Who is dissatisfied with the 2020 Ten-Speed Trans

[rustylugnut]

A repair shop(not the dealer) did something to stop the leak and hopefully topped the atf off in the 2020 Explorer 2.3L 2wd. The trans functions and the drive/reverse engagements are better but there's still gear whine and poor shift quality.
There's also still atf dripping slowly off the shift lever or linkage or something. Maybe the shop put some cooler lines on it but I don't know for sure. It was there for 5 days.

 

[Forddealz]

A repair shop(not the dealer) did something to stop the leak and hopefully topped the atf off in the 2020 Explorer 2.3L 2wd. The trans functions and the drive/reverse engagements are better but there's still gear whine and poor shift quality.
There's also still atf dripping slowly off the shift lever or linkage or something. Maybe the shop put some cooler lines on it but I don't know for sure. It was there for 5 days.

The 3.0 is the beast. That 10 speed tranny was made for bigger 3.0 engine.

 

[metroplex]

The 3.0 is the beast. That 10 speed tranny was made for bigger 3.0 engine.

They should have used the 10R80 with the 3.0 and not a new 10R60, although the 10R80 still has a lot of bugs to work out.

 

[rustylugnut]

Another 2020 2.3 Explorer with a transmission leak . No movement at all. Towed to the dealer.
The previous Explorer had a TSB 20-286 oil cooler replacement at the dealer and drives but is still shifting funny.

 

[stein78]

Another 2020 2.3 Explorer with a transmission leak . No movement at all. Towed to the dealer.
The previous Explorer had a TSB 20-286 oil cooler replacement at the dealer and drives but is still shifting funny.
View attachment 319512

Same exact issue with ours and it was towed back to the dealer yesterday. I literally took that same picture, leaking in the same spots. We’ve owned the vehicle less than 24 hours! Purchased it this past Friday night with some end of month incentives. My wife’s previous explorer was a 2007 that she drove for 12 years. This is really disappointing! Talked to the service guy at the dealer yesterday and he said they have another 2020 explorer in the shop now with the same issue, except the owner didn’t notice until the trans was way low on fluid. He mentioned something about delays sourcing the bolts needed as they are one time use.

I hope this thing isn’t cursed!

 

[peterk9]

...........................................................
I hope this thing isn’t cursed!

The 2020 Explorer has had a lot of issues with the transmission as the threads indicate. So far the issues seem to be mainly related to the Explorer, which in all fairness has the most members here.

Peter

 

[stein78]

Same exact issue with ours and it was towed back to the dealer yesterday. I literally took that same picture, leaking in the same spots. We’ve owned the vehicle less than 24 hours! Purchased it this past Friday night with some end of month incentives. My wife’s previous explorer was a 2007 that she drove for 12 years. This is really disappointing! Talked to the service guy at the dealer yesterday and he said they have another 2020 explorer in the shop now with the same issue, except the owner didn’t notice until the trans was way low on fluid. He mentioned something about delays sourcing the bolts needed as they are one time use.

I hope this thing isn’t cursed!

Picked the Explorer up today. They replaced the trans cooler that was leaking. Took 3.5 days from start to finish which wasn't too bad. Fingers crossed this is it for a while.

 

[TonyST]

Picked the Explorer up today. They replaced the trans cooler that was leaking. Took 3.5 days from start to finish which wasn't too bad. Fingers crossed this is it for a while.

My dealer had the trans cooler replaced in my 2020 ST in less than a day. Sounds like they were waiting on a part or tech?

 

[stein78]

My dealer had the trans cooler replaced in my 2020 ST in less than a day. Sounds like they were waiting on a part or tech?

Yes, took a few days for the cooler to arrive.

 

[buzzard302]

Got mine back from dealer today. They re-flashed the transmission with newer software. I am hoping the shift quality will improve, but we'll see.

