Transmission Failing timeline

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mhExped

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FWIW: I complained of the transmission oddities of our '18 Limited every time I took the car in for anything. Always got the patented "no codes - can't do anything" or "can't reproduce" responses. However, after enough complaining the dealer finally had the tech inspect the tranny and found "damage" and got it replaced.

We have the ESP plan too. We ended up getting a new tranny and not a used or rebuilt one since our mileage was still so low (under 50k, but I have no idea what the threshold is that would have prevented us from getting a new one had we crossed it).

In any case, I think getting the paper trail started as early as possible can only be to your advantage, despite the fact that it's a pain to keep taking it in and saying the same things over and over.
 

Cdogg

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Had mine (2019 limited with tow package) in shop around 34000 for odd transmission noises, hard shifts. They did some programing and around 35500 started having the slipping out of gear as well as really loud static noises. This trip they replaced the transmission.. picked it up on a Friday, drove a couple hundred miles and transmission overheated in between Orlando and Tampa so back in the shop by Tuesday. Been in shop since then (3/28) today was told it had a bad vacuum pump. Ironically on the way to the dealer my passenger rear window stopped working so they are still diagnosing that.

Love my vehicle probably too much. So far have had 2 transmissions, 1 camphaser, 1 pcm module and leaking oil twice from the rear of the engine as well as some other miscellaneous warranty repairs (water in the taillight, broken sunroof frame, stereo kept switching from night to day mode, rear window not working, rear seat belt jam) I know I'm missing some issues.. been in the shop for over 45 days likely closer to 60 with the current problem.

Fortunately my dealer has covered full sized SUV rentals with no questions asked.
 

paulwhit80

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Has anyone had issues with their transmission not finding a gear on downshifts? We have a 2018 Limited and this week driving some back roads, I hit the throttle to pass a few cars in front of me. When I hit the accelerator to pass, the trans started clanking around hunting for a gear and never found it. The truck was basically in neutral so I had to back off the gas and fall back in line until it slid its way into gear. I haven't noticed issues with our trans at all until this point. Anyone else had this issue? I searched the site and didn't find anything on it.
Mine did this at 10200 miles, very soon erratic and hard shifts, and in my case (two opinions and quote) I had to get a new ford transmission. $5100 trans shop $7400 dealer- both with three year warranty. Mine gave me no early warnings. Was toast in a week.
 

wakeboarder

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Mine did this at 10200 miles, very soon erratic and hard shifts, and in my case (two opinions and quote) I had to get a new ford transmission. $5100 trans shop $7400 dealer- both with three year warranty. Mine gave me no early warnings. Was toast in a week.
Why even get the trans shop quotation? Wouldn’t it be covered under warranty at 10,200 miles?
 

llhoneymoons

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FWIW: I complained of the transmission oddities of our '18 Limited every time I took the car in for anything. Always got the patented "no codes - can't do anything" or "can't reproduce" responses. However, after enough complaining the dealer finally had the tech inspect the tranny and found "damage" and got it replaced.

We have the ESP plan too. We ended up getting a new tranny and not a used or rebuilt one since our mileage was still so low (under 50k, but I have no idea what the threshold is that would have prevented us from getting a new one had we crossed it).

In any case, I think getting the paper trail started as early as possible can only be to your advantage, despite the fact that it's a pain to keep taking it in and saying the same things over and over.
FYI - just so everyone is aware, no such thing as a new transmission, unless you buy a new vehicle. They are all rebuilt/remanufactured.
 

expeditiondriver

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My concern with the plethora of transmission issues on these vehicles is whether or not these issues and/or drive line lash from them may be damaging the motor along the way.
 

Wally Rayban

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Hello, I have 88k on my 2018 Max Limited. I've always had weird or erratic shifting (since I bought it with 55k in 2020 from the auction) much like what most of you are describing in this post....anywhere from shuddering, slipping and delayed shifting especially from Park to Reverse. I used to have a hard bump when downshifting from 5th to 4th gear. When I did a rear differential service at the ford dealer at 80k sometime last year, the hard bump went away. I recently decided to have the full transmission service at the ford dealer around 87k miles in Feb 2023. For the first several weeks, I had very bad transmission activity, pretty much everything I described above. About two weeks later I asked the dealer if they can clear the memory so my tranny can re-learn and they said no, they said the tranny is always learning and will adjust as needed. I went camping the next weekend (third week after service) towing my travel trailer (around 6k pounds) and still had the same weird behavior. About the 4th week, we went to Disneyland and the transmission started overheating on the freeway, I noticed smoke coming from under the car, I smelled transmission fluid instantly and pulled over. I thought for sure my tranny was toast. I had the car towed to the same ford dealer and they diagnosed for free (I have no warranty) since they recently did the tranny service. It turned out that the dealer overfilled my tranny by 1+ quarts. Not sure how that could've happened if they used an automated machine. They offered to fix at no cost, they refunded my money for the tranny service, and they said the fluid is at the right level now, they cleaned the tranny cooler and the underside of the car and now the car shifts soooo much better. It's been six weeks (2 weeks after the dealer fixed their mistake) and I have smooth shifting, no slipping, very little to no shuddering and I can barely feel it shifting from P to R. My advice is don't wait until 100k or after to service your diffs and tranny. Do it early and you may have a better experience driving your car.

