2006 Explorer 6 speed transmission shifting issue - update

[heatst]

I have had my truck flashed 7 times. They have to know something is wrong. I just had it flashed 6 weeks ago and it is doing it again. I have 83,000 miles on it. I hope they can get it right sometime soon.

 

[Fire488]

Fire- do what you feel is necessary but I think it is worth it to find a dealer whom you can rely on and have the truck reflashed. You said in your other post that you've been living with it for the last few years, why get so bent now? If they make you pay for the reflash, so be it, nothing stopped you from taking your truck in when under warranty.
good luck, I hope the reflash works for you.

Yep it was my fault, but you have no idea why it didn't bring it in. I am a firefighetr and was injured while fighting a fire back in 2007, 2 months after buying this vehicle. My wife has been using it and I was injured and unable to drive. I spent almost 1 full year in a hospital with 45 surgeries that consumed most of my wife's day. She had no time to get to a car dealership. After all that i had to go in every day (except Sunday) for rehab that required pain management medicine. Again, i could not drive. My family lives out of state and my friends work 2 jobs and have no time either. So as you can see not everything is as it appears. I had a reason for not taking it and I have been back on my feet for the last 4 months so NOW it is annoying me.

I hope that clarifies things a bit.

 

[Fire488]

I have had my truck flashed 7 times. They have to know something is wrong. I just had it flashed 6 weeks ago and it is doing it again. I have 83,000 miles on it. I hope they can get it right sometime soon.

Your story is the one that appears to be most prevalent in all the other Ford forums that I have been reading.
This is what makes me nervous.

Wouldn't it be funny if when trading the vehicle in that the Ford dealer says you have a surge in your transmission that needs to be repaired. They act like it don't exist until they are going to purchase it for trade. LOL

 

[midiout]

That's why we traded it in for a 2011 Kia EX I4 2WD Sorento. I believe that they (dealer) always ask for the VIN to look it up in the FORD data bank to see the history of the vehicle. FORD offered $10,000 for the Ex when I owed $17,000 on it. The Kia was an even trade, $15,000 trade in and $3000 rebate for an "competitive" vehicle was a no brainer trade-in. After going thru 4 radiators, water pump, fan clutch, rear bearings, rear wiper motor, left passenger motor and a dead battery 6 months after purchasing, it was time to let it go. The funniest part of the story is that everytime I went to the dealer for a problem, they suggested a "Radiator Flush". The warranty company- Interstate Dealers Services was horrible in reimbursment !!!!! All the same problems people have on this forum, I let it go to someone else. With the 10/100000 bumper to bumper, I dont' need to worry about repairs until I retire !!!!!

 

[bender]

Yep it was my fault, but you have no idea why it didn't bring it in. I am a firefighetr and was injured while fighting a fire back in 2007, 2 months after buying this vehicle. My wife has been using it and I was injured and unable to drive. I spent almost 1 full year in a hospital with 45 surgeries that consumed most of my wife's day. She had no time to get to a car dealership. After all that i had to go in every day (except Sunday) for rehab that required pain management medicine. Again, i could not drive. My family lives out of state and my friends work 2 jobs and have no time either. So as you can see not everything is as it appears. I had a reason for not taking it and I have been back on my feet for the last 4 months so NOW it is annoying me.

I hope that clarifies things a bit.

Fire - no disrespect intended, and thank you for your service, my reply was more meant to put things in perspective (which now knowing your recent history, you surely do) Give the dealer a shot at getting it right, get it fixed (maybe) and move on. A friend of mine just went in for this issue and is completely satisfied (so far)

the dealer performed the following TSB: 08-24-04 which updates the TCM and PCM.

 

[TowingExplorer]

Pay to get it flashed or don't. I am choosing the later. If your vehicle surges 12 inches, then I suspect you need to adjust your driving habits to prepare to stop 12 inches sooner so you can allow it to happen and not damage anything/anyone. That's how I have managed mine.

If it is a hard stop, the surge does not occur nor have I read anyone else claim it does when you are standing on the brake in an emergency situation. The gradual stops are where this most often occurs and if you don't insist on getting right on the bumper / person in crosswalk ahead of you, it is not that big of a deal.

Fire, your wife has dealt with it for over a year. Bet she figured out how to compensate with driving style in that amount of time assuming your bumper doesn't have a bunch of dents in it. I think you'll be able to handle it as well soon enough.

