2007 Sport Trac Limited transmission question..

[CdnGhost]

Hello all, this is my first post on these forums!
Been reading a ton of posts and learning a lot about the Sport Tracs.
So I just recently bought my first ford vehicle an 07 Sport Trac Limited with the 4.6l V8 on May 29th of this year, it has 141257 km (I am Canadian). So on Monday I was driving up a hill and I was doing approx 60 mph or 100 kmh, I let off the gas and when I pushed the gas petal i got some shaking and hesitation in the vehicle. I have a 90 day warranty from the guy I bought it from and I have taken it to the mechanic who couldn't find any issues with his code computer. So we took it out for a test drive and when shifting form 4th to 5th he experienced the same hesitation and shuddering I did, he reset the learning mode for the transmission and it will be going back for a fluid and filter change. Since his reset, I am now getting a consistent hesitation and shuddering when going from 4th to 5th gear or in around the 80 - 100 kmh speeds.... I should also mention I only get the hesitation and shudder when lightly pressing the gas petal if you push the petal to the floor I cant tell if there is any issues.... oh and it sometimes gets the same results when going from 5th to 6th...

So my question is this could it just be a fluid issue? or should i insist on getting other things looked at while its under the warranty...

Any help would be appreciated, I love this vehicle and don't want to have to fight for months with the guy i bought it from to get the work done... that and would love to put my wife's mind at ease....

Thanks all.

 

[Tech By Trade]

Check and see if the plugs and coil packs have been changed. I know it sounds odd, but if the plugs are going, it will generate full power when the pedal is completely pressed, but miss when it is not, especially under load. Also the sensor for missfire codes is pretty sad on the fords. mine had a bad injector oring and after a reset it wouldn't pull miss codes for at least 30 kms of missing, even on the pending codes.

 

[CdnGhost]

Check and see if the plugs and coil packs have been changed. I know it sounds odd, but if the plugs are going, it will generate full power when the pedal is completely pressed, but miss when it is not, especially under load. Also the sensor for missfire codes is pretty sad on the fords. mine had a bad injector oring and after a reset it wouldn't pull miss codes for at least 30 kms of missing, even on the pending codes.

Thanks will have to chat with the mechanic and have him take a look....
Hopefully it's that and the transmission is fine....

 

[CdnGhost]

Check and see if the plugs and coil packs have been changed. I know it sounds odd, but if the plugs are going, it will generate full power when the pedal is completely pressed, but miss when it is not, especially under load. Also the sensor for missfire codes is pretty sad on the fords. mine had a bad injector oring and after a reset it wouldn't pull miss codes for at least 30 kms of missing, even on the pending codes.

If it is the plugs and coil pack... Wouldn't it still do this even with the Over drive disabled? I get the lagging or hesitation in the 80-100kmh range with o/d on but as soon as I turn it off he hesitation goes away... tgis is frustrating as we just bought this truck....

 

[Tech By Trade]

Its not a coil pack. the V8 Has individual coils on all cylinders. It isn't gear related either it is actually RPM related. It happens when the RPM hits that magic spot under load if it the plugs and wires. Also, its about 800 bucks to have the plugs changed on the early V8's due to fords major design flaw.

 

[CdnGhost]

Its not a coil pack. the V8 Has individual coils on all cylinders. It isn't gear related either it is actually RPM related. It happens when the RPM hits that magic spot under load if it the plugs and wires. Also, its about 800 bucks to have the plugs changed on the early V8's due to fords major design flaw.

Well I am sure glad the guy gave me a warranty for it... guess a fluid change and new spark plugs and coils would be a good start

 

[07LTDDSM]

I had the same problem in my 2007 Limited 4.6 with 75k miles
Changed out the pugs for $200 at a local garage (no broken plugs)
Changed out coil packs to Accel from summit $210 LINK
Cleaned out the MAF sensor.
Problem is gone.

I've also since done a trans flush and a pan drop/filter change. She's got 83k and is running like a champ!

Here's a link on a trans TSB LINK

 

[10uhcST]

Can someone give me a estimate as to what I could expect for changing the plugs in a 2010 ST 4.6 v8? Are there still the "early model" issues in the 2010's about the plugs snapping off and such??

 

[Tech By Trade]

They were taken care of in the late model 2008.

 

[CdnGhost]

So quick update, its in the shop today... got a call from the mechanic... he thinks that the software for the the transmission needs to be updated as he told me
"it seems that the transmission appears to be having difficulty finding the gears and it is hard shifting" as he found it was having problems when coming to a stop... he also noted some back fires but no codes were thrown to the computer....

So he will be sending it to Ford to have an update installed..... Hopefully the Ford tech is able to possibly find any other issues while they have it....

 

[44explorer44]

Hope he gets it fixed for you.

I have an '07 V8 Limited and started having issues around 75K miles. I would have to use the O/D lock out quite a bit as I was having the hesitation issues. Three times the Check Engine light blinked on during hard acceleration. I didn't know if it was the tranny or the plugs. I had the tranny flushed around 100K and it seemed a bit better except going around sharp curves.

Reading the horror stories on plug changes, I just delayed a long time. I changed them out at about 105K miles myself. Didn't break a one. Put the newer Motorcraft SP514 plugs in.Those old plugs had almost no electrode left!

Found out the radiator was leaking and had it replaced at the dealer and told them to make sure the tranny was topped off. I don't think it was topped off after that flush but I still had the plug issue happening at that time.

Now the truck runs better than new! It's using a bit more gas, but the power is better and that is what I wanted.

I have a Magnaflow exhaust ready to install.