thelastsumurai

I am having problems with harsh downshifts, and also hesitation when leaving from a stop, (which I believe is that the trans is still in second gear) and then lurching forward. I also have a problem with the car downshifting at 70 mph when I let off the throttle. 3 trips to dealer, of course it would not demonstrate the problem, so they deny the problem and state have never heard of this kind of problem. This is Ford of Ocala, FL. I have read of this same problem on the F150 forums, but they seem to have found the software fix for it. Called Ford cust service they referred me back to the dealer. Great service huh? I hope this doesn't decrease my transmission life. Because, as we all know it won't break until it is out of warranty. Someone mentioned to me to call channel 9 action news. And, I am seriously considering it. I will continue to persue this and will keep all posted.

thelastsumurai

I am having problems with harsh downshifts, and also hesitation when leaving from a stop, (which I believe is that the trans is still in second gear) and then lurching forward. I also have a problem with the car downshifting at 70 mph when I let off the throttle. 3 trips to dealer, of course it would not demonstrate the problem, so they deny the problem and state have never heard of this kind of problem. This is Ford of Ocala, FL. I have read of this same problem on the F150 forums, but they seem to have found the software fix for it. Other Mustang forums also report this problem with no fix in sight. Called Ford cust service they referred me back to the dealer. Great service huh? I hope this doesn't decrease my transmission life. Because, as we all know it won't break until it is out of warranty. Someone mentioned to me to call channel 9 action news. And, I am seriously considering it. I will continue to persue this and will keep all posted.

thelastsumurai

Sorry about the double post I cannot figure out how to remove the first post..

Ltngdrvr

You could always get a tune, does wonders for the transmission performance and has cleared up screwy shifting for others.

IT_Guru

Yeah, but why should he spend money on something Ford should fix for him. Try another local dealer if there is one close.

jlmounce

This.

But to be fair on the dealer's end, there's not much they can do if they can't get the car to display the symptom. You simply can't troubleshoot an issue that isn't occurring when you're looking at it.

Your best bet is to talk with your dealership and tell them you'll bring the car in when it's doing it. If the dealership is open, give them a call tell them the car is acting up and you want to go have a tech take a test ride in it. That will get the ball rolling for you.

Ltngdrvr

Yeah, but his problems sound for the most part to be the way Ford has it setup and they may not be able to change it to his satisfaction.

A tune has proven to really wake up the performance of the 6R80.

IT_Guru

I've got the auto and really haven't noticed the problems he stated. That being said I'd get a tune if I wasn't scared that Ford would be pain when it come to any warranty issues.

thelastsumurai

At this point I am happy with the performance. I just want it to operate correctly the way any other automatic I have ever driven has worked. I won't put a tune on it until ford has resolved the problem. My old 635 CSI shifts better than this.

Ronin38

Rick- for the "harsh" downshifts, do you have the button on the side of the shifter pressed? A "hill" light would be ON on the panel. This is the "hill-holder" feature in the auto-trans, it also locks-out the 6th gear. (How many Mustang owners regularly tow a trailer?!)

As for starting out, if I start out gently from a stop, it will shift into 2nd almost immediately, so that might be by design. Find an empty, straight road (closed-course, professional driver, naturally), bring the car to a stop and wait a second, then mash the gas "firmly". See what results you get.

thelastsumurai

No I don't use the hill descent feature, and I am sure that the car starts in second gear (intermittently) If I jump on it from a complete stop it will start moving and then shift back to first and go...I can feel it shifting to first. Any and all comments are appreciated I want this thing resolved. I am going to Gainesville Ford next week. But if the problem doesn't present itself, it probably won't be checked out any further.

YSUsteven

Mine shifts into first when i am breaking under 5 mph or just after I stop.

I have experienced the lag when at say 5 mph and change from braking to accelerating. My fix has been to apply very little throttle which will encourage the trans to shift into first, and then mash the pedal. Has solved the jerking problem completly.

AzPete

It sounds like it does it to you all the time from a stop. Is this true? Maybe you need to take the Ford Tech. for a ride and show him what is happening. Like said, no dealer can fix what they cannot duplicate. How does it shift if you manually run it thru the gears....?

thelastsumurai

Yea, after a full stop and when I accelerate then it shift back to first. This issue is posted all over the internet. I want everyone here to assume I am not an idiot and knows how an automatic transmission is supposed to operate. A person named Gail had the same problem and here dealer finally did the fix and now it runs perfect (according to her, and I believe her). In addition, there is a SSM #21776 "Erractic shifting". That replaces various components I am hoping that is my fix also. If not I will go to her dealer in Lakeland, Florida and seek a repair.

TheReaper

I hope they fix it. My car has 760 miles and I haven't noticed anything odd. Yet.

thelastsumurai

Gainesville Ford attempted repair of my automatic transmission. They ultimately replaced the "Lead Frame" and cleared the adaptive shift strategy. Problem is better but have a new problem. While in cruise control if I have it at 70mph and bring the speed up to 80 mph using the gas peddle and then let off of it, it will downshift to the next one or two lower gears and when it gets back to 70mph again it will upshift again to high gear. I can't believe Ford would purposly program that into the cruise control program, it would put additional strain on the transmission as well as cause a dangerous situation on slick roads (snow, etc..
Ford get your s--- together already

xlover

safety, basically when you let off the pedal the car needs to decelerate back to the assigned speed, if you were going down a steep hill and gravity accelerated the car to 80 you would hope the transmission would downshift to add engine braking rather than remain in 6th gear and accelerate out of control. it doesnt know what the situation is just that it needs to get back to the preassigned speed and does so in the fastest way. this system is not as sophisticated as some found on lux cars where it can use the brakes to modulate speed all it has is the tranny and gas pedal.

Lancel

It might be related to the adaptive shift strategy being cleared. The computer I believe has to figure out the best shift points again, and I believe it will eventually go away of its own as it figures that out. At least that's what I remember of it, I could be wrong.

eurocobra

So the problem is that the car shifts to a higher gear (6th gear) while using cruise control when it resumes back to 70 mph after you intervened and took it to 80 MPH?

Music man in Pcola

I had mine tuned by American Muscle (Bama tune) and it now works perfectly. I only wish that I had asked them to program/tune so that the Sport Mode is primary.