I wasn't sure whether to ask this in an existing thread or not but figured what the hell... (I've been reading a TON of the transmission-related threads but very few mention time-frame that I can tell).

How long is "typical" from first signs of the trany shudder to the trany taking a big ol' sh!t on you? I understand there are A LOT of factors that determine this... just curious what you all have experienced.

My new-to-me 06 w/ 106k miles is shuddering when shifting (sometimes but not always). Just curious about how long I might have. I'm considering buying an extended warranty but if I only have a few weeks the claim will probably get denied. I already swapped out the 3/4 pressure switches and have some Amsoil coming Wednesday. I'll do the internal filter at the same time. I'm also considering a transmission cooler and inline filter (will this help?) but may pass as I don't have all that much experience with it... I guess it depends how much good it might do.

Also are harder accelerations bad for the condition? I wanna "put it through its paces" since it's my first V6 but I'm worried it will do more damage.

REALLY wish I would have found this forum before buying this

 

It's hard to say. Could be tomorrow, could be next year.

 

What do you mean by that? This car is pretty solid.

 

If it's already shuddering and the switches didn't fix it, you need to go with straight Type F. Doesn't matter if you use Redline Racing or Amsoil Super Shift or cheap Type F from the auto parts store. You may get lucky with a Dex III style fluid but if that doesn't work, immediately go to Type F.

What type of fluid is in it now and how long has it been in there? If it's factory fill Z1 you might have nothing to worry about. If it's been serviced regularly and it's shuddering, there's excessive wear.

Shudder is slip. Slip will wear the clutches out extremely quickly. If it's only doing it in one or two gears, try and skip over those gears by shifting manually until you get it fixed.

If you have old ass factory fluid that's never been changed and it just started shuddering, you might have another 100k left in it. The main thing is to avoid anymore shuddering until you fix it.

 

yup its extremely hard to know...only symptom I had was hard 3rd and 4th gear shifts, then one day on the highway..she slipped and no longer accelerated..I could still drive the car fine at lower speeds

 

Lube Guard has an anti-shudder additive that is supposed to actually work.

 

I would do a couple drain and fills with cheap Dex III fluid, it's less than $4/qt at Walmart. Each drain and fill is about 3 quarts so you have to do it 3 times to get out almost all the fluid, total capacity is 7 quarts. Maybe do one each weekend for a while with cheap stuff then put in your better fluid? I felt a slight shudder before I did switches and fluid at 87K, feels better than when I bought it at 93K now. Dealer did 2 drain and fills with DW1 when I first bought it so since it was mostly new fluid I did a drain and fill with Redline Type F, then another with 2 quarts Type F and 1 D4 (Dex III) and it's going great after a gradual 4x3 refill. I'll probably do one more soon enough to have all Redline in it. It's really hard to say what's gonna happen if you don't know how old the fluid is.

 

My old 05 went from shifting perfectly fine to slipping excessively on my way home from work one day. Barely made it home.