CDF around 3

[bocabimmer]

Ford only approved a rebuild. They finished it today and I got a call from my service advisor. Apparently they weren’t happy with the way it was shifting after the rebuild so they’re going back to Ford again. They’re pushing for a replacement.

I really love this truck, I’m really hoping that they have this transmission sorted.

 

[GixxerJasen]

Hopefully you get a good replacement and it's all good.

 

[JasonH]

Had an interesting experience on a mountain pass a couple weeks ago, on the way up both got pretty close to 200 degrees, then literally once I crest the pass and started heading down, even with full engine breaking, it cooled down back to 170 ish, even dropping to 165 at on point within three for four minutes. crazy to me how much thermal variation these things have. So used to the V8's that take a while to go up or down.

The engine is spooling the turbos going uphill, while on the downhill there's less airflow so they aren't really doing much, even at higher RPM. The turbos will heat both the coolant and the oil when they get hot.

 

[bocabimmer]

Ford only approved a repair of the current rebuild. Even my service advisor seems surprised. (I’ll give massive credit to my dealer for working with us and not releasing the truck back with the transmission not right.) He gave us the number for Ford customer service and recommended that we call them and get a better resolution.

My wife spent hours on the phone with reps who couldn’t find any records that our car had ever had a repair, one who promised to have a supervisor call and then closed out the case, and finally a third who said that they have no control over the situation and there’s nobody to contact.

Our SA was looped in on the third call and afterward he said he would have their dealer warranty person get us in contact with Ford on Monday. Next week will be week 4 without the truck… let alone the other 3 visits I’ve made for the same issues.

The situation stinks, but at least if Ford tried to make it right rather than continuing down this path of insanity, I’d be likely to buy another one in the future.

 

[bocabimmer]

I'm losing faith in the fact that my transmission will actually be right after this 4th rebuild. Wife and I are discussing options and we keep coming back to the conclusion that as much as I want to quit this insanity, these are otherwise good trucks and we need an Expedition Max. We're floating a couple options:

1) Pay a little and get another 2021 with less miles and immediately get the longest ESP plan available.

2) Pay more and get a 2023/2024 (still get the ESP), but hope not to need it on the transmission.

It really comes down to whether or not the new transmissions are actually more reliable. Reading threads on here, I'm not finding as many 23/24 models with issues. Is this because the CDF redesign is working or just due to age? Open to thoughts on 23+ model reliability.

 

[mx10166]

What parts have they actually replacing in the rebuilds? I'm sure they didn't replace everything. If they have put the updated CDF and drum in prior rebuilds it's likely something else that is causing poor shifting like a valve body. If the valve body has not been replaced I would be asking about that as it could have easily been contaminated with metal particles when the previous failure happened. I'm not sure I would be going back to the same dealer who has tried to rebuild this already 3 times unless you are confident they have a well trained transmission mechanic.

 

[bocabimmer]

What parts have they actually replacing in the rebuilds? I'm sure they didn't replace everything. If they have put the updated CDF and drum in prior rebuilds it's likely something else that is causing poor shifting like a valve body. If the valve body has not been replaced I would be asking about that as it could have easily been contaminated with metal particles when the previous failure happened. I'm not sure I would be going back to the same dealer who has tried to rebuild this already 3 times unless you are confident they have a well trained transmission mechanic.

It’s a fairly large dealer and yes, they have at least one tech who solely does transmission rebuilds (sad state of affairs it’s come to this point). They’re typically booked out a month or two for transmission issues. I’d hope they’ve got their act together at this point.

It’s been a bit since I studied the notes, but I’ve seen at least two instances where they’ve replaced the valve bodies. Definitely they did after the initial instance where they noted metal shavings.

Something has to be shredding these (meaning my) CDFs beyond the original faulty design. Ford apparently has no interest in investigating the cause or attempting to remedy that underlying issue in my case and will continue to throw the least amount of parts at it until they can get past any and all warranty periods.

The cost of buying another Expedition with less miles and with an extended warranty would be considerably more than just shelling out the cash for a new transmission. There’s no guarantee a replacement Expedition would be any better than my current one.

 

[mx10166]

Since it still covered under warranty I guess you have no choice but to have them rebuild again. But I'm still skeptical that the dealer is doing it properly, I don't think this is a Ford issue. They know what it takes to fix these if the dealer is diagnosing it correctly. The fact that they have replaced the valve body twice tells me they are not cleaning out the debris properly or they are not identifying the root cause. The odds of two valve bodies failing back to back is highly unlikely.

When it starts to be out of pocket for you I would recommend putting a brand new Ford OEM transmission assembly in it. My 2020 tranny failed just outside of factory warranty and that was the choice I made and it has worked flawlessly. It cost me $6200 installed with a 3 year unlimited mile warranty. The new tranny assembly comes with a new torque converter too, so everything is brand new.

 

[bocabimmer]

Since it still covered under warranty I guess you have no choice but to have them rebuild again. But I'm still skeptical that the dealer is doing it properly, I don't think this is a Ford issue. They know what it takes to fix these if the dealer is diagnosing it correctly. The fact that they have replaced the valve body twice tells me they are not cleaning out the debris properly or they are not identifying the root cause. The odds of two valve bodies failing back to back is highly unlikely.

When it starts to be out of pocket for you I would recommend putting a brand new Ford OEM transmission assembly in it. My 2020 tranny failed just outside of factory warranty and that was the choice I made and it has worked flawlessly. It cost me $6200 installed with a 3 year unlimited mile warranty. The new tranny assembly comes with a new torque converter too, so everything is brand new.

It’s a possibility I have considered. Any time there’s metal shavings swirling around I can’t imagine it not affecting other parts. That’s why I’ve been pushing for a new unit.

Good to know an actual figure for full replacement to factor into my calculations. Was that at a dealer or indy shop?

 

[mx10166]

The replacement was done at my local ford dealer. They ordered the tranny from Ford on a Friday and by the following Thursday they had it installed and I was on my way home. Much quicker to bolt in a complete new tranny than to rebuild. I had this done May 2025.