Taking my '21 FX4 to dealer for possible transmission issue

[RescueMe1060]

Background: I have a '21 Fx4 34,300 miles. Regular oil changes. Last oil change was in July, dealership found an oil leak and repaired it. All othe rmaintenance has been normal and nothing to report.

Friday afternoon I was pulling out of the company parking lot going about 12MPH, all of a sudden the tuck lost all acceleration/power in the gas pedal. The gas pedal wouldn't respond, literally seconds later the truck jolted forward and felt like it slammed in to gear (a gear, any gear, who knows what it was) but the force of the incident bucked me forward in my seat and the tires did its little screeching noise as the truck "synchronized itself". I was able to coast up to the metering lights of the freeway and accelerate normally after that but shifting up and down feels clunky and no longer smooth like when I first bought the truck. I drove it straight to the dealer service warehouse to have it documented they told me bring it back at my earliest convenience this week so the technicians can check it out. I'm driving the truck sparingly until I have time to bring it back to the dealership (probably Wednesday).

This is the 2nd time something like this has happened on this truck the 1st incident being a few years back.

I'll keep everyone posted on whats going on.

edit: The Ford service tech I spoke with on Friday said its most likely a transmission issue.

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[NotBudule2]

Curious as to what the oil leak was ?

 

[rang19ca]

It sounds like a transmission issue as you described it. TSB 24-2101 was the repair for my truck.

 

[RescueMe1060]

The oil leak was from a failed gasket seal, Ford actually took 5 days to fix this due to not having the part on hand. So yeah, mostly an inconvenience in the blip of time.

I will mention TSB 24-2101 to the rep when I go in next.

Curious, how many minutes do you all let your vehicles warm up before driving off in them? I have found that with a greater warm up time the truck typically runs smoother.

 

[Retirednavy2010]

Background: I have a '21 Fx4 34,300 miles. Regular oil changes. Last oil change was in July, dealership found an oil leak and repaired it. All othe rmaintenance has been normal and nothing to report.

Friday afternoon I was pulling out of the company parking lot going about 12MPH, all of a sudden the tuck lost all acceleration/power in the gas pedal. The gas pedal wouldn't respond, literally seconds later the truck jolted forward and felt like it slammed in to gear (a gear, any gear, who knows what it was) but the force of the incident bucked me forward in my seat and the tires did its little screeching noise as the truck "synchronized itself". I was able to coast up to the metering lights of the freeway and accelerate normally after that but shifting up and down feels clunky and no longer smooth like when I first bought the truck. I drove it straight to the dealer service warehouse to have it documented they told me bring it back at my earliest convenience this week so the technicians can check it out. I'm driving the truck sparingly until I have time to bring it back to the dealership (probably Wednesday).

This is the 2nd time something like this has happened on this truck the 1st incident being a few years back.

I'll keep everyone posted on whats going on.

edit: The Ford service tech I spoke with on Friday said its most likely a transmission issue.

Welcome to the 5th gen Ford Ranger. The transmission is is something that probably 75% of us have experienced. I've had my transmission completely "rebuilt" by the Ford dealer 3 months ago and probably once every week going into 8th gear the trans either slips in (2-3 seconds) or slams in like a bull in a China shop. What a POS!

 

[rang19ca]

These transmissions do seem to be very temperamental beasts.

 

[Y2Dip84]

Brought my 2020 Ranger (35k miles) to have the transmission completely “rebuilt” due to CDF drum failure.

A short history - brought it to the dealership last year due to rough shifts into and out of 1st and 2nd gear, sometimes even hard shifts. They flashed the PCM per a TSB for the transmission to relearn shifts. That worked for a couple hundred miles and then it came back.

Brought it back in last week and they recognized the issue, rebuilt the transmission no questions asked. Tech manager said once they perform this rebuild they’ve “rarely had issues arise again” but we shall see.

The rebuild is noticeable; shifts are smooth and unnoticeable (shouldn’t it always be the case?) but we’ll see how it holds up. What’s shocking is I work where I live so my commute in literally 5 minutes a day. I have low mileage and the transmission was such as POS that it was cooked after 25K. My advice: if you’re still under the 5 year powertrain warranty don’t wait or else you’ll be paying 8-10K for this repair.

 

[TJC]

Welcome to the 5th gen Ford Ranger. The transmission is is something that probably 75% of us have experienced. I've had my transmission completely "rebuilt" by the Ford dealer 3 months ago and probably once every week going into 8th gear the trans either slips in (2-3 seconds) or slams in like a bull in a China shop. What a POS!

One 10oz bottle of LubeGard Platinum solved my crazy shift problems... COMPLETELY. After 15K miles of harsh / missed shifts, jerking when starting and stopping, and extremely slow shifts. I sucked out 7.5 quarts of transmission fluid and added 7 quarts of new fluid, then added the LubeGard Platinum.

All my transmission problems ceased. I have 1k smooth as silk miles on the truck since doing this,

To make doing this easier I added a FitzStick (MBS Dipstick).

Search on LubeGard and LubeGuard to see the successful results of many others who have solved their transmission issues.

