Transmission issues update

Well, my Sleigh is on a 2 week sabbatical (so far) at the dealership. They have ordered a new tranny but no approval from Ford to put it in. They must demonstrate and prove “point of failure”. Apparently that requires breaking down the transmission. A “roller clutch” is suspected.
The service manager wants to put the new one in and junk the present one.
I’m just along for the ride now in my rented minivan! Grrrrrrrrrr...

Mini van?! I'm so sorry to hear the rental you got

Santa just got his sleigh back. It has a brand new transmission. I’m hopeful that the issue has been resolved but I remain skeptical. Fingers crossed.
Damn, I miss that minivan!

OK, it’s been a month and several hundred miles since the new transmission installation. So far, so good, and that’s all I have to say about that. Fingers continue in crossed mode. How are the rest of y’all coming along with your transmissions?

OK, it’s been a month and several hundred miles since the new transmission installation. So far, so good, and that’s all I have to say about that. Fingers continue in crossed mode. How are the rest of y’all coming along with your transmissions?

Getting my entire transmission replaced. Had to get Ford corporate involved and submit my dash cam video of it slipping and clanging.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another fine reason to buy a dashcam.

I mostly drive around in Sport mode, which obviously leaves the lower gears in gear longer than necessary when letting off the gas pedal. I like it.

But with a lot of people mentioning their issues with the explorer's transmission (including some mechanics at the Ford dealership I frequent), that has made me skip a 3rd party tune. Don't want to pay out of pocket on a new tranny.

Well what I was afraid of finally happened. My 2020 ST transmission "ate itself" for lack of a better word. I've had the car for 10 months, never a problem. The owner of a Ford dealership had it before me, he retired at 78 and I bought the car with only 7k on it. Now with 18k on it I've started having issues. Last week I noticed some hard shifts from 7 down to 6 and some hesitation at weird moments on the highway. It wasn't anything crazy, and I hadn't had any symptoms before then. Then suddenly this Monday while driving on the highway the car started bucking and lost power completely. Kept going in and out of gears, wheels would lock up, wouldn't go over 10-15mph, and eventually after turning it off it wouldn't restart. Definitely was leaking trans fluid and could smell it burning. Had to have it towed (which is a whole other horror story) and now the dealer is tearing the trans down. Tech said he ordered a new separator plate and valve body assembly for replacement but isn't sure exactly what the full extent of the problem is. Told me that the transmission has some "serious problems". No kidding.

After reading your experiences here I'm really concerned. I think this trans is done for, like won't ever be normal again and needs a straight out replacement. I've driven this car pretty easily, haven't been beating on it and I haven't done any mods yet. What actually seemed to precipitate the issue was some slipping and sliding in a snowstorm we had. That's when the hard shifts started. I did find a TSB for that exact issue (hard 6-7 downshift) and had an appointment for service when it died Monday. I was actually on my way to the dealer when it died.

Any suggestions on how to handle this best considering I got it used? I do have the extended warranties and whatnot thankfully. It's the first major mechanical car trouble I've ever had. It's also my first Ford, though I've used them for years and years at work and put them through hell there (as a firefighter).

Thanks everyone for your posts on this. I appreciate any help you can suggest.

Dave

Well just an update. Finally got my ST back. They replaced the entire transmission. It took about 2 weeks to get the part in. I have to say I'm a little impressed that they went straight to full replacement and skipped piecemeal repair. I'm not entirely sure what the damage was, getting a straight answer was nearly impossible, but I have to say so far I'm pleased. Not pleased that a vehicle with less than 30k mi on it required a transmission replacement, but at least they did the right thing and gave me a new one. I'd suggest anyone with issues to be very stubborn and demand replacement. YMMV but my advisor helped get it done. Only put about 50mi on it so far, taking it easy, driving it like a break-in period, but so far so good (knock on wood). I haven't even put it in sport mode yet, which always featured some hard downshifts, so I can't comment on whether those are gone yet.

I believe (based on what service advisor told me) the transmission issues were only with a few months of manufacture. However I don't know the time period. It seems like fluid leaking from seals is what precipitates the problems. Anyone who starts seeing hard 6-7 downshifts (there's a bulletin for this) needs to get in for service IMMMEDIATELY. That's how it started for me, then to power loss on acceleration, then pretty much complete destruction of the transmission. Get it early. Check for fluid leaks (it's a very noticeable smell when it gets on something hot). That's all the advice I can offer right now. Hopefully things continue to work out. I'm glad I got the extended service coverage though. Almost didn't.

Meanwhile the 2020 PIU we have at work and beat on relentlessly has had no issues. Go figure.

After 11 days at the dealership, all the parts came in and the tech performed TSB 20-2337.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10186386-0001.pdf

The transmission seems to be back to normal operation. I also had the rear camera replaced under warranty after the recall didn't correct the problem.