I have a 2004 Ford Freestar with 225,000 miles on the clock. We purchased the vehicle new 10 years ago and have performed transmission service according to Ford’s recommended schedule with Motorcraft ATF and filters. The torque converter was replaced by my Ford dealer last year under a recall. The purpose of the recall was to address problems in this model with sudden failure of the torque converter output shaft. The vehicle had 206,000 miles on it at the time of the TC replacement so the new converter is outside Ford’s 12,000 mile warranty on replacement parts. New Motorcraft ATF and filter were installed at that time.
Lately the vehicle will occasionally produce a strong vibration similar to driving over a washboard road. This vibration typically occurs when the vehicle is hot between 35 and 45 MPH, and goes away immediately if I let off the throttle. Inspection of the suspension and steering systems show nothing wrong there. Diagnostically, this feels like torque converter shudder. The dealer looked at it this week, and claims they can’t reproduce the problem. I think they did not spend enough time driving it to get to the hot operating temperature where the problem occurs.
I’ve read that ATF change can often address this problem, but I have a hard time believing that the new Motorcraft ATF is degraded after only 19k miles. I’ve also seen various friction modifiers and tranny additives marketed to eliminate AT shudder, but I’m very reluctant to use a snake oil fix unless there is some real science or engineering behind the additive. I’m also reluctant to invest significant $$$ into this vehicle given its age and high mileage so it’s doubtful I’d pay to replace major components. I’d like to get one more reliable year out of this vehicle before looking for a replacement. Given all that, can anyone recommend a fix for this? Is it worth doing an ATF change, and if so, is there a Mercon V ATF that is known to be more “shudder resistant”? I’ve heard Amsoil ATF and Valvoline Max Life synthetic ATF are good in higher mileage ATs – are either of these worth a look? How about an additive? Or is approaching this as an ATF problem putting a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage? Any and all thoughts on this are welcome!
Lately the vehicle will occasionally produce a strong vibration similar to driving over a washboard road. This vibration typically occurs when the vehicle is hot between 35 and 45 MPH, and goes away immediately if I let off the throttle. Inspection of the suspension and steering systems show nothing wrong there. Diagnostically, this feels like torque converter shudder. The dealer looked at it this week, and claims they can’t reproduce the problem. I think they did not spend enough time driving it to get to the hot operating temperature where the problem occurs.
I’ve read that ATF change can often address this problem, but I have a hard time believing that the new Motorcraft ATF is degraded after only 19k miles. I’ve also seen various friction modifiers and tranny additives marketed to eliminate AT shudder, but I’m very reluctant to use a snake oil fix unless there is some real science or engineering behind the additive. I’m also reluctant to invest significant $$$ into this vehicle given its age and high mileage so it’s doubtful I’d pay to replace major components. I’d like to get one more reliable year out of this vehicle before looking for a replacement. Given all that, can anyone recommend a fix for this? Is it worth doing an ATF change, and if so, is there a Mercon V ATF that is known to be more “shudder resistant”? I’ve heard Amsoil ATF and Valvoline Max Life synthetic ATF are good in higher mileage ATs – are either of these worth a look? How about an additive? Or is approaching this as an ATF problem putting a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage? Any and all thoughts on this are welcome!