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2001 Mustang V6 bucks/shudders when driving. Help!

Hi, I am having problems with my 2001 Mustang V6, automatic. It is completely stock and I have not played around with it. It has about

34000 miles on it. It has had all its tune ups and oil changes, etc.

The problem: when driving around 45-50mph at around 1300 to 1600 RPM, with my foot on the accelerator to keep the speed even, but not accelerating, the engine (or transmission?) "bucks" back and forth. It also happens at lower speeds, but NOT a higher speeds.

I do not know what the technical term is but it feels like riding a bucking horse. It's a back and forth bucking feeling. You may call it transmission shudder or engine bucking or something else.

It seems to happen right around the shift points, like the transmission or engine is not sure if it should shift up or down.

Also, possibly related to this, when I come to a sudden stop at a stop sign, etc, the RPMs go down to around 500 and the engine shudders. It does not actually stall. Also, it only does this once per stop.

Luckily, the car is still under warranty for a little longer. I have had it at the dealer a few times and asked them to diagnose the problem and fix it, but they have been unable to find the problem.

The hooked it up the to diagnostic computer and found "no codes". Also, when of the techs thought it was a bad sparkplug and only replaced spark plug one and spark plug wire one; this did NOTHING. I think they also checked the manifolds and found no blockages.

Any ideas what may be the problem? This did not start until about

31000 miles, right after I had the 30000 mile tune up ($400!).

I'm not a mechanic, but my guesses would be a transmission problem (fluid?) or actually a physically damaged transmission??? or a problem with fuel delivery? I have not real idea though.

Any suggestions would be helpful as I am ready to drive the car off a cliff!!!!!

Thanks in advance.

Reply to
TEG
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Can you duplicate the problem? Can you make it happen when you want? If so, then take the service writer for a ride with you. It certainly isn't a spark plug, and sounds like it's definitely in the drive-train.

I'm not too up on these new fangled cars, but I'd take a wild-assed guess and think... vacuum hose, VOES, motor mount, u-joint. It sounds like there is lash somewhere there shouldn't be.....

YOU have to demonstrate this problem to someone at the dealer and make sure they know what the symptoms are.

Gary pick mynose to reply

Reply to
Gary Rodgers

Had this problem on my 2001 GT. Started at 1,700 miles. I took it to 3 different dealers....the first 2 couldn;t find anything wrong....both said it was an acceptable "charateristic" of the transmission. Some have said that you can cure this "torque converter shudder" by installing a trans cooler, using synthetic fluid, and adjusting the shift points. Anyway, I was finally able to demonstarte it to the 3rd dealer and they replaced the transmission....TWICE!!! First replacement trans was at 26,000 miles, 2nd was at 32,000. The first replaced trans was remanufactured, if you can believe that, and had ohter problems as well. I also had initiated a lemon law lawsuit against Ford. I wanted them to replace the car, but eventually settled for a cash settlement anfter they replaced the trans a 2nd time and it was fixed (hopefully). If it happens again, I dought I have any recourse because I signed a waiver when I accepted the settlement. I now have 37,000 on the GT and I am starting to get a little bit of the shaking/bucking (dealer described it as "trailer hitching"). It happens when it shifts into overdrive. Hopefully it won't get any worse.

WES

Reply to
WES

TEG opined in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

  1. I'm crossing this to Alt.Autos.Ford

  1. Sounds to me like a VSS problem...

OR it could be a wiring connector that wasnt put back together right... that is something you can go thru yourself.

Sometimes, on older cars that problem pointed to a Throttle Position Sensor.

- Why this would just occur after a tune-up is sorta suspect

Reply to
Backyard Mechanic

I once had this happen on an '89 LX. Ended up being the TPS, though it felt like a major transmission problem to me. (Independant trans. shop said NOPE, it was something else, but they didn't know what. Checked codes - nothing. 2 days later, the MIL flashes, and finally, a TPS fault code appears.)

My solution to the whole mess: buy a new GT with a 5 speed. Automatic transmission problems just seem to follow me around for some reason.

Reply to
JD Adams

Check the trans mount bolts. I have a 2001 v6 also and one of mine just snaped at about 20K miles. I think they overtorqued em'.

- a l e x

Reply to
a l e x

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