Having a shudder and hunting for 3rd gear and hard shift at about 45 mph. Ist this the 1-2 2-3 shift accumulator springs, If so anyone have diagrams of replacement?? Any help would be appreciated!

Torque Converter... Happened to my 95 a few years back...

You could try a tranny flush first to see if it goes away but you are probably just wasting $80 on the flush...

Should I even try replacing the accumulator springs first?, I dont think they've been done with 117k

Should I even try replacing the accumulator springs first?, I dont think they've been done with 117k

No, it's not the accumulator. But while you pull the tranny to do the TC you might as well do the accumulators..

It's not that hard of a job.. plan on at least 8 hours.

Get a can of PB Blaster and spray down all the bolts the day before.

Actually I am now a Service Advisor for a Chevy stealership and these Techs call my car foreign! Any tips on making this job a little easier??

Not to disagree with you Rich....BUT :)

The shudder is indeed the TC as he said, and its not the accumulators as he said - when those go you get hard/fast shifts that can damage the trans.

BUT, I would try a flush to Mercon V first. The shudder can be caused by two things, old fluid or the TC's friction material came off. More often than not its the fluid, especially with 117k. At that milage your TC should be fine unless you've been running up and down the strip with bad fluid. What happens though is that Mercon III breaks down the friction material causing a shudder and hence the Ford TSB to switch to Mercon V. V handles heat better and saves the TC.

Seeing as is can be a small pain to drop the trans I would do the flush and like Rich said, put new accumulators in with a filter etc..

But if you have access to the lift and tools and dont mind getting messy, go for it. If you get a new TC get one for a Mach 1, its the best stock TC out there and inexpensive to boot!

Also - when it does this, press the brakes just enough to make the brake lights go on. This will cause the TC lockup to cancel, until the brakes are released again. See if it goes away, if its the TC it should. If the problem persists it could easily be ignition related. Wires, coil packs, etc.... I took me a year and another Mark to find out my shudder was not the trans or the 300 sensors I replaced, but instead a defective coil pack - and the pack was less then 6 months old.

Use the shop's lift... Find someone who will let you use there tools if you don't have any or enough...

Have lots of extensions and a wiggle bee...

Get a set of nut removers... these are sockets that have rifled teeth that bight into a rusted or rounded nut. They work great.. eat the hell out of the nuts but they will take off all stubborn nuts...

This will help greatly...

Only thing I've found it the flush only seems to extend the problem LOL... my flush lasted only 2 months before the shudder came back and I was replacing TC...

If you get the flush and then you have to do the TC you have to pay for all the tranny fluid again.

But you are right a flush could solve the problem also...

Wow.... that it wouldn't be the TC... but a coil pack... interesting.. and how frustrating... Glad mine was the TC... after I replaced it...LOL

Not to disagree with you Rich....BUT :)

The shudder is indeed the TC as he said, and its not the accumulators as he said - when those go you get hard/fast shifts that can damage the trans.

BUT, I would try a flush to Mercon V first. The shudder can be caused by two things, old fluid or the TC's friction material came off. More often than not its the fluid, especially with 117k. At that milage your TC should be fine unless you've been running up and down the strip with bad fluid. What happens though is that Mercon III breaks down the friction material causing a shudder and hence the Ford TSB to switch to Mercon V. V handles heat better and saves the TC.

Seeing as is can be a small pain to drop the trans I would do the flush and like Rich said, put new accumulators in with a filter etc..

But if you have access to the lift and tools and dont mind getting messy, go for it. If you get a new TC get one for a Mach 1, its the best stock TC out there and inexpensive to boot!

Also - when it does this, press the brakes just enough to make the brake lights go on. This will cause the TC lockup to cancel, until the brakes are released again. See if it goes away, if its the TC it should. If the problem persists it could easily be ignition related. Wires, coil packs, etc.... I took me a year and another Mark to find out my shudder was not the trans or the 300 sensors I replaced, but instead a defective coil pack - and the pack was less then 6 months old.

Actually I did have a Trans flush done about 5 months-Didnt drop the pan, used the new flush machine, what do you think?

Actually I did have a Trans flush done about 5 months-Didnt drop the pan, used the new flush machine, what do you think?

I would still say it's the TC... it's very common and the shudder is at 45 mph... very common speed for the TC to shudder when it's failing.

Troubles jumping into 3rd... Sound just like mind did...

I had a severe shutter, it turned out to be bad wires on my Gen 1.
Then when it returned again, it ended up being a worn out torque converter, and the oil pump in my transmission was leaking badly too...

