TSB 20-2277 2019-2020 Ranger - Shudder/Vibration When Accelerating From A Stop

[navsnipe]

I did my normal drive to work this morning, had the TSB done yesterday as I described in an earlier post. Noticed the shudder a little leaving from the driveway and a few stops until I got to the highway, much more subtle than before. I did notice the whole truck seems to be pinned down allot better, tighter in a good way. Once I got into NYC on 87 I get into slower traffic and stop and go. The transmission seems to be more intuitive with upshifts and downshifts. Going through Astoria I have an opportunity to really watch for the shudder as it is city blocks, plenty of stops. The take off shudder is almost gone, really subtle. The one that is more noticeable is when the trans shifts from 1 to 3, it is like 3rd is a little to tall for the jump. I enabled trailer mode which forces the shift from 1 to 2 and the shudder is almost imperceivable.

It definitely seems like more was done to my truck than just the TSB 20-2277. Unfortunately I didn't get to talk to the tech, only the service writer and she only repeated what was on the service ticket. I guess time will tell but things seems much better.

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[shred5]

I am planning to buy a Ranger later this year. This thread is concerning.

For those with the shudder, was it there from day one? IE. If I test drive the truck well before purchase, will I know if the shudder is present in that vehicle? Otherwise, is this something that is developing over time?

Thanks for the thoughts.

Day one for me. Funny thing is a test drove two different Rangers and never felt it. Picked up mine that was swapped with a different dealer and felt it on my drive home.

I am happy I stopped here today.. Have not visited in a while. Now I can get this fixed.

 

[navsnipe]

I did my normal drive to work this morning, had the TSB done yesterday as I described in an earlier post. Noticed the shudder a little leaving from the driveway and a few stops until I got to the highway, much more subtle than before. I did notice the whole truck seems to be pinned down allot better, tighter in a good way. Once I got into NYC on 87 I get into slower traffic and stop and go. The transmission seems to be more intuitive with upshifts and downshifts. Going through Astoria I have an opportunity to really watch for the shudder as it is city blocks, plenty of stops. The take off shudder is almost gone, really subtle. The one that is more noticeable is when the trans shifts from 1 to 3, it is like 3rd is a little to tall for the jump. I enabled trailer mode which forces the shift from 1 to 2 and the shudder is almost imperceivable.

It definitely seems like more was done to my truck than just the TSB 20-2277. Unfortunately I didn't get to talk to the tech, only the service writer and she only repeated what was on the service ticket. I guess time will tell but things seems much better.

The drive home was in more stop and go. In a nutshell the problem is still there. My next step is to speak with the service manager and get a plan for what needs to be done. Too tired right now to elaborate on the details.

 

[navsnipe]

Today I went a mission to see what is going on underneath my truck. Nothing loose, broken, or leaking that I can see or get a wrench on.

The takeoff shudder is still there, I can kind of live with it but the bigger problem is the constant shudder/surge at 10-17mph. If I drive steady at 10-17 mph there is a constant shudder as long I am maintaining speed. The big problem is I commute in and out of NYC. Allot of my driving is at 10-20 mph.

I tried up to 1/4" shims under the center bearing, makes no difference with the shudders. It did help with some higher speed smoothness.

I put my windows down while on my "diagnostic drive" and noticed quite the array of wooshing and whining noises from the transmission. If I heard those noises when I was in the Navy it usually indicated low hydraulic fluid level. I saw the procedure to check the transmission fluid level, I believe @Porpoise Hork was able to do this. I got back under the truck, it was still hot. No f*&$@%g way am I putting my hand and arm up there without a Scott Proximity suit on. Who thought it was a good idea to not give us a proper transmission dipstick?

At least now I have successfully repeated the shudder issue and satisfied my curiosity, now to get on the horn with service manager on Monday.

 

[navsnipe]

I'm not experiencing the slipping issues normally associated with low transmission fluid. This is crazy shit.

 

[navsnipe]

I'm looking for suggestions on my next steps. A few friends have suggested getting a second look/opinion from another dealer. The current dealer, the one I bought it from, has been okay bit I did have to inform them about the TSB.

I really like my truck and would love to see this fixed as it really suits my needs.

 

[Ogden Dan]

Today I went a mission to see what is going on underneath my truck. Nothing loose, broken, or leaking that I can see or get a wrench on.

The takeoff shudder is still there, I can kind of live with it but the bigger problem is the constant shudder/surge at 10-17mph. If I drive steady at 10-17 mph there is a constant shudder as long I am maintaining speed. The big problem is I commute in and out of NYC. Allot of my driving is at 10-20 mph.

I tried up to 1/4" shims under the center bearing, makes no difference with the shudders. It did help with some higher speed smoothness.

I put my windows down while on my "diagnostic drive" and noticed quite the array of wooshing and whining noises from the transmission. If I heard those noises when I was in the Navy it usually indicated low hydraulic fluid level. I saw the procedure to check the transmission fluid level, I believe @Porpoise Hork was able to do this. I got back under the truck, it was still hot. No f*&$@%g way am I putting my hand and arm up there without a Scott Proximity suit on. Who thought it was a good idea to not give us a proper transmission dipstick?

At least now I have successfully repeated the shudder issue and satisfied my curiosity, now to get on the horn with service manager on Monday.