At least it's something. I had the Explorer in the dealer last January and there was no update available back then. I'll report after a while to comment if I think the transmission is any better.

 

[XLT16]

Class action lawsuits filed against the 10 speed in the F150 ... Ford F-150 10R80 Transmission Class Action Lawsuit Filed

 

[XLT16]

Here some more info on the Ford 10 speed tranny and issues. It was jointly developed with GM but for some reason it is Ford who is having the problems with it. I have a 2020 Camaro (as well as my Explorer) , about 3k miles on it now, no issues with the 10 speed in it.

11 Things You Need to Know about Ford & GM’s 10-Speed Transmission

 

[peterk9]

So far no issues with mine.

 

[Double_Ex]

Hi Folks - Starting the 2nd chapter in my transmission tale from hell:

2020 XLT 4WD - purchased 12/23/19, with 12/02/19 build date. Would randomly harshly downshift while decelerating. Had purchase dealer take a look at ~100 mi when it was in for some other misassembly work I discovered after purchase (the bumper cover was mis-installed - how do you miss that during assembly?) Svc Mgr explained away with the usual "they all do that", said harsh/abrupt shifts was a common complaint with 2020's (and initial F150 10 spds.) Tranny more or less sorted itself out for a while. In April 2020 it developed a severe downshift issue after only ~3200 mi. When decelerating through approx 30-35 MPH the thing would slam downshift, like it had no clutch. Felt like the back end of the car fell off. Local Ford dealer (not the one I bought it from) replaced under warranty. Svc Mgr said there was a Svc Bulletin out about this issue (Invoice attached.) Note SSM 48719 - I've seen that referenced in another thread. Shifted way better than when new afterward and seemed to be resolved. Fast forward 7 1/2 months and 6000 mi later to yesterday (12/05/20 - ~9200 mi) and guess what? My old friend the super harsh downshift has returned, with a new twist - it also sometimes has a harsh, stuttering upshift from like 2nd to 3rd. Will be calling the Svc Dept 1st thing in the morning, and whoever the hell I can yell at from Ford afterwards. Absolutely no evidence of fluid leakage. Will update with resolution....

What are the chances of having the same failure mode in 2 different transmissions?

 

[Bob Lally]

I've driven my Platinum about 1,000 now and the transmission hasn't improved at all. When the vehicle is warming up, first several miles, the transmission stalls when shifting from first to second, or at least it feels that way. Third is a little better. From fourth up it's fine. It's almost like the engine quits between gears thou that's not possible. It's just one more thing to frustrate me and make me sorry I invested all that money in a car that doesn't deserve to be on the streets. For the record the guy that sold the car to me doesn't disagree or argue that the problem doesn't exist. If there's another thread with the same issue move me. I couldn't find one using the search.

I had my wheel speed sensor replaced and it fixed the transmission shifting issues. Just an FYI

 

[Mikey*TX]

No issues here, everything is great. The only time I am not happy is in Sport mode. It is very sensitive and jerky on the downshifts. But during normal modes and normal driving, it has been flawless.

I'm with blwnsmoke. I leave it in normal on startup. Once the system warms up, then I switch to Sport mode as I like the screen layout and color.

 

[1sttimeexplorerowner]

I'm not quite happy with the 10 speed. I don't necessarily experienced the same as most here but the shifting is not smooth at all.

My main complaint is when you're slowing down to a complete stop. That 2nd to 1st downshift before you completely come to a stop is not smooth. It's almost like you manually dropped to a lower gear via an automatic gear shift, IE: shifting it from 2 to 1 on the old school auto cars. That's the feeling i get with mine.

It's been like that since day 1, and now i have about 2000 miles, it's the same way.

Upshifts are fine except when the truck is still cold (temp gauge showing 1 bar), even when i go easy on the throttle, the 2-3 shift makes you lunge foward. Whenever i have a passenger, they're not expecting it and from the side of my eye i can see their whole body and head lurch foward on the shift when i know it's going to happen so i expect it lol.

