2006 Explorer 6 speed transmission shifting issue - update

[regtocruiser]

Had the PCM and TCM flashed just for fun to get the latest software release / calibration.

Previous Cal: 6U7A-12A650-KD
New Cal: 6U7A-12A650-KJ

Transmission is still in learning mode after the new software load. It was shifting fine before I decided to get an update. Just wanted to check and see if there was a newer version for the hell of it; and there was so I decided to have the dealer load it.

I am not expecting to notice anything. Just wanted the latest software.

 

[burgess82]

A little late lol but thanks for the ideas. It shifts pretty good now. As for the front end sound I don't think it is the difference engaging well I hope not going up a paved road. It's more of a binding sound. I'm getting all the fluids changed to new synthetic for good measure. I am just about to go cross the 100,000 km mark.

 

[renzAy34134]

I just bought the wife an 08 and sometimes it SLAMS into drive to reverse and vice versa. Will this flash actually help? Honestly I didnt feel like reading through 20 pages of this thread.

 

[Ornery]

Looks like the first step would be to have some scheduled maintenance performed, including new fluid and filter.

 

[FordService]

I just bought the wife an 08 and sometimes it SLAMS into drive to reverse and vice versa. Will this flash actually help? Honestly I didnt feel like reading through 20 pages of this thread.

Hi renzAy34134,

Making an appointment at your dealership is a good first step. Ford certified techs are in the best position to diagnose and repair your wife's Explorer.

Looks like the first step would be to have some scheduled maintenance performed, including new fluid and filter...]

Thanks for the great idea, Ornery!

Crystal

 

[regtocruiser]

Fluid change interval for the 6 speed auto is 150,000 miles. I am at 84,000 miles and have no plans to do anything with the fluid. The software updates to do help, just have to give the software to settle in over time and adjust to your driving habits. Keep in mind that the 6speed auto in our cars is roughly the first generation of these types of transmissions. They are not perfect.

 

[TowingExplorer]

I just bought the wife an 08 and sometimes it SLAMS into drive to reverse and vice versa. Will this flash actually help? Honestly I didnt feel like reading through 20 pages of this thread.

Can you better describe this?

I'm hoping you are at a stop when shifting into either drive OR reverse and it might bump a bit. What is your idle rpm before the shift?

If you are shifting from drive to reverse or reverse to drive while still rolling, don't do that and maybe your issue is solved.

 

[mfarlow]

First off I want to thank everyone for this great thread. It really saved me a ton of money.

I recently purchased a used 2008 Eddie Bauer V8 from a local Ford dealer. My 96 Explorer lasted me 300,000 miles, so it was a no brainer to go with another Explorer.

Within the first week of driving the vehicle I was experiencing 2 issues. The first was the driveline bump at stop, the second was bucking at highway speeds. I've experienced the bucking issue on my previous explorer, and that required a transfer case rebuild ($2500). So I was pretty upset about my purchase when this started happening.

I immediately took the car back to the dealer who told me I had a bad spark plug and ignition coil. They replaced those with no charge as I had just purchased the vehicle with them. I didn't get much driving in the following week, so I could not verify the issue was completely resolved. 2 weeks later I was on the highway and I experienced both issues again. I made an appointment to get in before my 30 day drivetrain warranty was up. This time they told me they found a second bad spark plug and coil, both of which they once again replaced free of charge, with the caveat that the rest will probably go bad and that I would be responsible for paying for those replacements. Once again on the highway, the issues remained.

I was pretty upset at this point. I thought I would be stuck paying for a new transmission or worse. That's when I found this thread. The information in here was invaluable, and helped me to get the correct fix implemented without having to spend tons of money in the process.

Once again I was back at the dealer, and once again they were claiming it was a bad plug/coil issue. I told them about the TSB, which they looked up and confirmed. They performed the flash, and I'm happy to say the transmission is running just fine now. I still get the occasional lunge and bucking, but they are so minimal, I can easily tolerate it. I can safely chalk it up to "nature of the beast".

I understand that the service dept has a procedure to follow, and that if they get a code for a bad plug that's what they fix, but I'm glad that I had the information here to guide them in the right direction. It saved me a significant amount of time and money.

 

[robertb402]

I had my transmission reprogrammed to day and WOW!!! what a difference. No more clunk, better acceleration, smoother shifting. It has only been a day since it has been done so we will see if the improvement sticks around.

 

[Thicke2013]

I bought an 06 2WD Limited back in February. It has had the issue of hesitation after stopping since day 1. At first I thought it was just the way it was supposed to drive. Otherwise it is an awesome vehicle. I am going to call tomorrow to schedule a flash on the tranny. It is worse than ever from a stop. It's almost like the torque converter doesn't engage fully and then it jumps pretty hard. Thanks for all of the wonderful info here. Glad I stumbled on here!

 

[iharting]

I bought an 06 2WD Limited back in February. It has had the issue of hesitation after stopping since day 1. At first I thought it was just the way it was supposed to drive. Otherwise it is an awesome vehicle. I am going to call tomorrow to schedule a flash on the tranny. It is worse than ever from a stop. It's almost like the torque converter doesn't engage fully and then it jumps pretty hard. Thanks for all of the wonderful info here. Glad I stumbled on here!

Check the fluid level, and watch for small leaks at the pan gasket and at the oil cooling lines connectors attached to the lower tank of the radiator.

