Shudder in reverse

[Thunderpriest]

Greetings,
I am a new poster to this forum and have been unable to locate my problem amongst the threads, so I hope someone will be able to assist.

I have owned a 2001 Explorer Sport for just over seven months. It currently has 199,256 miles on it. It has been very well cared for. (Bought it from my brother, so I know how meticulous the oil changes & service has been.)

It has recently begun to exhibit a shudder when I begin to reverse. This has happened 3 times in as many weeks, so I hope I can catch this problem early.
The shudder seems to manifest itself more prominently when the wheels are turned and I drive in reverse. It is only happening sporadically. Most days it is fine.

Likely unrelated issues: The Check Engine light has been on for a while and the transaxle motor (to switch between 4x4 modes) was replaced by myself, but has never worked. (It was a brand new motor, so I am suspicious of the switch or a relay.)

I have searched the internet a bit, and the torque converter seems to be mentioned often in relation to reverse gear issues.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
With luck, a quick (and cheap!!) fix that I can perform myself can be found.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[mr2fix2it]

sounds like you maybe talking about rear axle chatter more than transmission if it has a posi rear this is something that should be looked into.

 

[Thunderpriest]

Oddly enough....it feels as though the shudder is coming from the front. However, as the 4 wheel drive will not engage, I don't see how this would happen.....