'05 Explorer Delayed Throttle, Tranny Problems

[jpu535]

I bought an '05 XLT 4.0L V6 with the sport package back in June of 2005. I have had nothing but trouble with this electronic throttle control from the start. I have owned several explorers starting with the '91, '97, '02 and, now the '05 and I have to say that this is the worst (the rear wheel bearing issue with the '02 was nothing compared to this). In most driving cases I experience a normal response but the difficulty comes when trying to merge with highway traffic off an entrance ramp. When I depress the accelerator pedal I experience a delay of 2 to 3 seconds from the time I hear the throttle run up to the time the transmission decides to down shift. Ford says that it is a delay in the throttle response caused by the drive-by-wire system but I have different thoughts. I hear the engine and see the tach run up immediately upon depressing the pedal but the delay appears to be in the transmission not down shifting right away because the car bogs down like the gear is too high. After thinking about it for the 2 to 3 seconds the tranny down shifts and the car takes off. This always happens around 35 to 40 MPH. A similar problem occures at low spped while turning a corner. With the wheel turned if I depress the accelerator to power out of the turn nothing happens until I start to unwind the wheel then the power is applied instantly and I get a hard shift situation. To the Ford dealers credit they have had the car for several days over the last 9 months and reprogrammed the PCM to address the tranny shifting issue, althjough hard shifts are still there. Feels like I am driving a manual transmission most of the time. The only other thing Ford did was to issue a TSB that instructs dealers to tell customers that the electronic throttle will react differently than a cable linkage. I don't feel it is an issue with the throttle control but more of a transmission issue but, I could be misinterperting the symptoms. Just looking for any thoughts from the community. Are there any secret TSB out there that address the issues? I have been a loyal Ford owner for many years but I really hate this thing and am seriously considering dumping it.

 

[ffdemoss]

All the recent vehicles I have driven with drive by wire have issues with throttle response. But my mom's 2006 it kicks right in so Ford may have it right now. As for your turning issue where no throttle is applied you are fealing the effects of Roll Stability Control. It knows you have the weheel turned sharply and won't allow you to accelerate to fast out of a corner so you don't flip over or get out of control. Turn it off by pressing the RSC button for 5 seconds and then trying your corner manuever. I can get mine sideways.