Transmission problem

[Mario F]

I am new to this forum, and in 40 years, I just bought my first american car last june, Ford Explorer Limited with 2m3 ecoboost . I like the design, cargo space, road handling, and the look of the new Explorer. Unfortunatly, 29 days after purchase, transmission started to shift hardly, and one day, at about 60km/h, went from 3rd to 1st gear without any warning, suddenly blocKing the rear wheels. Had the car towed to dealer just 25 km away. They changed transmission body valve, reprogrammed the transmission, it took them 4 days. Everything was OK until last saturday, this time I was 500km away from home. As I was leaving a home hardware store, car shifted very hard from 1st to 2nd, then to 3rd, then at approx 60km/h, it went back to first gear, again blocking the rear wheels because of compression. No check engine light, no red sign, nothing. This time I was followed by 3 cars, and the one behind me nearly hit my rear bumper. The car is in Saguenay at Perron dealership, and they found nothing wrong on their diagnostic tool. They’re asking me to take the car back on the road until same problem appears again!! I need to take the rental car back and drive 500km without knowing if I will have a safe drive back home. Winter is coming over here, if this happens to me on icy road, it will be a recipe for disaster. Any help? What would you gauys, who had same issue recommend?

 

[imp]

I am new to this forum, and in 40 years, I just bought my first american car last june, Ford Explorer Limited with 2m3 ecoboost . I like the design, cargo space, road handling, and the look of the new Explorer. Unfortunatly, 29 days after purchase, transmission started to shift hardly, and one day, at about 60km/h, went from 3rd to 1st gear without any warning, suddenly blocKing the rear wheels. Had the car towed to dealer just 25 km away. They changed transmission body valve, reprogrammed the transmission, it took them 4 days. Everything was OK until last saturday, this time I was 500km away from home. As I was leaving a home hardware store, car shifted very hard from 1st to 2nd, then to 3rd, then at approx 60km/h, it went back to first gear, again blocking the rear wheels because of compression. No check engine light, no red sign, nothing. This time I was followed by 3 cars, and the one behind me nearly hit my rear bumper. The car is in Saguenay at Perron dealership, and they found nothing wrong on their diagnostic tool. They’re asking me to take the car back on the road until same problem appears again!! I need to take the rental car back and drive 500km without knowing if I will have a safe drive back home. Winter is coming over here, if this happens to me on icy road, it will be a recipe for disaster. Any help? What would you gauys, who had same issue recommend?

Your concern is evident, and significant. Your Dealer apparently does not understand thoroughly the operating principles of these new transmissions. IMO, if this problem were a common one, news of it would have Ford jumping up and down; thus it is probably unusual.

My guess would be the culprit(s) here are the electronic shift solenoids, or the PCM (computer) energizing them. 1st. gear, if indeed that is the gear being shifted down into, is normally only engaged initially upon movement of the shift selector to Drive while standing still, or when manually shifted to "1", or automatically when slowing to a stop. Since all solenoids appear to be operable, their "timing" would seem at fault; this would suggest a PCM problem. One other possibility would be an electrical fault in the wiring supplying the solenoids. An intermittent short circuit to ground in the harness involving the conductor to Shift Solenoid #1 would energize it, regardless of other conditions (car speed, gear commanded by PCM, etc.).

If I were faced with this possibly dangerous problem, I would carefully inspect the harness for contact with exhaust piping. If damage is not visually evident, and considering the fault is intermittent, checking for a ground using typical metering means might not reveal the cause. Therefore, electrically isolate (cut out) the entire conductor (wire) from the PCM to the transmission, replace it with a new wire, and see if the problem persists. If it does, I would try replacing the PCM.

I am not a mechanic, nor automotive expert, thus my advice is not to be construed as "foolproof", just educated guesswork.

 

[Mario F]

Your concern is evident, and significant. Your Dealer apparently does not understand thoroughly the operating principles of these new transmissions. IMO, if this problem were a common one, news of it would have Ford jumping up and down; thus it is probably unusual.

My guess would be the culprit(s) here are the electronic shift solenoids, or the PCM (computer) energizing them. 1st. gear, if indeed that is the gear being shifted down into, is normally only engaged initially upon movement of the shift selector to Drive while standing still, or when manually shifted to "1", or automatically when slowing to a stop. Since all solenoids appear to be operable, their "timing" would seem at fault; this would suggest a PCM problem. One other possibility would be an electrical fault in the wiring supplying the solenoids. An intermittent short circuit to ground in the harness involving the conductor to Shift Solenoid #1 would energize it, regardless of other conditions (car speed, gear commanded by PCM, etc.).

If I were faced with this possibly dangerous problem, I would carefully inspect the harness for contact with exhaust piping. If damage is not visually evident, and considering the fault is intermittent, checking for a ground using typical metering means might not reveal the cause. Therefore, electrically isolate (cut out) the entire conductor (wire) from the PCM to the transmission, replace it with a new wire, and see if the problem persists. If it does, I would try replacing the PCM.

I am not a mechanic, nor automotive expert, thus my advice is not to be construed as "foolproof", just educated guesswork.

Many thanks for your quick reply, will talk about this with dealer on Monday

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum Mario.
For your info, the 2020 transmission has seen more than its share of problems.

2020 Limited Explorer with Serious Transmission Issues

Has anyone had large transmission issues with their 2020 Explorer? What has been done to remedy these at your dealership? Are people just getting this repaired and returned and waiting for it to happen again? My explorer has gotten stuck in first gear 3 times where i had a difficult time...

www.explorerforum.com

2020 Ford Explorer XLT transmission issue

I have had an issue with my explorer, while driving the vehicle does not engage and won’t go over 7 miles per hour!! It feels like it’s in neutral! Had to have it towed! Dealer has had it for a week and can’t find anything wrong!! Anyone else!! I have seen one other on here with this...

www.explorerforum.com

Transmission Issues?

Anyone have any hesitation from 2-3 and on downshifts? Just took it to my local dealer who said it might be a week before it even gets looked at. Service advisor said it might be as simple as a TCM update.

www.explorerforum.com

Peter

 

[blwnsmoke]

If it is a computer issue, it would be the TCM, not PCM.

 

[Mario F]

If it is a computer issue, it would be the TCM, not PCM.

It was reprogrammed in July, body valve was changed as well as a transmission seal. The problem came back on Oct 10, 3 months later.

 

[imp]

If it is a computer issue, it would be the TCM, not PCM.

TCM being "Transmission Control Module"? This is a new addition, then? Transmission control has always been handled by the PCM in the past (2004+). Regardless, though, control is not being "controlled".