Now that I've wrapped-up my oil-leak related issues, it's time to tackle another item that's slowly been appearing - torque converter shudder.

For context, my 2010 just passed 240,000 miles and has been passed down from wife's daily driver, oldest's high school commuter, oldest's college-break/summer vehicle, youngest's high school commuter, and now youngest's college break/summer vehicle. Youngest has two years of college left, so that's the goal for it to last.

Moving in/out of college, and break/holiday pick-up (to avoid miles on other cars) is a 900-mile round trip, and we probably have 6-10 of those left, depending on which car we choose. Annual break/summer usage has been about another 3,000 per year, so I'm looking to squeeze out maybe 9,000-15,000 miles in the next two years. I'm not really worried about any residual value - we got more than our money's worth - I'll take whatever CarMax/Webuyanycar offers.

Has anyone tried Shudder Fixx? It has outstanding reviews on Amazon and at other sites, but most are "fixed my problem" with no longer-duration follow-up. Though I did find a couple reports of 20,000 and 30,000 mile durations before problems returned, on other vehicles, which is plenty for me. Any reports of success (or failure) and effective duration on this specific tranny?

The other option is a fluid change, but it's still the original, and CCN has noted that once you're past 100-120K, the wear materials in the fluid very well can be what is creating the friction needed to operate. Change the fluid, lose the material, and you no longer have a working transmission, which is obviously worse than just some shudder. Has anyone tried to change the fluid, or change it multiple times, on a vehicle with this many miles?

$15 and 30 minutes is any easy first step, so I'll have Shudder Fixx in soon, and will report. But I'm looking for past experiences to provide so data on what I might expect. Input is appreciated

 

I’ve only 180K miles on my 2011 and have replaced transmission fluid twice since I got the car used from a dealer in 2015 with 67K miles. Second change was last year.

I’d be happy if I can get 3-4 more years from mine without any major issues. Guessing that I won’t change transmission fluid again before I replace this SUV.

 

The worst possible thing you could do is to have never changed the fluid after owning it and driving it for so long.
The second worst is to attempt to do something about it, now. Do not open/touch/drain/add anything pertaining to this car's ATF.