RPM fluctuating at all times BUT idle speed

[ZSHO]

Here's a complete list of TSB on 10-12 SHO.  Z
http://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php?topic=496.0

[SHOdded]

Any chance the wastegates or their actuating rods are misbehaving?  Have seen this as common issues on the 2.0 ...

[pmezo33]

You're 100% sure this isn't torque converter related?  Sounds like a lot of the symptoms i had when my tc went.

[jimmyducati]

You're 100% sure this isn't torque converter related?  Sounds like a lot of the symptoms i had when my tc went.

I flushed the trans fluid with a drain and fill 15k miles ago (about 3 oil changes ago) and this problem just started about 1k miles ago. Began as a stumble at idle in traffic that worsened into stalling in traffic. I changed the canister purge solenoid (the one on the side of the canister under the car) and the purge valve that is mounted to the side of the intake last month and the symptoms cleared for maybe 50 miles. It developed into a loss of power under normal driving conditions (very noticeable if I accelerate, but not enough to downshift). While driving at a constant speed, the RPM's may or may not "surge" by aprox. 50 rpm at a constant rate, but the surging would go away if I accelerated WITH a downshift. Sometimes (new symptom) it will act like it has a misfire, rapid violent vibration coming from the engine, but never a misfire DTC.  At WOT, the engine pulls strong, the transmission shifts with authority and all is well. At idle and driving like a sane person, its s***.

All that being said, non of the problems are guaranteed to occur, happens about 30-40% of the time and has zero correlation with the engine being warm/cold or the # of miles driven.

Just out of curiosity, how much was the tc replacement when yours went?

[pmezo33]

You're 100% sure this isn't torque converter related?  Sounds like a lot of the symptoms i had when my tc went.

I flushed the trans fluid with a drain and fill 15k miles ago (about 3 oil changes ago) and this problem just started about 1k miles ago. Began as a stumble at idle in traffic that worsened into stalling in traffic. I changed the canister purge solenoid (the one on the side of the canister under the car) and the purge valve that is mounted to the side of the intake last month and the symptoms cleared for maybe 50 miles. It developed into a loss of power under normal driving conditions (very noticeable if I accelerate, but not enough to downshift). While driving at a constant speed, the RPM's may or may not "surge" by aprox. 50 rpm at a constant rate, but the surging would go away if I accelerated WITH a downshift. Sometimes (new symptom) it will act like it has a misfire, rapid violent vibration coming from the engine, but never a misfire DTC.  At WOT, the engine pulls strong, the transmission shifts with authority and all is well. At idle and driving like a sane person, its s***.

All that being said, non of the problems are guaranteed to occur, happens about 30-40% of the time and has zero correlation with the engine being warm/cold or the # of miles driven.

Just out of curiosity, how much was the tc replacement when yours went?

Those are different symptoms that i had with my TC. I got the fluctuating of RPM's when the RPM's were low.  When RPM's were high, it ran smooth.  Happened at all speeds and even in cruise control but was fine at idle.  Did not have any stalling or loss of power.  My issues never felt like a misfire and would not be mistaken for one.  Just a bouncy rpm gauge that you could also feel as it went through the gears.   

I'm not exactly sure what caused my TC to go.  Happened at about 95k miles on my 2010 MKS.  Trans fluid was changed within the year when the symptoms started.  I changed the trans fluid again once the symptoms started and it didn't fix the issue.  Probably not the best method for diagnosis, but the way i finally confirmed it was my TC was by adding a friction modifier additive to my trans fluid that actually fixed the problem for about a month before the symptoms returned.  The results were immediate, so i knew it was trans/tc related.

Had the trans rebuilt and got a new converter put in about a year ago.  It's recommended to get the whole thing rebuilt when you do a TC or the problems can just come back because of possible contamination.  Been good ever since.

[jimmyducati]

At this point id be happy to hear the tc was bad, atleast I would have a direction to go to get my car back!

[pmezo33]

At this point id be happy to hear the tc was bad, atleast I would have a direction to go to get my car back!

Put some friction modifier in there and see if it helps.  What difference does it make at this point if you're running out of options and nothing else is working?  If it helps, you know what your issue is.

I used two packages of this stuff.  The results should be immediate, but it's just a band aid. 

https://www.amazon.com/Lubegard-19610-Tranny-Instant-Shudder/dp/B0002JMLQU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487527733&sr=8-1&keywords=transmission+shudder

[AJP turbo]

I dont think i would put friction modifier in...that stuff is made for gear oil on differentials that use clutch packs.

I woukd go to ford and make sure you have the latest calibration from ford..your car is pretty old and ford changes hundreds of items in the tunes for trans settings

Most tunes dont go into the level of detail that ford does

The new strategy from ford is like a new custom tune...i always like to take advantage of of what the ford calibrators have come up with and then i make my changes on top of that

If your lms tune is not based on the latest strategy for your car then there are updates you can benefit from....most of ford updates are for drivibility and emissions

[SHOdded]

Lubegard product works fine in transmissions, but yeah, like any other additive, the longevity depends on how bad the original situation was to begin with.  It can buy you time to consider your options.

Definitely check for the latest calibration, hope there is one, and it is able to correct the issue.  Also worth trying AJPs tune, see if it is a software issue.

[jimmyducati]

I dont think i would put friction modifier in...that stuff is made for gear oil on differentials that use clutch packs.

