Transmission slow to up-shift when engine cold?

[HansS]

I called Ford Customer Support this afternoon and it looks like they may be willing to help pay some of the cost for the new transmission. Waiting for Laacy (Ford Customer Support) to work her magic and get back to me.

If you are going to go this route make sure you take it to the dealer first and get the diagnosis that the transmission needs to be replaced. In my case, Laacy reached out to the dealership I was working with.

Ford Customer Support -
(800) 392-3673

 

[HansS]

Mine started doing this the next winter after we bought it. It arrived at the end of the winter and was fine until cold weather came back. I think it had like 5k miles when it started hammering from 3 to 4 and again going into 6th.

I posted in here and nobody seemed to have anything like that happening back then, about two years ago. I called the dealer and they said it’d be hard for them to speculate and there were no software updates that applied.

id read on here about the can of worms that is a tear down. I decided to just let sleeping dogs lie for now and bank in the extended ford warranty covering it if necessary at some point. I’m up to right at 20k miles now. Still does it, only first time through gears. I’ve only towed 2-3 times and the first time was well past the 1k break in period.

You may want to take it in and at least make sure the transmission fluid is not low. I have seen posts from others who said it was low from the factory.

 

[Bmac1955]

I found this on NewsBreak: Ford F-150 Transmission Test Owners Can Do While Driving

Ford F-150 Transmission Test Owners Can Do While Driving - NewsBreak

Have you ever experienced your F-150 appearing to skip a gear or two shifting up or down while driving? You might have, and wondered if this...

share.newsbreak.com

 

[ElectrifyCLT]

Hey all, 2022 Timberline here used primary as a family hauler. 27k miles. Live in Charlotte and typically garaged, but noticed some bad issues when on road trips and the car is cold soaked outside overnight. Has occurred twice during the cold winter.

Start car stone cold overnight (sub-freezing, but double digits). Put car into gear (forward OR reverse).

When reverse, transmission engages for a moment then disengages. Able to apply revs but transmission doesn’t engage. Eventually I was able to hover revs around 1,500 and the clutch eventually caught and was able to reverse.

When put into drive, transmission selects first gear momentarily then disengages, losing forward acceleration (less than 10MPH before the transmission slips out). Apply brake and assess dashboard and the gear indicator in the lower left corner of dash screen is constantly flipping back and forth between 1 and 4.

In this case, I’ve found waiting for the gear selector to “calm down” in either first OR fourth will actually work. Once the indicator stops flipping back and forth the clutch packs grab at 1,500 and with a bang you get forward motion. Obviously very sluggish acceleration from 4th.

As noted in many instances described here, once you get the car to catch a gear after this behavior everything seems normal.

Thoughts/ideas?

 

[SyndicateZ]

After you start it cold, do you immediately drive it without any time between starting and reversing?

 

[BMW2FORD]

The trans in my 2018 4wd Max failed about a year ago. The CDF bushing slipped out of place and left us stranded. Trans was rebuilt at the dealer and the CDF drum, CDF clutches and steels, main shaft, valve body, main trans pump, auto shut off pump, torque converter and main clutch basket can were replaced. Trans was great and whined more after the rebuild. Now, 10k later it won’t shift into 5th cold even after letting it warm up for 5 - 10 minutes. Maybe this is a software issue since if I drive in sport mode, it has no problem getting into 5th even if I do the same start up routine and they did update the SW during the rebuild. I’ve been to the dealer at lease three times and they say they can’t duplicate it and never heard of this.

 

[KOMaynard]

I’ve been having this exact issue, but I have a feeling it’s a fluid breakdown issue. My ‘18 limited just hit 88k. A few thousand miles ago I was dealing with some cooling issues on the engine (bad heater hoses); and these issues started showing up around that same time.

Has anyone tried a drain and fill; paired with a new filter as a possible fix? I’m about to call and schedule one with a local transmission shop.

 

[Bmac1955]

my 18 Expedition trans has ALWAYS shifted flawlessly in my opinion. It has 40K on it now, and its starting to act funny. When the engine is cold started (60F) and the first 5 minutes you drive it easy,..... When it goes to upshift, there is a much more noticeable delay in the shift and it stops accelerating for a full second and then upshifts and then accelerates as it should. It does this on all the first 4-5 shifts getting up to speed. Once it warms up (5 minutes maybe), this BS all stops and it shifts normal again.

Is this some stupid Software Update that ford recently did, or have any of you experienced this? I hate to even waste my time at the dealer now, because that means taking it the day before and letting it and then the tech will just say its normal, so screw them at this point. Anyone else have this issue and get it resolved? I have 125K warranty if needed, so I'm not worried.

Mine 2020 xlt had the same scenario. Ford replaced CDF drum and misc. Gaskets and seals for the valve body 6/25. Had Ford Protect warranty. Mine had 44k on it. Cost $100 and free rental. I don't tow or drive it like I stole it. They gave me $4200 on my app also. Good luck on yours.