You mentioned that your truck has a takeoff shudder as well as a sustained shudder between 10-17 mph.
At what speed do you have the takeoff shudder?
Mine has what I describe as a "take-off shudder" between 10-12 mph. It is very short in duration as it only occurs in that very narrow speed range. The rate in which I accelerate makes the shudder more or less noticeable (the quicker the acceleration the more obvious the shudder).
That detail about the rate of acceleration is what was initially screwing up my dealer and trying to replicate the problem. They were driving it like a granny through the 10-12 mph range and then the shudder is almost imperceptible. Once I told them to accelerate much more aggressively it became very obvious to them.
My truck has been at the dealer since last Monday as I also have a high speed vibration I can't live with. The dealer is apparently going back and forth with Ford tech trying to decide what the next steps are. To me it seems obvious and fairly easy to do a driveline balance test, but Ford hasn't committed to paying (the dealer) for this yet. So frustrating....... ??

 

[navsnipe]

You mentioned that your truck has a takeoff shudder as well as a sustained shudder between 10-17 mph.
At what speed do you have the takeoff shudder?
Mine has what I describe as a "take-off shudder" between 10-12 mph. It is very short in duration as it only occurs in that very narrow speed range. The rate in which I accelerate makes the shudder more or less noticeable (the quicker the acceleration the more obvious the shudder).
That detail about the rate of acceleration is what was initially screwing up my dealer and trying to replicate the problem. They were driving it like a granny through the 10-12 mph range and then the shudder is almost imperceptible. Once I told them to accelerate much more aggressively it became very obvious to them.
My truck has been at the dealer since last Monday as I also have a high speed vibration I can't live with. The dealer is apparently going back and forth with Ford tech trying to decide what the next steps are. To me it seems obvious and fairly easy to do a driveline balance test, but Ford hasn't committed to paying (the dealer) for this yet. So frustrating....... ??

I usually accelerate through the shudder area which is around 10mph. I started noticing the sustained shudder if I stay in the shudder range speed and have a some load on the truck. On my commute I drive in this zone allot. I was able to repeat this yesterday in a large empty parking lot. It is hard to tell what is causing it as the damn "fake engine noise" makes it sound like a misfire but opening the drivers door seems to turn off the fake noise and the engine seems to be very smooth. My guess is driveline imbalance but I don't have much experience in this area. Mostly what I have learned since I gotten this truck. I have more experience on close coupled machinery from my Navy days.

Have you driven at a steady speed in the shudder zone to see if it is continuous? You would think a driveshaft balance test would make sense, it would either identify the culprit or not, part of troubleshooting. Something they don't seem to want to spend allot of time on.

I'm considering going to a closer dealer as the one I bought the truck from is about 20 miles away and there are two within 5 miles of me. One one of them has some experience with the shudder as I found out from a neighbor who has a Ranger. He says his was fixed but doesn't know the details, he didn't even know about a Ranger forum.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I saw the procedure to check the transmission fluid level, I believe @Porpoise Hork was able to do this. I got back under the truck, it was still hot. No f*&$@%g way am I putting my hand and arm up there without a Scott Proximity suit on. Who thought it was a good idea to not give us a proper transmission dipstick?

LOL.. It's not fun. Years ago when turning wrenches, I learned the hard way to always have a pair of Nomex or Kevlar sleeves and padded leather mechanics gloves handy when working on/near a searing hot exhaust. There's nothing more fun than reaching deep into an engine bay and accidentally graze your forearm on the pre-cat...

Having a shop fan aimed under the truck is in some cases is a near requirement too.

 

[navsnipe]

LOL.. It's not fun. Years ago when turning wrenches, I learned the hard way to always have a pair of Nomex or Kevlar sleeves and padded leather mechanics gloves handy when working on/near a searing hot exhaust. There's nothing more fun than reaching deep into an engine bay and accidentally graze your forearm on the pre-cat...

Having a shop fan aimed under the truck is in some cases is a near requirement too.

I served in the engineroom on a 1200psi steam plant destroyer in the 80's and we seemed to have indestructible bodies back then. I remember the treatment for a third degree burn was worse than the burn. I'll have to break out the welding gloves which serve as BBQ gloves currently.

Did you get any response from the dealer regarding the fluid level check you did?

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Have not taken it in to them yet. It's due for an oil change so I was going to request they look check it when I am able to take it in later this week.

 

[kieefer]

Mine is in the shop now but my vibration is around 1500 rpm. I asked them to do this TSB.
With my 2”Eibach’s on the front my angle is 7degrees. They are supposed to correct that if it is not 5.5 degrees.

That’s not much.
They won’t do anything because it’s lifted but they “approve” of Rough Country products.

 

[navsnipe]

Lost confidence in the shop I bought my truck from. The drive in and out of work today was worse than before the TSB was done on Thursday, shudder occurs from 10 to 30 mph. Took a look at the shim installation. Doesn't appear there is a tapered shim on the left and there are two tapered shims installed together in opposite directions on the the right side. The differential housing feels hot to the touch after 1 hour drive. Something seems to be getting progressively worse especially on longer drives. Was going to go to another dealer, my wife suggests I raise hell with service manager.

 

[Ogden Dan]

Mine is in the shop now but my vibration is around 1500 rpm. I asked them to do this TSB.
With my 2”Eibach’s on the front my angle is 7degrees. They are supposed to correct that if it is not 5.5 degrees.

That’s not much.
They won’t do anything because it’s lifted but they “approve” of Rough Country products.

You get a vibration at 1500 RPM regardless of speed?

Dan

 

[kieefer]

You get a vibration at 1500 RPM regardless of speed?

Dan

No, if I go into sport mode the vibs move up into the rpm range. Between 1500-2000 rpm in drive mode is where I notice it most.

They didn’t install this TSB because I leveled my Truck but they did install TSB 20-2339 on the low speed start up stumble. I haven’t drove it enough yet to see if this helped.

Something I did notice is I removed my 1” wheel spacers before going to the dealer. The truck felt smoother at 75-80 than it did before.
Not sure why and I’m leaving them off for more road time. (Bora wheel spacers.)

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