Car lurching

I have a 2002 Ford Taurus V6 3.0L DOHC. My car runs fine, except when I am acclerating and I hit 35mph. At 35 mph my car will start to lurch a little and is acting like it is not getting enough fuel or something. (I notice it the most when I am trying to drive up hills.) When I am just driving at 35 mph and not accelerating there is not a problem. When I am accelerating at different speeds there is not a problem…only at 35 mph. Any ideas??? Thank you for your help! Chelsea

You need to report the mileage on the car along with all info you have about maintenance history. Oil changes are irrelevant. How old are your spark plugs & wires? Fuel & air filters? Someone should take a gander at your fuel pressure.

How often has the transmission been serviced? Problems like this often just come from simple things like old spark plugs or clogged fuel filters. But the connection to about 35mph also brings up the possibility of torque converter clutch shudder (transmission stuff). Check your transmission fluid and note level, color & odor.

I have an appointment scheduled for my transmission fluid to be changed on Thursday. I purchased my car at 80,000 miles in Feb 2008 and now it is at 135,000 miles. I have never changed the transmission fluid or the spark plugs. My fuel filter and O2 sensors were last changed the summer of '09 and my air filter was changed last spring. I have never had the transmission serviced before.

When its in for the transmission service you should have the spark plugs checked out. There’s a good chance that Ford gives 100K as a spark plug change interval (I’d not follow that but it might be what they say). If that’s so, those very well may be the original plugs and wires.

Transmissions are best serviced every 30K miles. If this is the first transmission service it will get then prepare yourself for the possibility of major issues.

Does that car have an “O/D Off” button? If so, turn the O/D off and see if that changes anything.

That’s about the speed this car shifts into OD. (I have an '01 same engine) It may have something to do with that. Speed sensor or something possibly.

I’m sorry for the poor terms I am going to use but I don’t know a lot about cars. My car doesn’t have an o/d off button but when I shift into gear I have the option to put my car on D or D with the circle around it. I always put it on the D with the circle around it. Would just puting it on the regular D be similar to what you are suggesting? I know that I need the transmission fluid changed because it is a mix of red and blackish/brown. I will have them look at the spark plugs while they are changing my transmission fluid. Should I try and change my air filter too?? Or try putting some fuel injector cleaner in my gas tank?

Yes…the D indicator is normal Drive, the D with the O around it is Over Drive.

But some transmissions will go to TCC lockup in multiple gears. I’m not sure about this Ford. So driving in D is worth a shot but it doesn’t necessarily kill the TCC lockup.

Is there a button of some kind on the end of the gear selector? If so, then push it.