2000 Windstar SEL, 96000 miles, motor great. the problem is when i am driving the van she is ok.if i get stuck in traffic or wait long for a light, i step on the gas and the whole freakin van stumbles{shudders} big time, if i step harder on the gas the engine races and the van moves slow but it then picks up real fast and then its ok. she doesnt do this all the time only when i am standing still at a long light or in heavy traffic otherwise she is ok, What i have done to the tranny is a filter and fluid change, no leakes and a bottle of shudder stopper i bought at a ford dealership for my tranny.she doesnt do this all the time, sometimes days go by and nothing happens, i just dont get it. its like she is trying to tell me something...i get no CHECK ENGINE LIGHT and she shifts beautifuly. I orded a bottle, and why only 6 oz?
Because that is how much you put in, I know that Ford started to put on trans coolers in 03 on certain models, it might be a good idea to invest in one, what kind of trans fluid did you put in, I would use Mercon V versus regular Mercon. Give Auto-Rx a shot but I think the shuddering could be coming from the trans fluid getting too hot or something in your cars computer might need to be changed, like a performance tune.
How does the fluid look when you wipe some off on a paper towel? Is it red or can you detect a gray color to it? If so you might be wise to have a magnet installed in the pan when it's serviced again or add a in-line filter / magnet assembly. If you install one of these add-on units have it mounted in such a way that it filters before the fluid is cooled through the radiator.
I knew I forgot to mention something, you can do to filtermag.com, they have a transmission pan magnet that filters down to 1 micron, put this on the outside bottom of your pan, it is called the TM360, I use these on both of my cars and on one of them when I went to drop the pan there was some metal goo on the bottom of the pan sticking to where the magnet was on the other side, you can also get a differential madnet that goes inside the trans pan, hope this helps.
Because that is how much you put in, I know that Ford started to put on trans coolers in 03 on certain models, it might be a good idea to invest in one, what kind of trans fluid did you put in, I would use Mercon V versus regular Mercon. Give Auto-Rx a shot but I think the shuddering could be coming from the trans fluid getting too hot or something in your cars computer might need to be changed, like a performance tune.
will try a tranny cooler. were is the best place to mount it,i had tranny done at tires plus hope they used right fluid. performance tune?
I knew I forgot to mention something, you can do to filtermag.com, they have a transmission pan magnet that filters down to 1 micron, put this on the outside bottom of your pan, it is called the TM360, I use these on both of my cars and on one of them when I went to drop the pan there was some metal goo on the bottom of the pan sticking to where the magnet was on the other side, you can also get a differential madnet that goes inside the trans pan, hope this helps.
How does the fluid look when you wipe some off on a paper towel? Is it red or can you detect a gray color to it? If so you might be wise to have a magnet installed in the pan when it's serviced again or add a in-line filter / magnet assembly. If you install one of these add-on units have it mounted in such a way that it filters before the fluid is cooled through the radiator.
The best place to mount the tranny cooler is in front of the radiator, preferrably a B&M cooler because they have a bypass in them that lets the transmission fluid bypass the cooler until it reaches a certain temperature, the magnet in your transmission pan is not that strong, when I went to change the differential fluid on my 04 Marauder it had a magnet on the drain plug that was not that powerful, if you can get your hands on one of those infrared guns go for a drive and aim the gun at the trans pan and you can see how hot it is, I highly recommend the filtermag , it is so powerful that when you put it on the bottom of the pan you will have a hard time moving it, did you know that transmission filters only catch particles down to 100 microns, the filtermag traps particles down to 1 micron, there is another product that is called Magnefine it splices into your trans cooler hose and traps particles down to 25 microns but you have to replace it every 30,000 miles, your transmission problems sound like 2 things, overheating and junk in the transmission that Auto-Rx should dissolve the junk. As far as a tune the only reason I mention this is that on the Mercury Marauder (Ford Product), the only way to have crisp shifts as opposed to lazy or sluggish shifting you need to have the computer retuned or flashed, but your car could be different, the other thing I would look into doing is a different type of transmission fluid, namely synthetic transmission fluid like Mobil 1, Redline D4, or Amsoil ATF, the only reason I state this is because synthetic transmission fluid can safely work up to 60 degrees higher than conventional ATF, but if you get a good cooler than this should be less of an issue, I would strongly recommend that you visit the B&M site and you can purchase these coolers through Jegs or Summitt Racing.
A quick thought, a lot of these places that do transmission fluid changes do not always use the best fluid, would call them back to see what brand of fluid they used.
A quick thought, a lot of these places that do transmission fluid changes do not always use the best fluid, would call them back to see what brand of fluid they used.
This is really going to depend on how much space you have, I think each one is rated for a specefic weight, meaning the weight of the car, plus any people, or any additional weight that you are towing, just make sure you have enough room, now I guess you will be asking how do I mount this thing, I would not zip tube tie it to the radiator, the cooler has some pre drilled holes, I know this might sound strange but you will need to go to a hardware store and get these bars that have the holes pre drilled into them, I do not know what they are called but I think that others on here might know, I will try to ask my Dad as I had this same cooler on my El Camino until a deer came out in front of me and I hit him, I had the thing on there so good that the trans cooler took the brunt of it and I made it home with a slight leak, I hit that sucker at 60 miles per hour so you know this B&M Kit can stand up to any rocks or pebbles flying up from the road, if you have a garage door opener look at the piece of metal that attaches to the door and track basicaly holes so you can put in a bolt with a nut, make sure you use some lock nuts.
A quick thought, rated at so many BTU, that might be the gross weight, you can either call Summitt Racing 1-800-230-3030 or Jegs at 1-800-345-4545 and tell them the weight of the vehicle plus any additional weight like people or whatever you are towing, or you could also go on B&M's website or call them, also remember that when you add a transmission cooler you will have to add maybe another quart of fluid , or half a quart.
I once asked Frank that and I THINK he said that it could damage the transmission, so please only put in 6 ounces, also did you order the transmission cooler, if you did I would put this on AFTER you drive 1000 miles and then change the fluid, are you the original owner of this vehicle, as far as the instructions for the 6 ounces it is important to always follow Frank's instructions, you could always use the remainder of the Auto-Rx in your powersteering, just go to auto-rx and it should tell you how much too put in, depending on how much fluid you have in your powersteering I think it is 1 ounce of Auto-Rx for every quart of fluid in your powersteering.