 

[Thicke2013]

Ok, work has been crazy and so on so I have done nothing to remedy this. I park in a garage, and I do see some signs of a very small leak. It could possibly be transmission fluid. I am not aware of a way to check the fluid level on this truck. Do I have to take it in to the dealer to have a transmission flush and filter change done? Also, there are several threads on here that seem to describe some very similar symptoms and it turned out to be a misfire and plugs and coils fixed the problem. How can I be sure that it is the transmission? Don't want to spend money to not fix the issue. Thanks in advance for all the advice.

 

[iharting]

Ok, work has been crazy and so on so I have done nothing to remedy this. I park in a garage, and I do see some signs of a very small leak. It could possibly be transmission fluid. I am not aware of a way to check the fluid level on this truck. Do I have to take it in to the dealer to have a transmission flush and filter change done? Also, there are several threads on here that seem to describe some very similar symptoms and it turned out to be a misfire and plugs and coils fixed the problem. How can I be sure that it is the transmission? Don't want to spend money to not fix the issue. Thanks in advance for all the advice.

Maybe it leaked some transmission oil. This oil is red (engine oil tends to be like gold, if new, and coffee, when used). The transmission has no oil dipstick you can reach inside the engine bay, instead, it has a small plastic yellow dipstick enclosed in a metallic cap which is bolted over the right side of the oil pan, so you have to reach it from below, preferably with the vehicle over a car lift. You´ll need a 19 mm wrench to unbolt the cap, and you will see the plastic dipstick inside.

If there is a leak, you will see it easily with the car lifted. Look first at the pan edges, and at the oil cooling lines connectors attached to the lower tank of the radiator.

 

[Thicke2013]

So I had to break down and take the truck to the dealer yesterday. I didn't have time to do it myself with work being crazy. They checked the transmission fluid level and it was fine. No sign of burnt fluid. I asked them about the TBS-07-23-2 program update. He called later and said that was an old bulletin but there was a new one and they would install. So far, no improvement whatsoever. Still has the sudden downshift or bump at take off and still acts as though its searching for a gear when at highway speeds. Could this be a different issue? I have read other threads and maybe the searching for a gear could be a misfire? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

 

[willied]

So I had to break down and take the truck to the dealer yesterday. I didn't have time to do it myself with work being crazy. They checked the transmission fluid level and it was fine. No sign of burnt fluid. I asked them about the TBS-07-23-2 program update. He called later and said that was an old bulletin but there was a new one and they would install. So far, no improvement whatsoever. Still has the sudden downshift or bump at take off and still acts as though its searching for a gear when at highway speeds. Could this be a different issue? I have read other threads and maybe the searching for a gear could be a misfire? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

I got the flash a while back as well and it did nothing for me. I've had my trans fluid replaced (for a shuddering issue at around 45 MPH which was fixed by doing so) and I replaced my throttle position sensor. Nothing helped. I've been told it may be the trans solenoid, but that supposedly costs around $1000 to replace. So I've just given up on the problem and have adjusted my driving to minimize the problem. I wish this thing had a manual trans.

 

[TowingExplorer]

I'd be interested to know how they checked the fluid to know it was not low.

I would also wonder if people have gone this long with the bumping from low fluid, if it caused permanent damage to the transmission which a flush & fill + flash will no longer address.

 

[Thicke2013]

I'd be interested to know how they checked the fluid to know it was not low.

I would also wonder if people have gone this long with the bumping from low fluid, if it caused permanent damage to the transmission which a flush & fill + flash will no longer address.

I'm not sure how they checked it, I dropped it off and went to work. It is even on my receipt that it was checked and the level was ok. I read somewhere that it takes a while for the transmission to "learn" itself and it may take a while before I could notice the changes from the reprogram. This doesn't make logical sense to me but has anyone experienced this?

 

[Bklein711]

Yesterday I installed a PowerAid TB spacer on my 07 Explorer 4.6L 3V, drove it for a day with no issues. Today I'm driving into work and at a stop light the car starts surging and bucking, i had to shift into neutral every time I approached a light or came to a stop, in addition the more I drove it even started to effect the acceleration and I would buck and sputter through intersections because it wouldn't let me give it any gas.

This couldn't be related to the TB spacer could it? I came home and took it off and I'm still experiencing the same issues. Did installing that on there somehow screw up my computer?

Thanks for any info.

 

[mexmike2015]

2006 explorer 4.6 6r trans

Last year i installed a k&n cold air intake along with accell coil packs and new plugs but befor doing so i disconnected the battery on my 2006 4.6 explorer with 188,x.. miles at the time. Well after all dont I drove it for a day and got the bump coming to a stop. Googled, youtubed you name it i looked for it and i tried it and nothing worked. So i let it go. Well after a year and a half later last weekend i was due for an oil change and after the oil change I decided to clean out the throttle body. I soaked some rags/paper towels and used a stick to get in it good and clean the edges of the butterfly really good. NEEDLESS TO SAY CLEANING OUT THE THROTTLE BODY FIXED MY ISSUE COMPLETELY!!!! DIDNT EVEN HAVE TO TAKE IT OFF TO DO IT EITHER. HOPE THOS HELPS!!

 

[PackerBacker]

Having the 2-1 bump in my '08 4.6 explorer. Going to take it to the ford dealership this week, armed with TSB 08-4-16. Will post results. Can anyone verify the transmission fluid change interval is 150k miles on the 6r60?