WayUpNorth
New Member
Hey there.
Well, we recently picked up an immaculate 2019 Max without realizing there were issues with the 10R80 trans. Our Ex has the heavy duty tow package and has about 96k miles. We live in Minnesota. We only generally only use it for road trips when we need to pull our 5x8 cargo trailer so the 13k miles we've put on it are almost all hwy. So three major road trips since we picked it up last Summer.
Besides a very loud engine fan that defies explanation that has been present since we got the EX, the first sign of a problem came this winter when, in about 20F temps, I drove away (w/o trailer) after a cold start up, not waiting more than a minute before taking off. At about 15-20mph it slipped out of gear. Settled down after a minute or so. Has happened a time or two. Last week, doing the speed limit on the Pennsylvania turnpike, we were pulling the trailer with about 1000lbs of equipment. More than once the Ex jumped out of gear, RPMs shot way up, and it started to shift hard going up/down the mtns/hills, and also briefly disengage. A couple of times it the sound/clunk from the transmission was frightening. Also, it didn't matter what mode it was in. The trans temp went up to 257F for a couple of minutes. The wrench light came on. Then eventually went off and then came on again once more before going away. As we got more into Ohio it cooled down to about 220F and the issues dissipated. However, I was driving gingerly to avoid shifting as much as possible. Very disconcerting on the highway with my family and pulling trailer, while 2 days away drive from home. We did not have this issue on the way to PA... only on our way back home. Same load both directions.
Thankfully, we got home without any more problems. But I wonder what kind of damage may have occurred at 257F and with the couple of nasty clunks that happened.
Last fall, I asked the out of state dealership that we got this from if they could send me some of the service records that predated our ownership. They did, and it showed that the previous owner had transmission issues... jumping in/out of gear. Eventually, the dealership replaced the valve body separator plate as per TSB 23-2249. That was at about 75k.
Now that we own it, and can't afford to replace the vehicle, I'm wondering what our options are. Reading through the threads regarding the transmission problems I'm bracing for the worst... thinking it's the CF Drum. But I thought I'd check in here and ask some questions and hopefully get some advice.
If the trans is toast, I'm wondering what's the best direction to go... having the trans rebuilt or going with a re-manufactured one. Honestly, I'm not keen on going to a dealership generally because of what others have been saying regarding how Ford has handled this issue to date. Sad to say but it seems that the experience of many is that they do not have the customer's best interest in mind. I'd really like to trust whoever is working on this.
It's gonna hurt no matter what, but less is better of course. I've got a couple of local shops here that install remanufactured from different companies with 3yr/100k warranties. Jasper is one of them but the negative reviews citing failure stories... and then getting warranty repair work done scare me. I think the other company was TriStar. Not sure if they remanufacture or not. Have you heard of them?
We would be glad to hear from anyone who has experience with remanufactured or rebuilt transmissions? Which way would you go and if remanunfacted, what brand would you recommend?
On the rebuild side, there's a shop that's highly recommended with good ratings about 3 hours from home. I stopped by and the lot was jammed with vehicles and they were booked 6 weeks out. The rebuild price was at least half of the remanufactured quotes I've been getting. I talked with the owner and he was aware of the problem with this particular transmission. I'm willing to drive to get the job done by folks who have a good reputation. I only want to do this once. I've also come across a company called Certified Transmission (based out of Omaha, NE) that seems to have a good reputation and they are within reasonable driving distance.
One last thing... our trans temp when not towing is around 196F. When towing, it's been around 220F until this past week. Do those numbers sound right? What's normal operating temp range for Heavy Duty Tow Package equipped Expedition Max? And what temp should we expect when we're towing what we were? And is the very load fan related to the transmission temperature?
Sure appreciate any help, direction, advice you can offer on this situation.
Thanks!
Kent
Well, we recently picked up an immaculate 2019 Max without realizing there were issues with the 10R80 trans. Our Ex has the heavy duty tow package and has about 96k miles. We live in Minnesota. We only generally only use it for road trips when we need to pull our 5x8 cargo trailer so the 13k miles we've put on it are almost all hwy. So three major road trips since we picked it up last Summer.
Besides a very loud engine fan that defies explanation that has been present since we got the EX, the first sign of a problem came this winter when, in about 20F temps, I drove away (w/o trailer) after a cold start up, not waiting more than a minute before taking off. At about 15-20mph it slipped out of gear. Settled down after a minute or so. Has happened a time or two. Last week, doing the speed limit on the Pennsylvania turnpike, we were pulling the trailer with about 1000lbs of equipment. More than once the Ex jumped out of gear, RPMs shot way up, and it started to shift hard going up/down the mtns/hills, and also briefly disengage. A couple of times it the sound/clunk from the transmission was frightening. Also, it didn't matter what mode it was in. The trans temp went up to 257F for a couple of minutes. The wrench light came on. Then eventually went off and then came on again once more before going away. As we got more into Ohio it cooled down to about 220F and the issues dissipated. However, I was driving gingerly to avoid shifting as much as possible. Very disconcerting on the highway with my family and pulling trailer, while 2 days away drive from home. We did not have this issue on the way to PA... only on our way back home. Same load both directions.
Thankfully, we got home without any more problems. But I wonder what kind of damage may have occurred at 257F and with the couple of nasty clunks that happened.
Last fall, I asked the out of state dealership that we got this from if they could send me some of the service records that predated our ownership. They did, and it showed that the previous owner had transmission issues... jumping in/out of gear. Eventually, the dealership replaced the valve body separator plate as per TSB 23-2249. That was at about 75k.
Now that we own it, and can't afford to replace the vehicle, I'm wondering what our options are. Reading through the threads regarding the transmission problems I'm bracing for the worst... thinking it's the CF Drum. But I thought I'd check in here and ask some questions and hopefully get some advice.
If the trans is toast, I'm wondering what's the best direction to go... having the trans rebuilt or going with a re-manufactured one. Honestly, I'm not keen on going to a dealership generally because of what others have been saying regarding how Ford has handled this issue to date. Sad to say but it seems that the experience of many is that they do not have the customer's best interest in mind. I'd really like to trust whoever is working on this.
It's gonna hurt no matter what, but less is better of course. I've got a couple of local shops here that install remanufactured from different companies with 3yr/100k warranties. Jasper is one of them but the negative reviews citing failure stories... and then getting warranty repair work done scare me. I think the other company was TriStar. Not sure if they remanufacture or not. Have you heard of them?
We would be glad to hear from anyone who has experience with remanufactured or rebuilt transmissions? Which way would you go and if remanunfacted, what brand would you recommend?
On the rebuild side, there's a shop that's highly recommended with good ratings about 3 hours from home. I stopped by and the lot was jammed with vehicles and they were booked 6 weeks out. The rebuild price was at least half of the remanufactured quotes I've been getting. I talked with the owner and he was aware of the problem with this particular transmission. I'm willing to drive to get the job done by folks who have a good reputation. I only want to do this once. I've also come across a company called Certified Transmission (based out of Omaha, NE) that seems to have a good reputation and they are within reasonable driving distance.
One last thing... our trans temp when not towing is around 196F. When towing, it's been around 220F until this past week. Do those numbers sound right? What's normal operating temp range for Heavy Duty Tow Package equipped Expedition Max? And what temp should we expect when we're towing what we were? And is the very load fan related to the transmission temperature?
Sure appreciate any help, direction, advice you can offer on this situation.
Thanks!
Kent
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