Engine shutter.

[mike]

I have noticed a similar issue with my Ranger which I have had about 5 weeks now. I notice the "shudder" under light acceleration, especially starting on an incline. I thought it might have been limited to 1st and maybe second gear until I felt it once more on an incline in 6th again on an incline. For me, it does not happen cold, but once warmed up. Had not thought of an injector since there are no codes and if there were a misfire, it would throw a code. at first I thought it was just me since this is the first 4 cylinder I have owned in many many years. I also went back and test drove another Ranger set up like mine and took it to the same hill I noticed the issue the most......and no shudder. Similarly, since there are no codes, there is "nothing wrong" and both the service manager and master mechanic did not feel the issue. They did write it up to keep a record of my complaint which was at least something. With 1100 miles on the truck now, it seems to have not changed and I am purposely not trying premium fuel until I get the issue acknowledged (I have to go back in the next week or so to get a bed cover and extender added which was part of the overall deal) at which time I will restate the issue and the fact the other truck on the lot did not have it.

I am just curious how severe a shudder others have experienced? Mine is slight but still aggravating every time I feel it.

I put mine down all to the transmission in exactly 2 circumstances.

1. 1st to 3rd shift on light to medium acceleration. I accidentally found the gear selector display on my Lariat screen and noticed the slight shudder or hesitation happened on that 1st to 3rd shift. It will not hit 2nd gear. Thought there might be an issue but under hard acceleration (not floored), it'll cycle through all of the gears including 2nd and 0 hesitation/shudder.

2. I'll be going up an incline at say 45-55. If I try to ease up by a few miles an hour and the transmission doesn't kick down, I get a slight shudder.

I'd put that down as normal enough and it doesn't bother me. Certainly wouldn't want to risk messing anything up with some kind of update.

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[Mark Lally]

Mine does it when cold, after 2 minute warm up it goes away. I did get CEL at 30 miles and dealer did TSB.I now have this shutter at 1000 miles.

Are you saying they fixed the problem and the problem came back ?

 

[Mark Lally]

I put mine down all to the transmission in exactly 2 circumstances.

1. 1st to 3rd shift on light to medium acceleration. I accidentally found the gear selector display on my Lariat screen and noticed the slight shudder or hesitation happened on that 1st to 3rd shift. It will not hit 2nd gear. Thought there might be an issue but under hard acceleration (not floored), it'll cycle through all of the gears including 2nd and 0 hesitation/shudder.

2. I'll be going up an incline at say 45-55. If I try to ease up by a few miles an hour and the transmission doesn't kick down, I get a slight shudder.

I'd put that down as normal enough and it doesn't bother me. Certainly wouldn't want to risk messing anything up with some kind of update.

I do have a slight shutter during some shifts, but that problem is getting better with time. Mine often shift 1-3-4-5-6 , sometimes it's 1-3-5-6. Neither one of those conditions bother me and I think it's a good idea.
My problem is a dead miss when it's cold. When I first start the engine, it's running on 3 cylinders, The first mile or so is bad.

 

[Cape Cruiser]

Are you saying they fixed the problem and the problem came back ?

I had CEL on without shutter,shutter or miss came a week after the TSB was done.Cold start mine misses pretty good but it goes away real quick

 

[HighFivenWhiteGuy]

I have noticed a similar issue with my Ranger which I have had about 5 weeks now. I notice the "shudder" under light acceleration, especially starting on an incline. I thought it might have been limited to 1st and maybe second gear until I felt it once more on an incline in 6th again on an incline. For me, it does not happen cold, but once warmed up. Had not thought of an injector since there are no codes and if there were a misfire, it would throw a code. at first I thought it was just me since this is the first 4 cylinder I have owned in many many years. I also went back and test drove another Ranger set up like mine and took it to the same hill I noticed the issue the most......and no shudder. Similarly, since there are no codes, there is "nothing wrong" and both the service manager and master mechanic did not feel the issue. They did write it up to keep a record of my complaint which was at least something. With 1100 miles on the truck now, it seems to have not changed and I am purposely not trying premium fuel until I get the issue acknowledged (I have to go back in the next week or so to get a bed cover and extender added which was part of the overall deal) at which time I will restate the issue and the fact the other truck on the lot did not have it.

I am just curious how severe a shudder others have experienced? Mine is slight but still aggravating every time I feel it.

My experience is identical to yours. Shuttering under light acceleration and braking. How is your transmission doing? A part of the shuttering for me is the transmission shifting roughly. For example when braking/coasting up to a stop light the downshifts are harsh and make the truck jolt a bit. Lightly accelerating up a hill seems to keep the transmission from downshifting, so it chugs with rpms too low then finally decides to slam into a lower gear. I have over 6k miles on it.

My main concern is taking the time to take it to a dealership only to have them say "unable to duplicate problem" even though there is a TSB for it.

 

[HighFivenWhiteGuy]

I put mine down all to the transmission in exactly 2 circumstances.

1. 1st to 3rd shift on light to medium acceleration. I accidentally found the gear selector display on my Lariat screen and noticed the slight shudder or hesitation happened on that 1st to 3rd shift. It will not hit 2nd gear. Thought there might be an issue but under hard acceleration (not floored), it'll cycle through all of the gears including 2nd and 0 hesitation/shudder.