What kind of tc should I order? Just a regular 97 Mark TC from Ford??

And let me get this straight...
First I should flush fluid and replace springs
If that doesnt work then replace TC?

Well its all up to you. A Mach 1 TC would be best stock you can get, otherwise you will need a custom one.

Personally I would flush and replace the springs even if they are fine. If the problem persists then yes your out the fluid, but if the problem is solved you just saved at least $300.

But then again, if you can spend the $$ go for a Mach 1 TC and consider this an opportunity for an upgrade! But I would also do the J-Mod to the separator plate to.

If you want to know exactly what you need, look at the banner to the upper right and call Max at Five Star. He knows everything you need for the springs, etc... He could even get you a TC at discount if you wanted to go that far.

Its either spend a little now and hope its fixed or spend a lot and hope its fixed. Like Calabrio and I said, we had a similar problem and it was not the trans at all! And I bet he had no CE either, the wire/coil pack problems dont result in mis-fires, just a lot of hesitation/loss of power.

Was driving last night, sat at a train for 30 min. car was really hot, then at about 45 just revved high and wouldnt go past that. Gonna drop the pan and valve body today to see whats goin on.

Ah, so a clear and obvious rev (RPM climb) but no go? Rich wins! Its the TC :)

Ah, so a clear and obvious rev (RPM climb) but no go? Rich wins! Its the TC :)

:dancefool What do I win... :dancefool

A cookie of course!

http://www.leelefever.com/archives/cookie.jpg

Well I just don't want to look at it.. LOL... You better be bringing cookies in July.. LOL..

I'm probably just gonna get an OEM TC from Ford, What you guys think???

By the way Springs are out and look good, not bent or broken!

Go for it. And some Mercon V, a filter, etc.... Call Max at Five Star Ford (banner at upper right). He will get the stuff you need - minus fluid - at a discount.

The Mach 1, from what I read, is the best OEM option. More than a few have put them in, I almost did - wish I had :(

Any tips on droppin this trans that would make things easier??

Well, there is a tab you need to break off, otherwise it hits the engine. It was for assembly and is not needed. I think the Ford shop manual even says to break it off... anyone know what I am talking about? lol

O.K. Trans is out, I'm gonna just rebuild the whole thing since I'm in there, No sense in taking it out twice.Right?:shifty:

LOL... your fast! :) Great, have fun. Pics are always fun too!

Glad to hear it came out nice... but you got to use the shop right...

You sux if so... it's more fun laying underneath and taking her down with only an inch to spare.... LOL....

Wish I had a lift....

I didnt want my Chevy Tech's touching it. I actually took it to the trans shop across the street from the Dealership that we work with, they do Lincolns and Fords all the time, He said there are a couple new TSB's and updates on The Marks' valve body and TC. They are gonna rebuild the entire Trans.

Well it sounds like they know what they are doing. If you want to get this thing done right, I suggest the force-lube mod. It runs a pressurized line to the tail shaft bushing. Its not an "easy" mod, but its straight forward...... again, I have no link. I lost all my bookmarks.... BRB...

Forum thread with photos:
http://www.markviii.org/htdocs/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=21&topic_id=47846&mesg_id=47846&listing_type=search

This is suppose to be a link to the article, but TCCOA is down right now:
http://www.tccoa.com/articles/tranny/transmission/page12.shtml

You don't mention the year of your car, but if it's not a 98 then you have the older style one way clutch, I believe. That is one of the main problems with the older trans. I don't know if they replace it when they reduild but I would defintely look into that.

YES!!

get the mechanical diode if not a 98 or just get another trans,no point in doing all the other crap if you dont upgrade that part.

""""""
Mechanical Diode® Kit for AOD-E / 4R70W Transmission
This kit allows you to update your Ford AOD-E / 4R70W transmission to the new Raybestos Mechanical Diode® (used in 1998 and later AOD-E transmissions). The Mechanical Diode eliminates durability concerns for the intermediate (second gear) one-way clutch. A new reverse clutch drum, mechanical diode one-way clutch and associated hardware are included.

Catalog Number: MD-1 $150.00
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Dropped by the shop this morning, its almost all back together, should be done by the end of today. Then it will sit in my driveway, Goin to look at a couple 03-04 Navigators 03-04 Escalades this weekend! Which one would you guys buy??

Got the Mark back, It probably shifts better now than it did in 1997!!

Sweeeeeeeeet!!!