Phantom Shifting/Fluid Leaking

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MiddKid

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2018 Expy Max with 95K miles here. No major issues.

On Saturday we were driving on the freeway when the truck started to randomly shift all over the place. We were going 70mph and it would go from 10th down to 6th up to 9th, 10th, 7th, etc... Pulled over and restarted the truck. Drove OK for a bit and then was doing it again. The next morning when we left the garage there was transmission fluid on the floor. Curiously I had the 90K mile service done three weeks ago, but perhaps it's just a coincidence on the timing. I have a Ford ESP through 125K miles but then...

I called my dealership and my normal service advisor is out for a week and the dealership is quoting January appointments. I called 5 other local dealerships and when I mention "transmission" they all quote January or February appointments with most of them saying "we've only got one transmission guy."

So I'm dropping it off tonight at the local non-dealer mechanic to get it diagnosed tomorrow. Don't love not utilizing the ESP but I also don't have an interest in having it sit around leaking for the next month or two while it waits to get in for service. Here's hoping for an "easy" fix but somehow I don't think that will be the case...
 

29twonine

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Sounds like the same thing we had with our '18. First time they said a seal was bad. Second time, a year later at the exact same spot on the interstate the same thing happened, that time a different dealer said it had been over-filled. Never did really figure out what was going on so we traded if in for a 22.
 

LazSlate

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2 things come to mind.

1 - Filter not seated properly which causes low suction
2 - Overfilled which causes the fluid to foam up which causes all sorts of shifting issues

You would be surprised how many dealers overfill or do transmission work wrong. A quick google will tell you.

Transmission rebuild places are the place to go for any transmission work. Most Dealers NEVER repair transmissions they send they out or replace them. So they may have 1 transmission specialist but he typically never changes the fluid and some jr tech does.
 
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MiddKid

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2 things come to mind.

1 - Filter not seated properly which causes low suction
2 - Overfilled which causes the fluid to foam up which causes all sorts of shifting issues

You would be surprised how many dealers overfill or do transmission work wrong. A quick google will tell you.

Transmission rebuild places are the place to go for any transmission work. Most Dealers NEVER repair transmissions they send they out or replace them. So they may have 1 transmission specialist but he typically never changes the fluid and some jr tech does.
Considering I've had no issues for 95K miles and then this pops up just 3 weeks after doing the 90K mile service I wouldn't be shocked if they screwed something up. I'm hoping this is easy for the 3rd party dealer, they can claim it was due to one a service error, then I'll try and get my dealer who did the service to reimburse me. We'll see.
 
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MiddKid

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To wrap this up, it appears that it was overfilled (thanks @LazSlate)! Local mechanic drained it, cleaned it up, and we’ve driven it now with no shifting issues. Now to try and convince my dealer to reimburse me since they overfilled it at my 90k service…
 

Artie

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To wrap this up, it appears that it was overfilled (thanks @LazSlate)! Local mechanic drained it, cleaned it up, and we’ve driven it now with no shifting issues. Now to try and convince my dealer to reimburse me since they overfilled it at my 90k service…
How did that turn out?
 

Soliyou

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These transmissions are extremely difficult to fill right.

First there are three different dipstick types, each with its own marking for the proper fluid level.

Second, you must adjust the fluid level between 205 and 215F. The difference in fluid level at operating temp and say at 90F is huge. You cannot adjust it properly except at operating temp!

The third issue is that it takes forever to get the transmission at 205F. No technician has time to drive it for 45 minutes before adjusting the fluid.

Finally, the dipstick is awfully close to the super hot exhaust. I managed to burn myself couple of times even with leather gloves.

Due to all these complications, the techs generally adjust the fluid when cold at the bottom of the acceptable zone on the dipstick. I tried that and it was one quart overfilled when I checked at 205F.
 
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