 

[5thranger]

One 10oz bottle of LubeGard Platinum solved my crazy shift problems... COMPLETELY. After 15K miles of harsh / missed shifts, jerking when starting and stopping, and extremely slow shifts. I sucked out 7.5 quarts of transmission fluid and added 7 quarts of new fluid, then added the LubeGard Platinum.

All my transmission problems ceased. I have 1k smooth as silk miles on the truck since doing this,

To make doing this easier I added a FitzStick (MBS Dipstick).

Search on LubeGard and LubeGuard to see the successful results of many others who have solved their transmission issues.

Just installed my FitzStick and am so impressed by the quality and engineering that was put into this. The fluid level is not at proper level according to the new dipstick, so it tells you that they are not getting them filled to proper level at factory.

 

[RescueMe1060]

As an update to this, I have not had any time to bring the truck back to the dealership yet. I've been driving it about 20mi / day as my commute to work and home is short like another person said above.

 

[TJC]

Just installed my FitzStick and am so impressed by the quality and engineering that was put into this. The fluid level is not at proper level according to the new dipstick, so it tells you that they are not getting them filled to proper level at factory.

You probably already know this, but be very careful when measuring the fluid level. It is highly dependent on the temperature of the fluid for accuracy. ULV dramatically expands as it heats up. Measurements must be taken when fluid is at 210F (+- 5F).

It will read low below 210F. If you are not stressing the transmission, your temps most likely are closer to ~195F... and your fluid level will appear to be low.

 

[Stevedbvik1]

Brought my 2020 Ranger (35k miles) to have the transmission completely “rebuilt” due to CDF drum failure.

A short history - brought it to the dealership last year due to rough shifts into and out of 1st and 2nd gear, sometimes even hard shifts. They flashed the PCM per a TSB for the transmission to relearn shifts. That worked for a couple hundred miles and then it came back.

Brought it back in last week and they recognized the issue, rebuilt the transmission no questions asked. Tech manager said once they perform this rebuild they’ve “rarely had issues arise again” but we shall see.

The rebuild is noticeable; shifts are smooth and unnoticeable (shouldn’t it always be the case?) but we’ll see how it holds up. What’s shocking is I work where I live so my commute in literally 5 minutes a day. I have low mileage and the transmission was such as POS that it was cooked after 25K. My advice: if you’re still under the 5 year powertrain warranty don’t wait or else you’ll be paying 8-10K for this repair.

This “My advice: if you’re still under the 5 year powertrain warranty don’t wait or else you’ll be paying 8-10K for this repair.”
I also cannot emphasize this enough .

 

[Msfitoy]

Background: I have a '21 Fx4 34,300 miles. Regular oil changes. Last oil change was in July, dealership found an oil leak and repaired it. All othe rmaintenance has been normal and nothing to report.

Friday afternoon I was pulling out of the company parking lot going about 12MPH, all of a sudden the tuck lost all acceleration/power in the gas pedal. The gas pedal wouldn't respond, literally seconds later the truck jolted forward and felt like it slammed in to gear (a gear, any gear, who knows what it was) but the force of the incident bucked me forward in my seat and the tires did its little screeching noise as the truck "synchronized itself". I was able to coast up to the metering lights of the freeway and accelerate normally after that but shifting up and down feels clunky and no longer smooth like when I first bought the truck. I drove it straight to the dealer service warehouse to have it documented they told me bring it back at my earliest convenience this week so the technicians can check it out. I'm driving the truck sparingly until I have time to bring it back to the dealership (probably Wednesday).

This is the 2nd time something like this has happened on this truck the 1st incident being a few years back.

I'll keep everyone posted on whats going on.

edit: The Ford service tech I spoke with on Friday said its most likely a transmission issue.

Welcome to the club...sorry to say but that is the first sign of bad things to come...it's toast...

 

[Friday yet?]

One 10oz bottle of LubeGard Platinum solved my crazy shift problems... COMPLETELY. After 15K miles of harsh / missed shifts, jerking when starting and stopping, and extremely slow shifts. I sucked out 7.5 quarts of transmission fluid and added 7 quarts of new fluid, then added the LubeGard Platinum.

All my transmission problems ceased. I have 1k smooth as silk miles on the truck since doing this,

To make doing this easier I added a FitzStick (MBS Dipstick).

Search on LubeGard and LubeGuard to see the successful results of many others who have solved their transmission issues.

But wouldn't adding it void the warranty? Obviously Ford would need a lab sample to prove it.

 

[TJC]

The way I see it, I just saved myself several thousands of dollars. And maybe much much more, as I was to the point of unloading the truck. This was the last attempt at correcting the problem.

My wife is still gun shy of it. She does not yet trust it for anything but local trips.

I have been driving it constantly since "the cure" to demonstrate that it is not going to repeat its bad behavior. All of our shopping and grocery runs with her riding shotgun have been in the Ranger since. She is slowly coming around.

We have a major road trip planned, and she is questioning whether we can trust it on a 1500 mile round trip. I am running the mileage up to prove to her (and maybe myself) it is now reliable again. But I completely understand her concerns. They are justified. The last thing she wants to have happen is being stuck in a small town hundreds of miles from home with a truck that needs a new transmission.

You must understand that we had essentially stopped driving it for over a year... taking it out only enough to keep the battery charged.

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