I woukd go to ford and make sure you have the latest calibration from ford..your car is pretty old and ford changes hundreds of items in the tunes for trans settings

Most tunes dont go into the level of detail that ford does

The new strategy from ford is like a new custom tune...i always like to take advantage of of what the ford calibrators have come up with and then i make my changes on top of that

If your lms tune is not based on the latest strategy for your car then there are updates you can benefit from....most of ford updates are for drivibility and emissions

I still don't understand why the strategy being an older one makes it now run like doo doo butter??
What changed in my car overnight that it started acting up? It ran fun one day and crap literally the next morning.. it's not like every time I start it, it getsa satilite uplink to Ford and all tuning parameters are confirmed.. To me, this has to be a component failure.

[ZSHO]

I dont think i would put friction modifier in...that stuff is made for gear oil on differentials that use clutch packs.

I woukd go to ford and make sure you have the latest calibration from ford..your car is pretty old and ford changes hundreds of items in the tunes for trans settings

Most tunes dont go into the level of detail that ford does

The new strategy from ford is like a new custom tune...i always like to take advantage of of what the ford calibrators have come up with and then i make my changes on top of that

If your lms tune is not based on the latest strategy for your car then there are updates you can benefit from....most of ford updates are for drivibility and emissions

I still don't understand why the strategy being an older one makes it now run like doo doo butter??
What changed in my car overnight that it started acting up? It ran fun one day and crap literally the next morning.. it's not like every time I start it, it getsa satilite uplink to Ford and all tuning parameters are confirmed.. To me, this has to be a component failure.

Strategy codes identify which vehicle,motor, etc. and software level your vehicle is at.
If a dealer puts newer software it might benefit especially with the issues your having that's all.
Its important keep the module programming up to date especially the PCM because Ford makes changes for a reason. Z.

[AJP turbo]

I dont think i would put friction modifier in...that stuff is made for gear oil on differentials that use clutch packs.

I woukd go to ford and make sure you have the latest calibration from ford..your car is pretty old and ford changes hundreds of items in the tunes for trans settings

Most tunes dont go into the level of detail that ford does

The new strategy from ford is like a new custom tune...i always like to take advantage of of what the ford calibrators have come up with and then i make my changes on top of that

If your lms tune is not based on the latest strategy for your car then there are updates you can benefit from....most of ford updates are for drivibility and emissions

I still don't understand why the strategy being an older one makes it now run like doo doo butter??
What changed in my car overnight that it started acting up? It ran fun one day and crap literally the next morning.. it's not like every time I start it, it getsa satilite uplink to Ford and all tuning parameters are confirmed.. To me, this has to be a component failure.

Strategy codes identify which vehicle,motor, etc. and software level your vehicle is at. If a dealer puts newer software it might benefit especially with the  issues your having.
Its important keep the module programming up to date especially the PCM because Ford makes changes for a reason. Z.

You are probably correct and you have a component failure. But it's always a good idea to have the latest tune from ford on your car...A strategy update can have literally hundreds if not thousands of changes to the torque converter logic and trans behavior changes

And yes your LMS tune would over write any changes that the strategy update did....But Then I would send your new strategy over to LMS so they can transfer their items on to the new ford strategy then you get the best of both worlds

Many have reported smoother running/shifting vehicle after a strategy update....Ford spends a lot of time on the drivability areas of a tune not just power....You've changed many hard parts to this point, why are you against a ford flash?

[jimmyducati]

$$$ is why... I despise dealers and have had nothing but bad luck ranging from a refusal to acknowledge a problem until the warranty was up, then saying "oh ya, its that #6 injector alright" to a dealer damaging the cruise control radar and leaving the bumper partially unbolted when replacing said radar causing cracks in the plastic. It makes my stomach hurt to give a dealer money

I have yet to find a service department that can do anything I cannot (with the help of you fine folks that is). they seem to have lost the art of diagnosis, only being able to really fix something when the DTC tells them exactly what it is. Otherwise they are just going down the list of likely culprits until they find a fix, and I can do that in my driveway and keep the $75 an hour.

[f8tlSHO]

$$$ is why... I despise dealers and have had nothing but bad luck ranging from a refusal to acknowledge a problem until the warranty was up, then saying "oh ya, its that #6 injector alright" to a dealer damaging the cruise control radar and leaving the bumper partially unbolted when replacing said radar causing cracks in the plastic. It makes my stomach hurt to give a dealer money

I have yet to find a service department that can do anything I cannot (with the help of you fine folks that is). they seem to have lost the art of diagnosis, only being able to really fix something when the DTC tells them exactly what it is. Otherwise they are just going down the list of likely culprits until they find a fix, and I can do that in my driveway and keep the $75 an hour.

I agree, the dealers I dealt with can't fix anything unless the light is on.


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[jimmyducati]

So of all the components on the car, what can cause my symptoms regardless of the engine being hot/cold?
Im going to change all the spark plugs and replace the fairily new o2 sensors with fomoco stuff Wednesday.. the Evap stuff has already been done, Ill reinstall the stock tune with the 2 bar just to rule out current modifications. Ill triple check the PTO and Trans fluid to make sure they are filled to the correct level, fresh tank of 93...

And I will call the dealer and see how bad its going to hurt to have my strategy updated, but im skeptical that its going to "fix" the issue. I still have the mindset that my ECU didn't wakeup on a random Tuesday and decide its going to run like crap because Ford rolled out an updated strategy... If it worked well yesterday, it should work just as well today.

Possible culprits:
-boost/vacuum leak somewhere
-a fuel management issue
-a failing air management component