was 3.5.2 (???) that updated the PCM for certain trucks. I had a bad shudder as described in this thread (light throttle at highway speeds), and it is virtually/completely gone since the relevant update.

I had this update and it is still shuddering.

 

[dbtgt]

It seems to me, at this point, having read and re-read this entire thread, that while there seems to be multiple causes for "the shudder" (driveshaft, tires, torque converter, spark plugs, etc.) the most common occurrence is the 8, 9 &10th gear shudder under light throttle and slightly uphill along with shudder occurring under load at highway speeds. This is the symptom my truck has and has had from around 2000 miles to currently at 24,500 miles. I think many of us have been chasing a transmission cause but I now believe it is more likely an engine issue having to do with misfires under certain conditions. This would explain the intermittent nature of the problem as it doesn't seem to be easily duplicated at will. Ford OBVIOUSLY knows about it and likely knows what is causing it. Lets hope they ultimately figure out a remedy and pass it along to us before their F-150 reputation gets destroyed by this issue.

UPDATE!
I decided to run an experiment.

I have been running regular 87 octane (with up to 10% ethanol) gasoline since new thinking the additional octane of premium was not necessary as I don't tow anything and I could live without the extra 10-20 HP.

Just for the heck of it, I thought I would try using 91 octane premium (with up to 10% ethanol) to see what, if any, difference there was. After 5000 miles of using only 91 premium I can say that my shudder issue has been resolved. I have not experienced the shudder for 4 months and the truck runs smoothly under all conditions. Additionally, my gas mileage has increased from an average of 17.4 to an average of 18.3 (according to the "lie-o-meter") with no change in driving habits.

I have concluded that my shudder issue is very likely a misfire occurring under certain load and RPM conditions using lower 87 octane fuel. Yes, it costs me 10% more for fuel but I am getting part of that expense back in the form of better gas mileage. I am really pleased with the improved drivability and smoothness of my truck now. Maybe it is the combination of the installation of TSB 22-2224 and the premium fuel, but the TSB alone certainly did not do the trick. Too bad Ford couldn't have shared this info with me a couple of years ago...

 

[flynavy]

New data point and I’m feeling crazy.

I get the shudder around 60MPH with very light throttle, easily replicated.
My truck has 25000 on it and I’ve never experienced this. It started after I changed my oil… I’m at a loss.

I did spill a tiny splash of fresh oil near the fill Port but am not too sure on how it could be related.

The shudder seemingly started overnight though. Any ideas?

 

[Snakebitten]

Was the transmission at full operating temps? (can take 15-20 miles)
I'm guessing the truck was in triple overdrive at 60mph?

If you lock out 10th, does it diminish at all? Lock out 9th, same question?

For sure check the fluid level before you let anyone try to convince you it's normal. (dealership)

Also check your VIN in FDRS to see if any PCM updates are available.

And finally, you might flush your adaptive shifting tables to see if a re-learn results in a better result.

 

[dbtgt]

New data point and I’m feeling crazy.

I get the shudder around 60MPH with very light throttle, easily replicated.
My truck has 25000 on it and I’ve never experienced this. It started after I changed my oil… I’m at a loss.

I did spill a tiny splash of fresh oil near the fill Port but am not too sure on how it could be related.

The shudder seemingly started overnight though. Any ideas?

Any change in gasoline? Different octane, different brand, different station?

 

[flynavy]

Any change in gasoline? Different octane, different brand, different station?

Nope just oil change and air filter

 

[flynavy]

Was the transmission at full operating temps? (can take 15-20 miles)
I'm guessing the truck was in triple overdrive at 60mph?

If you lock out 10th, does it diminish at all? Lock out 9th, same question?

For sure check the fluid level before you let anyone try to convince you it's normal. (dealership)

Also check your VIN in FDRS to see if any PCM updates are available.

And finally, you might flush your adaptive shifting tables to see if a re-learn results in a better result.

I did go ahead And reset adaptive learn to see how that affects it. I’ve seen a lot of people say trans flush helps but come on, 25,000 mile truck I don’t want to spend or deal with that so early if I can help it.

 

[Snakebitten]

No reason to flush, perhaps. But it would settle my mind to know it's not below spec level.

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