As far as the dealer not remembering this uncommon issue, based on all Ford issues over all their vehicles over the last 4 years, how do we know the dealer person you spoke to was not a new hire? This is not a recall item so everyone isn't rushing in to get it fixed as it costs the owners money.

Bring the TSB for them and save the diagnostic fees rather than complain about paying for the diagnosis and how they diagnosed the wrong one applied it and the issue remains and they won't refund your money.

 

[Fire488]

@ TowingExplorer:


“TowingExplorer;2536087]Pay to get it flashed or don't. I am choosing the later. If your vehicle surges 12 inches, then I suspect you need to adjust your driving habits to prepare to stop 12 inches sooner so you can allow it to happen and not damage anything/anyone. That's how I have managed mine.”

What??? Who???.... Heh???? This is a $55,000 vehicle and I am NOT going to adjust my driving habits to compensate for a mechanical defect. I am going to assume you were kidding there because I don't know you. No one could be that ignorant. Good one!

“If it is a hard stop, the surge does not occur nor have I read anyone else claim it does when you are standing on the brake in an emergency situation. The gradual stops are where this most often occurs and if you don't insist on getting right on the bumper / person in crosswalk ahead of you, it is not that big of a deal.”

Wrong! it happens no matter what the rate of deceleration. My conditions as with the many other that are experiencing this issue are similar. You condition is different.

“Fire, your wife has dealt with it for over a year. Bet she figured out how to compensate with driving style in that amount of time assuming your bumper doesn't have a bunch of dents in it. I think you'll be able to handle it as well soon enough.”

My wife had NO choice over the past few years to compensate for it. She never planned on living with this condition. Oh, I don't want to get used to this issue I want it fixed. Really???

“As far as the dealer not remembering this uncommon issue, based on all Ford issues over all their vehicles over the last 4 years, how do we know the dealer person you spoke to was not a new hire? This is not a recall item so everyone isn't rushing in to get it fixed as it costs the owners money.”

As far as the "dealer and uncommon issue" comment goes, that is your opinion and I respectfully disagree.
Read the other various forums out there or better yet Google the condition and see what comes up. You will find that it is way more common than you think.

“Bring the TSB for them and save the diagnostic fees rather than complain about paying for the diagnosis and how they diagnosed the wrong one applied it and the issue remains and they won't refund your money.”

I am not sure where in my past posts I came across as whining about paying for anything. this is principle and it should be addressed by Ford.
I really hope that you were kidding in regard to your prior comments about your feelings towards this issue. My wife and kids ride in this truck.
It is very dangerous and with the amount of cars on the road today NO ONE should have to adjust their style of driving to a defective condition in a vehicle...Especially when that vehicle costs $55,000.

 

[Fire488]

Fire - no disrespect intended, and thank you for your service, my reply was more meant to put things in perspective (which now knowing your recent history, you surely do) Give the dealer a shot at getting it right, get it fixed (maybe) and move on. A friend of mine just went in for this issue and is completely satisfied (so far)

the dealer performed the following TSB: 08-24-04 which updates the TCM and PCM.

Not a problem man.
I am bringing it in on Tuesday, Sep 14th Morning.
They say they will need it for up to 3 days. I faxed them the TSB and I think they were a little uset. The remark i received was to stay off the web sites because the people there have no idea what they are talking about.
This person has been their service manger for almost 30 years. LOL

 

[waskly]

the v8 trans learns from drivers input. yes you can technically program it to shift like crap.

this issues was addressed by ford. since most of these cars developed symptoms under 3/36. most of them were under 10k miles.

this is not a common issue that it happens after warranty. less you buy the truck 2nd hand and the original owner never cared to get the issues resolved.

but look on the bright side, its not a toyota which cant stop and cant be fixed.

 

[TowingExplorer]

Though you took way too much of my prior posts as "kidding", glad to hear you are getting your vehicle fixed Fire. Hope to hear back that all is well and what exactly they did to resolve the issue.

As the dealer said, you gave them the TSB and if you demand they only address that TSB and it does not resolve the issue, you will likely need to pay later for them to diagnose it. If you pay before, theoretically, you could say they did not fix what they diagnosed and maybe not have to pay for the second or greater reflash/repair.