2. I'll be going up an incline at say 45-55. If I try to ease up by a few miles an hour and the transmission doesn't kick down, I get a slight shudder.

I'd put that down as normal enough and it doesn't bother me. Certainly wouldn't want to risk messing anything up with some kind of update.

Same here, it's that hesitation to downshift and rough 1st to third shift under light/medium power. Transmission is perfect when driving on the spicy side

 

[Julian]

My experience is identical to yours. Shuttering under light acceleration and braking. How is your transmission doing? A part of the shuttering for me is the transmission shifting roughly. For example when braking/coasting up to a stop light the downshifts are harsh and make the truck jolt a bit. Lightly accelerating up a hill seems to keep the transmission from downshifting, so it chugs with rpms too low then finally decides to slam into a lower gear. I have over 6k miles on it.

My main concern is taking the time to take it to a dealership only to have them say "unable to duplicate problem" even though there is a TSB for it.

My transmission is fairly smooth, although it does hunt around once in a while. 1-3 is fairly normal. The shudder I am feeling is in gear, not in the transition between, and definitely follows engine RPM. One other thing I had thought about was if the torque converter has a point at which under very light load that its slip is not constant but I think that is a long shot. I need to play around with Sport mode more to see if it is there as well.

 

[t4thfavor]

My experience is identical to yours. Shuttering under light acceleration and braking. How is your transmission doing? A part of the shuttering for me is the transmission shifting roughly. For example when braking/coasting up to a stop light the downshifts are harsh and make the truck jolt a bit. Lightly accelerating up a hill seems to keep the transmission from downshifting, so it chugs with rpms too low then finally decides to slam into a lower gear. I have over 6k miles on it.

My main concern is taking the time to take it to a dealership only to have them say "unable to duplicate problem" even though there is a TSB for it.

Had my trans TSB and rear brake TSB done two weeks ago, it's much better than it was. There is still a slight shudder under light load which I attribute to the 87 octane fuel and turbo... I believe the ECU randomly pulls timing which can cause that feeling. This is why its not noticed under heavy acceleration as much.

I may pull and regap my plugs since that was a problem in my previous ecoboost vehicle.

 

[HighFivenWhiteGuy]

Had my trans TSB and rear brake TSB done two weeks ago, it's much better than it was. There is still a slight shudder under light load which I attribute to the 87 octane fuel and turbo... I believe the ECU randomly pulls timing which can cause that feeling. This is why its not noticed under heavy acceleration as much.

I may pull and regap my plugs since that was a problem in my previous ecoboost vehicle.

I am due for the 5,000 mile service so I will have the TSB done then. Did you have any problems just telling the dealership to do it or did you need to go about it in a roundabout way? I have heard that dealers won't perform TSBs if you just tell them to, you need to describe the exact problem without mentioning the TSB.

 

[t4thfavor]

I didn't even mention the TSB's I just said It shift like a wild bull, and the brakes are pulsing like crazy. They took it for a day, and when I got it back, it was fixed.
I have almost 9000 miles, but I told them not to change the oil because I already did it at 5K.

 

[RedlandRanger]

I am due for the 5,000 mile service so I will have the TSB done then. Did you have any problems just telling the dealership to do it or did you need to go about it in a roundabout way? I have heard that dealers won't perform TSBs if you just tell them to, you need to describe the exact problem without mentioning the TSB.

5K service? What is that? I only see 10k service intervals in the manual. Are you just doing the first oil change early?

 

[Gearhead]

I have this same shudder as well when pulling away from a stop between 1900-2300 RPMs, then it clears up. It's annoying for sure. I even saw one of the online Youtube reviewers noticed it as well. I only have 1200 miles on the truck, I'm going to wait a bit to see if there is a specific TSB for it.

 

[kieefer]

I recently installed GFB DV+ and it made a noticeable difference with my truck. Much smoother and no lag between shifts and better recovery between on and off throttle inputs.

As a experiment you could take your stock one out and lube the piston. This would free it up in case it is sticking.

Or, I may be completely off base if you do have a tranny problem.

 

[Hounddog409]

I put mine down all to the transmission in exactly 2 circumstances.

1. 1st to 3rd shift on light to medium acceleration. I accidentally found the gear selector display on my Lariat screen and noticed the slight shudder or hesitation happened on that 1st to 3rd shift. It will not hit 2nd gear. Thought there might be an issue but under hard acceleration (not floored), it'll cycle through all of the gears including 2nd and 0 hesitation/shudder.

2. I'll be going up an incline at say 45-55. If I try to ease up by a few miles an hour and the transmission doesn't kick down, I get a slight shudder.

I'd put that down as normal enough and it doesn't bother me. Certainly wouldn't want to risk messing anything up with some kind of update.

Skipping gears is not a problem on it's own. The tranny is designed to skip gears under light loads.

 

[mike]

Skipping gears is not a problem on it's own. The tranny is designed to skip gears under light loads.

Ya, I figured that when I saw it hit 2nd on a harder acceleration run. I do feel that slight..shuddery pause as it skips over 2nd. That's the only gear it seems to skip. Seems like it would be smoother just to hit 2nd then 3rd. I'm ok with it, but I did notice it when I wasn't necessarily on the lookout for anything.

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