What’s with the overheating 10 speeds?

[Helldiver14]

My wife’s 18 Limited runs a constant 210-220 highway and in town especially idling. Today on our way to northern Michigan, we took hilly back roads with some spirited passing and noticed some rough shifts between 7-10, then I looked over at the trans temp and it was at 235 and on the 3/4 of the gauge. Is there a problem or is this just the nature of the Expedition 10 speed? My 17 f150 doesn’t get over 195 even when towing and I’m afraid to tow any long distance with the expedition

 

[duneslider]

I'm curious how the cooling happens on the transmission on the f150, or do you have the 6 speed on the f150.
I don't love the transmission cooler on the expedition. However, I have only had issues towing up a steep grade at 25mph. If I am going faster, even 35 then I have no issues. My brothers f150 with the 6 speed also got hot on the same climb at the low speeds. The transmission is cooled via the engine coolant, so it will pretty much never be cooler than whatever the water temp is and will generally be a little hotter than the water temp.

 

[Helldiver14]

My F150 had the 10 speed. The expedition just gets hot so easily get my F150 stays cool. Not sure the difference

 

[LazSlate]

My wife’s 18 Limited runs a constant 210-220 highway and in town especially idling. Today on our way to northern Michigan, we took hilly back roads with some spirited passing and noticed some rough shifts between 7-10, then I looked over at the trans temp and it was at 235 and on the 3/4 of the gauge. Is there a problem or is this just the nature of the Expedition 10 speed? My 17 f150 doesn’t get over 195 even when towing and I’m afraid to tow any long distance with the expedition

Do you have the tow package?
I always get the tow package regardless if I am towing since they typically add larger coolers for the trans and or engine.

 

[Helldiver14]

No it’s just a limited no tow package

 

[BMW2FORD]

210-220 is about normal but it shouldn’t really go up from that point just driving around not towing anything and for sure no noticeable change in feel. The transmission on all the 10 speeds has a trans oil to engine coolant heat exchanger on the bottom of the trans. The engine coolant warms and cools the trans and the trans has no cooler but the heat exchanger. It’s a good idea so both stay around the same temp but the exchanger is on the small side. Your engine might be running too hot also or the trans has a problem since these cars will run up to 238 degrees before you see the coolant temp gauge move off the center while the trans temp will show you movement. Basically, the engine coolant can overheat the trans via the heat exchanger. Thermostats on these engines are notoriously poor quality and there’s a lot of posts about them sticking when they should’ve started to open at 195 degrees and usually do this around 50k plus miles. If you don’t hear any whining noise from the trans at 230 degrees, I’d look at the coolant system. A lot of members here use Forscan to display the coolant temp numbers over the bar graph so you can see the relation in temperature.

 

[TX-EXPMAX]

Check out this threat from the Navigator forum:

Overheating issue solved on 2018-2021 Lincoln Navigator 3.5 Liter Ecoboost

This post is for the 2018-2021 Lincoln Navigator. It also pertains to the Ford F150, Ford F150 Raptor, and the Ford Expedition which all have similar 3.5 Liter Ecoboost Engines. You might have noticed temperature surges or the temperature going over 220 degrees on your 2018 through 2021...

lincolnforums.com

Granted this is for the raptor engine, I would still suspect there's some common thread here. Moral of the story, there's an updated thermostat that opens up faster to address temps climbing so fast. Oddly enough, my 2019 expedition will get up to around 214 just driving around in 100+* temps (towing or not), but the 2021 navigator we have has never gotten over 195, so there must be a difference in the thermostats...

 

[JayB66]

My wife’s 18 Limited runs a constant 210-220 highway and in town especially idling. Today on our way to northern Michigan, we took hilly back roads with some spirited passing and noticed some rough shifts between 7-10, then I looked over at the trans temp and it was at 235 and on the 3/4 of the gauge. Is there a problem or is this just the nature of the Expedition 10 speed? My 17 f150 doesn’t get over 195 even when towing and I’m afraid to tow any long distance with the expedition

Reading the other responses, It sounds like a thermostat issue. If your warranty is still good, call the dealer in your area.

 

[image98]

I have a 2019 Stealth with Heavy Duty Tow Package. Average transmission temp is 200-210 with mine. Towing around 6k, I'll see a slight increase up to 215, but I've never had any overheating issues. My 2017 F150 Raptor has been about the same.

 

[Jeff Sweeney]

I have a 2019 Stealth with Heavy Duty Tow Package. Average transmission temp is 200-210 with mine. Towing around 6k, I'll see a slight increase up to 215, but I've never had any overheating issues. My 2017 F150 Raptor has been about the same.

I have a 2018 Expedition XLT MAX Tow Package. The transmission temp overheats a couple of times. It reached 250, where we had to pull off the road and let it cool. It was hot, around 100 outside, and towing a 5500 lb trailer. We have an extended warranty with Ford, but the dealership could not find any issues. We just changed the transmission fluid and try it again. Does anyone have any ideas? I will just monitor it closely over the next trip.