 

[Fire488]

the v8 trans learns from drivers input. yes you can technically program it to shift like crap.

this issues was addressed by ford. since most of these cars developed symptoms under 3/36. most of them were under 10k miles.

this is not a common issue that it happens after warranty. less you buy the truck 2nd hand and the original owner never cared to get the issues resolved.

but look on the bright side, its not a toyota which cant stop and cant be fixed.

I purchased the truck new. My wife and I are the only ones that drive it. It had the problem about 2 weeks old. For reasons above I could not have it checked. Funny thing is that over the last 2 and a half years I had a mobile mechanic take care of fluids and general maintenance, he never mentioned the problem. He owns a Ford V8 Explorer too and the same year...

 

[YamahaBill]

My dealer had the Ex for 2 days and I didn't have to pay any "diagnostic" fees. I don't know if they charged the labor to Ford or what because it was still under the powertrain warranty. All I had to pay is the cost of 1 hour of labor for the reflash- a little over a hundred bucks.

The V8s are rare IMO. Even rarer are the people that take it in to get it looked at, so I wouldn't expect the dealer to know all about it beforehand.

 

[Fire488]

Though you took way too much of my prior posts as "kidding", glad to hear you are getting your vehicle fixed Fire. Hope to hear back that all is well and what exactly they did to resolve the issue.

As the dealer said, you gave them the TSB and if you demand they only address that TSB and it does not resolve the issue, you will likely need to pay later for them to diagnose it. If you pay before, theoretically, you could say they did not fix what they diagnosed and maybe not have to pay for the second or greater reflash/repair.

Yep, I will let you all know what was done.

 

[waskly]

I purchased the truck new. My wife and I are the only ones that drive it. It had the problem about 2 weeks old. For reasons above I could not have it checked. Funny thing is that over the last 2 and a half years I had a mobile mechanic take care of fluids and general maintenance, he never mentioned the problem. He owns a Ford V8 Explorer too and the same year...

this is why its not a recall, this issues happens very early in the trucks life. if i am correct this is the first year of the 6 speed in the explorer.

 

[Fire488]

My dealer had the Ex for 2 days and I didn't have to pay any "diagnostic" fees. I don't know if they charged the labor to Ford or what because it was still under the powertrain warranty. All I had to pay is the cost of 1 hour of labor for the reflash- a little over a hundred bucks.

The V8s are rare IMO. Even rarer are the people that take it in to get it looked at, so I wouldn't expect the dealer to know all about it beforehand.

Well, I found a Ford dealership where I actually spoke with the technician that will be working on it. He is their trans specialist. He wanted to know the symptoms and I told him what they were. He is well aware of this issue and vehicles like the Expedition with the same package are having the same problems. He said that it should resolve with a software update.
He called me an hour ago. So far good service! LOL

 

[Fire488]

this is why its not a recall, this issues happens very early in the trucks life. if i am correct this is the first year of the 6 speed in the explorer.

Nope it started in the 2006 according to the technician i spoke with.

 

[TowingExplorer]

Agreed, 2006 was the first year of the 6 speed in the Explorer. Hence why we also have it.

 

[matsavol]

Just to bring some glimmer of hope: I did have this same issue and the TSB fix did solve the problem for me. It's now almost 3 years since the fix and the tranny is still behaving OK.

 

[Fire488]

this is why its not a recall, this issues happens very early in the trucks life. if i am correct this is the first year of the 6 speed in the explorer.

An issue that occurs early in a vehicle while it is still under warranty means it will get fixed under warranty. When the issue re-occurs or occurs later when the vehicle is out of warranty should constitute a warranty fix.
Also when a vehicle is surging 12 inches when comming to a stop due to a known mechanical defect it is a safety concern and that constitues a recall. The unfortunate thing is that people will need to be injured or killed before Ford will even blink.
Firestone??? I still remember.

 

[Fire488]

Just to bring some glimmer of hope: I did have this same issue and the TSB fix did solve the problem for me. It's now almost 3 years since the fix and the tranny is still behaving OK.

Thanks for that glimmer! So far I have not read anything even remotely good about this issue. I hear that it returnes in time.

Note- I also asked the technician if the 6 speed tranny has driver addaptive learning capability as someone suggested prior and he said, "absolutely not" and then laughed at me for asking. LOL