On another note, regarding taking the car to the dealer without a code, I would still take it in as early as possible. The more documentation there is at the earliest possible mileage, the better. I was lucky enough to get my previous SUV on the lemon law buy back for various recurring issues. But one thing I noticed is that the money I got was based on the amount of miles I drove with the issues. For example, if you start complaining around 80k and you get lemon buy back at 90k, they'll only cash you out based on 10k miles of ownership. I don't know how they calculate it but there is some prorated formula they use. However, if you start complaining at 20k and you get lemon buy back at 90k, then you get cashed out based on 80k miles worth of ownership. Moral of the story is take it in when you have any issue, with or without a service light.
 

Soliyou

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Hello, I have 88k on my 2018 Max Limited. I've always had weird or erratic shifting (since I bought it with 55k in 2020 from the auction) much like what most of you are describing in this post....anywhere from shuddering, slipping and delayed shifting especially from Park to Reverse. I used to have a hard bump when downshifting from 5th to 4th gear. When I did a rear differential service at the ford dealer at 80k sometime last year, the hard bump went away. I recently decided to have the full transmission service at the ford dealer around 87k miles in Feb 2023. For the first several weeks, I had very bad transmission activity, pretty much everything I described above. About two weeks later I asked the dealer if they can clear the memory so my tranny can re-learn and they said no, they said the tranny is always learning and will adjust as needed. I went camping the next weekend (third week after service) towing my travel trailer (around 6k pounds) and still had the same weird behavior. About the 4th week, we went to Disneyland and the transmission started overheating on the freeway, I noticed smoke coming from under the car, I smelled transmission fluid instantly and pulled over. I thought for sure my tranny was toast. I had the car towed to the same ford dealer and they diagnosed for free (I have no warranty) since they recently did the tranny service. It turned out that the dealer overfilled my tranny by 1+ quarts. Not sure how that could've happened if they used an automated machine. They offered to fix at no cost, they refunded my money for the tranny service, and they said the fluid is at the right level now, they cleaned the tranny cooler and the underside of the car and now the car shifts soooo much better. It's been six weeks (2 weeks after the dealer fixed their mistake) and I have smooth shifting, no slipping, very little to no shuddering and I can barely feel it shifting from P to R. My advice is don't wait until 100k or after to service your diffs and tranny. Do it early and you may have a better experience driving your car.

On another note, regarding taking the car to the dealer without a code, I would still take it in as early as possible. The more documentation there is at the earliest possible mileage, the better. I was lucky enough to get my previous SUV on the lemon law buy back for various recurring issues. But one thing I noticed is that the money I got was based on the amount of miles I drove with the issues. For example, if you start complaining around 80k and you get lemon buy back at 90k, they'll only cash you out based on 10k miles of ownership. I don't know how they calculate it but there is some prorated formula they use. However, if you start complaining at 20k and you get lemon buy back at 90k, then you get cashed out based on 80k miles worth of ownership. Moral of the story is take it in when you have any issue, with or without a service light.
Adjusting the fluid level in these transmission is a one hour job. Even checking the level can take 30 minutes.

No automatic machine can be used since they dropped the pan and didn’t measure how much came out.

Most techs fill it when cold to the bottom of the acceptable range, on the hope that when fluid warms up the level will be correct. This leads to approximately one quart overfill. I made the same mistake but corrected it at operating temp and it took me an hour.
 
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8131full

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Just an update on this. I was able to find a dealer 90 mins away with avail appts. Drove it there today and dropped off. Barely made it. Slow to shift in virtually all gears now, and hard down shifts. Dealer said mine was the forth Exp in the past 2 months in there for same issues. Good news is I still have factory drive train warranty (I thought it had expired). Will post another update after they diag.
 

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