I have a 2005 QUAD CAB 5.7 HEMI that has been working great up until about a few weeks ago when it started to shudder under load on hills only in lockup mode. I took it to one tranny guy that added a couple of little tubes of liquid that were in little blue plastic tubes that you cut off the top with a scissors and pour in. The stuff worked amazing and for two weeks no shudders, but then they returned. He said let's try doing a tranny service and put new filters and fluid. I asked if he put the additive back in again, but he said "No, I put in synthetic tranny fluid and it should be ok. If not then you should just swap out the tranny as it's high on miles instead of just replacing the torque converter.

The shudder showed up right away and seemed to occur under much lighter loads, but again only in lockup. My son thought synthetic is a bad idea in the tranny as it definitely takes the clutch plates out of a dirt bike. (Great for gears, bad for clutch plates, too slippery).

So I was going to go and get it pumped out and replaced but while ripping down the highway tonight, the tranny did something weird and popped out of overdrive and was running about 3K at 70 MPH. It does not seem to want to come down and did throw the code P0700 although I have seen this code before on and off over the last while before the shudder started.

Then tranny has been shifting great and only the torque converter lockup slippage was the only indication of any trouble

Any advice or someone who's had a similar experience?

Thanks in advance!

John.

 

Were you able to find a solution to your shudder problem? I have a 2003 1500 4x4, 115k. With O/D on, at 50-55+ mph, the entire truck shudders, bucks and on one occasion reduced power, the RPM's would not get above 2k, and would not exceed 55mph. I replaced the rear brakes and emergency brakes, U-Joints, rotated and balanced tires. With O/D off, there is no shuddering, but when I reach 50-55+ mph and turn O/D on, the shuddering comes back. The "check engine" light has only flashed a few times, while I was revving up the engine a alot, at high speeds, accelerating and decelerating sporadically. I am still searching for help in diagnosing the problem.

 

ATF +4 is synthetic. How many miles?

 

Not sure how many miles on the transmission fluid. The truck has 115k on it, I bought it with 80k. I am changing the transmission fluid, both filters this weekend. I am also changing the spark plugs and ignition coils. Figure a couple hundred dollars is a cheaper alternative (if it works) then dropping the transmission and changing the out the torque convertor. Were you able to figure out what was causing your trucks problems? Thanks!