Transmission shudder

[moderator@t8rsalad.com]

I'm driving a 1989 Lincoln Continental with 139K on it. It's in relatively good shape for its age, but all at once I started having a slight shudder. It started out with just a minor slip when I would accelerate from a stop, then the very next day it worsened to the point where it wouldn't shift into gear at all. A quick check of the fluid showed that in an hour it had all drained out. I filled it up, and got it home, then poured some ATF stop leak in, and for a day or two I was ok. I then tried Lucas Oils transmission reconditioner, and it worked for about a week. Now it's back to the original condition.

At low speeds (takeoff from a light), it tends to hesitate, then jump suddenly into gear. When shifting from 1st to 2nd, it occasionally feels like it drops into neutral (I attached a tach to monitor engine RPM). It usually does ok at speed, and whenever I check the fluid, it's down just a bit (I usually add about a quart a week). I know there is a leak, cause there's a spot where I park. My question is, would a flush do any good? I'm planning to do it myself, as I've done it before, but would it be worth it?

If so, can anyone tell me the torque settings for everything? I planned on adjusting the bands while I had it open.

MANY THANKS!!!

 

[MichiganTeddyBear]

fix the leak before you worry about flushing... that can be done at the same time as fixing leak really. the flush may help, but your biggest problem is probably damage done to the trans by low fluid level.

I don't have any info on the torque specs for the bands and such. not even sure you can adjust the bands on that transmission.

 

[donmega]

sounds like the trans is gone m8.

Ive seen the insides of transmissions when there done and its not pretty, usally just alot of metal bits all over the place making things even worse then they started out to be.

Probably not wise to keep dumping money into it and I know a flush isn the cheapest thing to do.

The leak however can be fixed cheap, I would start by doing the trans pan gasket and a new filter. the gasket and filter are cheap, under $30 for both I think.

Clean your trans pan while your at it, should have a magnet on it with all the metal debris attached to it, will look like a block of grease but its a magnet covered in gunk, most transmissions that I have seen the insides have this anyway.

From there just hope it last another week or so until you can get a raplacement.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[moderator@t8rsalad.com]

Well, I'm in the middle of my fluid change and the pan is clean. I was a bit happier when I saw that there was only a tiny piece of metal on the magnet, so I've decided to finish the change. The gasket was a little warped on the back end, and it appeared to be spraying out onto the exhaust, which certainly explains the bit of smoke I've seen. Now, here's hoping that this is the only problem with the tranny...