2018 Transmission Clunking/slamming in gears

[Kanderson]

Currently Expedition is sitting at the dealer to get the tranny gone thru. Started noticing on highway when cruising 70+ and stepped on it to pass and downshift. Dropped to 7 or 8 then really slammed into 9 and ok up to 10. Then started noticing hard clunky sometimes hesitant shifts in all odd gears (3,5,7,9) Dealer said something major is going on but now it sits for 2+ weeks until the tranny tech can get to it. Kind of disheartening for such a new vehicle w/ 20k on it. Anybody else had similar issues?

Thanks

I’ve had my 2018 for five months. I think I have driven it about three weeks total. I put less than 1000 miles on a car that only had 38000 miles. It has been in the shop 5 times at two different dealerships and no one has fixed it yet. I finally gave up and traded for a 2021. It was doing what you describe and also doing it at low speeds. It would shift and then seem to stay in neutral. It has been a nightmare and Ford would not do anything except contact the dealership about repairs. I would not have bought another one except I know Chevrolet is the same way. I have owned 6 now 7 expeditions and have only had problems with the one so I hope it was just a lemon.

 

[ChrisInAustinTX]

Dealer confirmed the issue and applied a software update then reset the module. They said it should be fine now. Only time will tell…

 

[FlyBry]

Dealer confirmed the issue and applied a software update then reset the module. They said it should be fine now. Only time will tell…

Give it a week or 2 to relearn your driving style, then shoot us an update.

 

[Kahuna]

Add my 2020 Expy to the list here too. 25k miles and I have had two incidents where upon shifting to pass the transmission “bangs” and slams into gear after a short neutral period.

Into the dealer it went with “we can’t replicate it” comment afterwards.

Then it slips out of gear up a short hill and I’m left in neutral for a min until it finds a gear.

Back in the dealer now for a couple of days. No word yet but they said they are opening a ticket up with Ford “on this one”.

I need this thing to be dependable as we do a lot of towing for camping.

At $75k purchase price I’m pretty disappointed at Ford.

Chevy has the same Tran but do they have the same problem too?

If they are going to do major surgery on this transmission I’m going to dump it quickly as a trade in for a Chevy if they’re more reliable?

Will report the results of this when I know more

 

[ChrisInAustinTX]

Two week check in - issue still persists. Big clunking downshifting into 8th and 3rd, just like before. It also lurches from park to drive now too. I will have them reevaluate during my 30k service.

 

[texevora]

The dealership service situation is beyond ridiculous here in TX. Every dealer is backed up for weeks if not months for transmission work, none have loaner cars, and they require you to leave your car with them until they get to it even though they know it will just sit. So annoying and inefficient. I don't know how anybody can afford to not have a daily driver for weeks on end.

 

[Kahuna]

Ok so now a couple of weeks later and Ford is still scratching their heads. Fortunately I now have real evidence (codes) that have left a trail of bread crumbs.

With previous issues it didn’t leave a wrench or error message/codes on the modules when read. The last two missed shifts resulted in me catching the “Shift fault” message before it disappeared and the service guy was able to use my vin number and see what the car reported as it happened. I included the screen shot below from his screen. But still no codes left in the modules to report a problem - strange.

Basically modules were not communicating which put the car in a “blind” kind of situation for the TCM. Not knowing how fast the car was going I guess.

Ford “mother ship” is apparently reviewing the situation and will advise the dealer. Probably throw parts at the problem.

Im hoping for a fix. Love the vehicle except for this crazy missed shift issue! Otherwise I’ll go down the path of the Calif Lemon Law.

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[ChrisInAustinTX]

The dealership service situation is beyond ridiculous here in TX. Every dealer is backed up for weeks if not months for transmission work, none have loaner cars, and they require you to leave your car with them until they get to it even though they know it will just sit. So annoying and inefficient. I don't know how anybody can afford to not have a daily driver for weeks on end.

Texas - the land of zero consumer protection. We are passed the lemon law stage as that taps out at 24k miles I believe. Tricky City Ford in Buda has been good so far if you’re close to central TX.

 

[Jerald Cook]

I thought I’d come and join the fun. Our 2020 has almost 30,000 miles and for about the past year we have had a horrible clunk (like a sledge hammer hitting the floor under the truck) occasionally when downshifting into 8th. We also get it in third as well. Often times in the morning shifting from park to drive shakes the entire truck like someone rear ended us. It sounds like I should get this into the dealer when they have a loaner available…

Exact issue and symptoms I'm having in the 2020 with 17k miles. Guess it's time to call the dealership.

 

[Kahuna]

Let us know if the dealer solves your clunk issue. I’m now having that as well as my “missed shift” issue. Same gears too.