mystery transmission issue

[Sandmanuva]

Our 2018 Expedition has about 40K miles. 2 weeks ago after a cold start it reached 20 mph and the engine revved to 5 or 6k RPM with no further acceleration. After slowing to a stop and reaccelerating it ran fine. This happened again a few days later to my wife and we took it to the dealer. Luckily they were able to replicate it, but can't determine the problem. No error codes or obvious items with transmission. They contacted Ford corporate and were told they need to return the car to us since there are no error codes. We were pretty upset and they agreed to give us an explorer as a loaner and "look at a few more things".

Any ideas on what this could be? Also, how should we handle Ford wanting to give us back a car with an obvious safety concern now experienced by 3 different people?

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Our 2018 Expedition has about 40K miles. 2 weeks ago after a cold start it reached 20 mph and the engine revved to 5 or 6k RPM with no further acceleration. After slowing to a stop and reaccelerating it ran fine. This happened again a few days later to my wife and we took it to the dealer. Luckily they were able to replicate it, but can't determine the problem. No error codes or obvious items with transmission. They contacted Ford corporate and were told they need to return the car to us since there are no error codes. We were pretty upset and they agreed to give us an explorer as a loaner and "look at a few more things".

Any ideas on what this could be? Also, how should we handle Ford wanting to give us back a car with an obvious safety concern now experienced by 3 different people?

Since the dealer was able to replicate the issue - I would ensure that you receive a warranty invoice documenting the problem that you reported - and that the dealer was able to replicate the issue. The invoice should detail what was done to repair the issue.

Since your vehicle is still covered by the power train warranty, you may have to seek the advice of an attorney on how to have the warranty work done (unless the vehicle is properly repaired while they examine it).

 

[Soliyou]

Since it doesn’t happen all the time, I would think it is related to the valve body or solenoids rather than mechanical damage. They should be able to check their operational parameter with the scan tool to make sure they are within specs. The condition of the fluid should also be checked.

 

[Buda Max]

I have had issues with a faulty transmission temperature sensor but it was obvious place to look with temperatures going high and the gears shifting like crazy at random moments, especially the higher temp readings.

corrected to state “sensor”

 

[29twonine]

Ours did that when the seal went out and it lost all the fluid. I know it's probably not something as simple as low fluid, but who knows. Needless to say, I don't have a whole lot of confidence left in these transmissions.

 

[Team_Z]

Our 2018 Expedition has about 40K miles. 2 weeks ago after a cold start it reached 20 mph and the engine revved to 5 or 6k RPM with no further acceleration. After slowing to a stop and reaccelerating it ran fine. This happened again a few days later to my wife and we took it to the dealer. Luckily they were able to replicate it, but can't determine the problem. No error codes or obvious items with transmission. They contacted Ford corporate and were told they need to return the car to us since there are no error codes. We were pretty upset and they agreed to give us an explorer as a loaner and "look at a few more things".

Any ideas on what this could be? Also, how should we handle Ford wanting to give us back a car with an obvious safety concern now experienced by 3 different people?

SO this is a known issue. I actually just traded my 18 F150 Platinum that has been at the dealer for 2 months now and still not 100% fixed.

Do you have the PCM FSA still pending for your VIN? They replaced mine and that went away, but the damage had already been done and they had to do a tranny rebuild. After that they are now getting a incorrect gear ration warning, but the vehicle drives great no more "slipping" feeling or popping out of gear. Once the tranny starts popping out of gear the gear selection will light up 1st gear, rpms stay the same then the gear goes back to the gear you were in. Then you will get the slow/creep through traffic issue where the vehicle feels likes its in neutral but its in drive. Super dangerous, I had this happen while trying to merge.

Ford is still trying to figure out, I was done with it, 2 months paying on a truck that I wasn't driving. I just think this truck was a Lemon. They offered me a great deal on trade so I got rid of it.

