I have a 99 4.0 ranger with a 5R55E transmission in it which lately has developed a shudder or should I say a miss in it when it starts to go up a incline. It doesn't do it all the time and at times it will skip two or three times in a row and then again maybe just once and sometimes not at all. I have changed the fluid and filter and didn't find any pieces of metal what so ever just the normal black gunk on the magnet that you can clean off. The transmission shift's ok in all gears and doesn't have any slippage at all so I'm wondering if there might be a sender or a solenoid that might need replaced which might be causing the so called miss? I had a extra coil pack so I replaced that in case it was electrical but that didn't help also I was wondering if a bad fuel injector could be causing the miss. I checked the tach. when it would miss but couldn't see any movement with the needle. Any ideas?

 

Shudder going up a grade reads like engine issue not transmisson

Clean MAF sensor, always

See if you can reproduce the shutter in a lower gear, like 2, going up a hill
To see if its RPM related or rear wheel speed related

 

I had to go into town this am so tried the 2nd gear sequence and did not get any shifting back and forth or jerking as I did when it was in drive. I was in drive when it started to miss or jerk but as soon as I went into 2nd it seemed to quit.

 

Was more looking for engine RPM when it was missing/jerking than the gear

From description lower RPM in 3rd was when the problem occurs

 

Sorry for the lapse in responding but I have getting some other issues taken care of with the truck (fuel pump, starter, and harmonic balancer) and have been driving it for the last several days. I still have the miss, jerking, stutter or what ever it is. It will act up when going up a grade or sometimes even on the level. When it acts up when it is in drive it's usually around 2100-2200 rpm and when I shift down to 2 it will go up to 4500 rpm but then it doesn't miss, back to drive and you will get a miss until it's not under a load. Then again sometimes it will not miss at all. I'm beginning to think it is still in the transmission somewhere as now when I go to start the engine in the morning it will fire up within 2-3 seconds where as before I replaced the starter & fuel pump it would sometimes take 5-10 sec or more before it would start.

 

Doesn't read like transmission issue

Reads like engine running issue at mid-RPM, you only "feel" misfires under load, or at idle you can see/feel the engine stumbling

Clean MAF sensor
Put injector cleaner in the gas tank

Buy a Bluetooth OBD2 reader, under $20
Works on ANY vehicle made, 1996 and up, so not a Ranger thing or even a Ford thing, any vehicle, so good tool to have
You can, of course, read and clear codes, but can also watch Live Data, so see if there is a reason for the stumbling while driving at 2,100RPMs,

 

Thanks for the comeback, I just saw it now as I must of missed in my email section. I finally made a appointment at our local shop to have them look at it yesterday and you were right as they found two plug wires that were causing carbon tracking so are replacing all the plug wires and plugs which should take care of the problem. However I think I will take your advice and get a OBD 2 reader just for such things that might happen in the future. Once again thanks for the help and explanation of possible problems.