Stiff Shift

[Clemson82]

Just noticed something weird... When shifting from "park" to "drive", there is resistance that wasn't there previously. Once in "drive", there is even more resistance if I try to shift into the numbered gears, 1, 2, 3. I never shift into those gears, but did so in the driveway just to move the shift lever through all of the positions. It's almost as if there were a force pushing the shift lever toward "park". The vehicle is still under warranty, but thought I'd check with ya'll first. Any suggestions are appreciated. Vehicle has 74,500 miles and transmission fluid and filter were changed at 60,000 miles.

 

[Trainmaster]

Sometimes the shift cables go bad, usually from electrolysis, often when there's a bad ground on the drivetrain. Or the plastic "guard" and interlock mechanism in the floor shifter is goobered up, assuming you have the floor shifter.

If I were troubleshooting this, I'd disconnect the cable at the transmission and make sure the shift lever on the tranny moves freely, which it probably will. Then I'd do the same in the console to make sure the lever handle mechanism is okay. That would leave me with a bad shift cable, and kill about two hours of unscrewing stuff.

 

[Habbibie]

Were you on an incline?

 

[Clemson82]

Were you on an incline?

No incline, it feels the same way all the time, regardless of where the truck is. If I cycle through a couple of times from Park to 3, it feels normal for a short period of time, then it's back to being stiff. But you almost have to force it...

 

[Clemson82]

Also, would you take it to the dealership, an indy shop, or a transmission shop to have it looked at? Not crazy about our local dealer...

 

[1955moose]

The fact it loosens up to a normal state by running it through it's gate then stiffens tells me the cable should be ok. If the cable was gunked up, it would stay stiff all the time. When your shop that did the trans service, it's possible the tech bent something that moves the shifter pawl on the trans. I'd go back to that shop or dealer first, before the dealership under warranty, unless their one and the same person. The fact that fluid and filter were changed recently, I'm leaning towards mechanic error.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[JoohhnnD]

I too have the same exact problem on a 2015 limited with about 70K miles. After getting it loosened the dealership told me it was normal and if I wanted it looked at it would be about 2 hours of labor to pull apart the console and test it. I would be interested if anyone else has experienced this

 

[Clemson82]

I too have the same exact problem on a 2015 limited with about 70K miles. After getting it loosened the dealership told me it was normal and if I wanted it looked at it would be about 2 hours of labor to pull apart the console and test it. I would be interested if anyone else has experienced this

I have to say, based on the posts I've read about people's experiences with their dealer, I'm hesitant to take it there. It's not just Ford, other dealers are the same if you read other forums. It seems like they don't know what they're doing, and don't seem to even care. The reviews on the internet for my local dealer are also terrible.

Also, I assume the 2014 and 2015 have completely different transmissions, right? The fact that they have the same issue makes me think it's not the transmission itself, which is good.

 

[JExpedition07]

I have to say, based on the posts I've read about people's experiences with their dealer, I'm hesitant to take it there. It's not just Ford, other dealers are the same if you read other forums. It seems like they don't know what they're doing, and don't seem to even care. The reviews on the internet for my local dealer are also terrible.

Also, I assume the 2014 and 2015 have completely different transmissions, right? The fact that they have the same issue makes me think it's not the transmission itself, which is good.

2014 & 2015 are the same transmission. Is the force just slightly noticeable or is it a pain? If it’s the later I’d have it at least looked at, if not I guess I’d live with it. This isn’t an indicator anything’s wrong with the transmission itself, but something with the shifting mechanism.

 

[1955moose]

Clemson as a ex dealer service writer, we we're trained to get at least 2 hours labor for any electrical, or difficult diagnosis. If it took less, the majority of the time the extra labor went into owners pockets. Sorry but that's the truth. Wish I had a sugar coated answer, but rents are expensive, and we had to like lawyers book billing hours. Didn't always agree, but you didn't challenge the bosses! Bottom line was my mechanics got it right, 90 percent of the time. Once I closed a coffin, I didn't want to reopen. I'd tell my techs, sell it once, be sure, don't come back with something you missed. They hit it right every time. Nowadays I don't know!

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[sqer]

I am wondering if anyone have found a fix to this since I am having the same problem