 

[Joel Schroeder]

This is the exact thing that happened on my Explorer. One dealer kept telling me nothing was wrong, another immediately diagnosed it as the torque converter and replaced it free of charge. He stated it was a known issue.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Our 2018 Expedition has about 40K miles. 2 weeks ago after a cold start it reached 20 mph and the engine revved to 5 or 6k RPM with no further acceleration. After slowing to a stop and reaccelerating it ran fine. This happened again a few days later to my wife and we took it to the dealer. Luckily they were able to replicate it, but can't determine the problem. No error codes or obvious items with transmission. They contacted Ford corporate and were told they need to return the car to us since there are no error codes. We were pretty upset and they agreed to give us an explorer as a loaner and "look at a few more things".

Any ideas on what this could be? Also, how should we handle Ford wanting to give us back a car with an obvious safety concern now experienced by 3 different people?

Any update?

 

[Sandmanuva]

No meaningful updates. Dealer still has car. I’ve passed along some ideas, but they don’t sound optimistic. Supposed to have someone new looking at it today. Will keep you posted as it sounds like multiple people have similar issues.

 

[lv2drive]

when cold, barely throttled, driving up a slight incline when i pull onto the road out of my driveway taking my kid to school, mine seems to have trouble finding 4th -
or deciding whether to shift to 4th or 5th - & basically gasps & does nothing for a second or so -
like the throttle is completely choked - then shifts & keeps going.

does this EVERY morning when cold, whether in 2wd or 4wd, like clockwork.

doesn’t seem to be doing it now that it’s warmer outside.

of course the “dealer can’t replicate” so i await the time bomb that will likely happen when i’m in the wilderness 250 miles from any dealership.

 

[wakeboarder]

when cold, barely throttled, driving up a slight incline when i pull onto the road out of my driveway taking my kid to school, mine seems to have trouble finding 4th -
or deciding whether to shift to 4th or 5th - & basically gasps & does nothing for a second or so -
like the throttle is completely choked - then shifts & keeps going.

does this EVERY morning when cold, whether in 2wd or 4wd, like clockwork.

doesn’t seem to be doing it now that it’s warmer outside.

of course the “dealer can’t replicate” so i await the time bomb that will likely happen when i’m in the wilderness 250 miles from any dealership.

Mine does the same thing even in warm weather. I think the key is the engine/transmission being cool and then accelerate to at least 40 mph within a minute of startup. It does it every time.

 

[lv2drive]

mine does it at 15-20 mph, just creeping onto the 5% inclined road out of my driveway, BARELY on the throttle, after 3rd it can't seem to decide if it should go to 4th or 5th or it simply just gets stuck trying to put it in the next gear / confused. never happens between any other gears but always after 3rd, completely loses all power for a few seconds, then "finds it."

 

[FlyBry]

For those that can repeat this issue, what would happen if you changed the driving mode? Say from Normal, to Tow, or Sport or Eco. Just curious if the "fuzzy logic" is somehow getting confused, and cant make up it's mind. Would changing the driving mode make the decision for it?

 

[lv2drive]

For those that can repeat this issue, what would happen if you changed the driving mode? Say from Normal, to Tow, or Sport or Eco. Just curious if the "fuzzy logic" is somehow getting confused, and cant make up it's mind. Would changing the driving mode make the decision for it?

this is a great question - i’ve tried the 4wd/2wd toggle but next cold drive i’ll switch drive modes & see if it’s still there.

 

[TheSpecialMan]

I had a similar issue with my '18 plat 2WD with the transmission hesitating and then slamming through 3rd/4th/5th and eventually got a powertrain malfunction alert. Vehicle has been at dealer over three months now, primarily because they couldn't get to it for the the first 2.5 months, but I've detailed all that in another thread about extreme service delays.
The tech finally got to it, replaced what they called the "transmission control assembly" along with a bracket, filter and some gaskets and they let me know today they are still getting the same error so the issue hasn't been fixed. Looking for ideas on what to tell them to look for now as it doesn't seem this dealership will figure it out on their own. I know I should just take it to another dealer, but I've at least got a loaner where I'm at and I called around and only one other in the area even has transmission techs and they are two weeks out from looking at anything with no loaners available.
To answer the previous question about switching driving mode, I did try that back when I had it and it didn't seem to help.