I am starting to get the feeling that these trucks are AWESOME highway cruisers. If you do a lot of city driving, this actually becomes frustrating. Thank god for me i do very little city commute before i eventually get on the highway, either for work or errands. But when i do encounter traffic, i'm like ehhh...Not smooth at all but not that terrible.

Overall i rate this truck a 6/10. Driveability is a 7.

I think if i had the ST, perhaps i wouldn't mind because at least it'll be quick and geared towards performance.

 

[peterk9]

Haven't experienced any of those things with mine.

Peter

 

[KKRISKAL]

I'm not quite happy with the 10 speed. I don't necessarily experienced the same as most here but the shifting is not smooth at all.

My main complaint is when you're slowing down to a complete stop. That 2nd to 1st downshift before you completely come to a stop is not smooth. It's almost like you manually dropped to a lower gear via an automatic gear shift, IE: shifting it from 2 to 1 on the old school auto cars. That's the feeling i get with mine.

It's been like that since day 1, and now i have about 2000 miles, it's the same way.

Upshifts are fine except when the truck is still cold (temp gauge showing 1 bar), even when i go easy on the throttle, the 2-3 shift makes you lunge foward. Whenever i have a passenger, they're not expecting it and from the side of my eye i can see their whole body and head lurch foward on the shift when i know it's going to happen so i expect it lol.

I am starting to get the feeling that these trucks are AWESOME highway cruisers. If you do a lot of city driving, this actually becomes frustrating. Thank god for me i do very little city commute before i eventually get on the highway, either for work or errands. But when i do encounter traffic, i'm like ehhh...Not smooth at all but not that terrible.

Overall i rate this truck a 6/10. Driveability is a 7.

I think if i had the ST, perhaps i wouldn't mind because at least it'll be quick and geared towards performance.

1sttimeexplorerowner,​

All of the new generation Ford vehicles have Adaptive transmission learning process. How many miles do you have on the ODO? If it is Not clunking and you do Not have enough miles, please wait for it to learn completely and then the smoothness will improve. It keeps learning on your driving habits, conditions etc. Since you do more of highway driving and less of town driving, it probably has Not yet finished the learning process for your city driving conditions. But once you have around 7K or 10K miles and still have the problem, then it might be a problem. I am just saying this because if it were me, I would Not want the dealer tearing up my transmission in a brand new vehicle unless it is absolutely necessary. Again , please forgive me if it sounds like putting down your complaint because that is Not my intention. I just wanted to share my option that it might not have learned your city kind of driving habits/conditions and still trying to adapt.

And if it still does Not satisfy the shifting pattern, you can always have the dealer reset the learning process and it will start learning from scratch.

 

[andyman793]

1sttimeexplorerowner,​

All of the new generation Ford vehicles have Adaptive transmission learning process. How many miles do you have on the ODO? If it is Not clunking and you do Not have enough miles, please wait for it to learn completely and then the smoothness will improve. It keeps learning on your driving habits, conditions etc. Since you do more of highway driving and less of town driving, it probably has Not yet finished the learning process for your city driving conditions. But once you have around 7K or 10K miles and still have the problem, then it might be a problem. I am just saying this because if it were me, I would Not want the dealer tearing up my transmission in a brand new vehicle unless it is absolutely necessary. Again , please forgive me if it sounds like putting down your complaint because that is Not my intention. I just wanted to share my option that it might not have learned your city kind of driving habits/conditions and still trying to adapt.

And if it still does Not satisfy the shifting pattern, you can always have the dealer reset the learning process and it will start learning from scratch.

I'm a new 2020 owner and have noticed that my transmission took about 600 miles to get use to my driving and adapt to my driving style. When I first got it some shifts were poorly timed and clunky to my driving but now it's more in tune to what my expectations are. Hopefully it keeps working well and keeps me happy. For now it's doing well.