Transmission Event

[jcgrumman]

Here is what happened;

I was accelerating full throttle, from a full stop, using the paddle shifters, when the car failed to up-shift properly. I fully lifted off the throttle as the rev-limiter kicked in. As the rpm's dropped towards 1000 I gently added throttle only to realize that the car appeared to be in neutral. I pulled the paddle once more with no effect. I then put the car into D and still nothing. I pulled to the side of the road, put the car into Park waited a few seconds and then shifted into Drive and the car was still in neutral. I then put the car into park and shut it down. After restarting, the car functioned normally.

I don't know why the car failed to up-shift. I know that I activated the paddle plenty early (~5,500 rpm), but I may have tapped it too gently.

James

 

[Crash712us]

Hmmm strange. Some thing to maybe check is fluid level, maybe over full when hot. I have had cars when fluid was hot they where over full. When this happens the fluid get aerated by the gears and such, and when this happens you will lose drive temporally. Also fords fluid maybe not up to ***** for anti sudsing. Brake torquing and lots of fast starts can cause excess fluid shearing which cause sudsing.

 

[steve142857]

Hmmm strange. Some thing to maybe check is fluid level, maybe over full when hot. I have had cars when fluid was hot they where over full. When this happens the fluid get aerated by the gears and such, and when this happens you will lose drive temporally. Also fords fluid maybe not up to ***** for anti sudsing. Brake torquing and lots of fast starts can cause excess fluid shearing which cause sudsing.

Similar event happened to me last month when I wanted to impress my mom at a stop sign... hmmm, she was not that impressed... Instead of being stock in neutral, it was stock on 1st gear and wouldn't shift... everything resumed to normal after restarting the car, but didn't like the feeling at all. It happened after a brake torque start at WOT. Your explanation makes a lot of sense. That problem only occurred that one time. However, sometimes when downshifting from 3rd to 2nd or 2nd to 1st, it does it not smoothly and I don't like it... I don't know if the tranny is hurt or if it is related to the tuning but it appears I am the only one with the Livernois tune with that issue so I don't think it is the cause. I would normally bring it to the dealer, but because of the mods, I am afraid to go... It happens about once every 500K miles and it is temporary every time. I never wanted to bring up to this forum neither because I truly feel that it is not attributable to the tune itself. Maybe I hurt the car doing brake torque?
Future will tell how it goes...
Enjoy your weekend everyone!
Steve
Thanks

 

[Retnavy]

Neither of you have stated if you have or have not had the transmission TSB's completed on your car. Remove the Livernois tune. Take the car into the dealer and have them complete the TSB's for your transmission. After that, you'll have to get the new stragety code and send it to Rick for new tunes. Check the TSB listing and print them out if need be. Your dealer should complete the TSB without any problems once the non shifting issues are brought to their attention. Keep your WOT runs to yourself.

 

[steve142857]

Neither of you have stated if you have or have not had the transmission TSB's completed on your car. Remove the Livernois tune. Take the car into the dealer and have them complete the TSB's for your transmission. After that, you'll have to get the new stragety code and send it to Rick for new tunes. Check the TSB listing and print them out if need be. Your dealer should complete the TSB without any problems once the non shifting issues are brought to their attention. Keep your WOT runs to yourself.

I think I will have it done shortly, thanks.

 

[Showgun]

Interesting. Please keep us up on further developments as well as the TCM update Steve.

 

[steve142857]

Interesting. Please keep us up on further developments as well as the TCM update Steve.

Will do... I have an appointment on July 14th to replace the chrome bar on the trunk (which bent after being forced to remove the tail lights when doing the replacement for chrome peeling off). So, I will call them this Monday to see if they can make it at the same time... I hope they won't suspect me of damaging the transmission myself when they here the exhaust and see the CAI... If they say anything, I will have them stop there and will try at another dealer...

 

[jcgrumman]

Neither of you have stated if you have or have not had the transmission TSB's completed on your car. Remove the Livernois tune. Take the car into the dealer and have them complete the TSB's for your transmission. After that, you'll have to get the new stragety code and send it to Rick for new tunes. Check the TSB listing and print them out if need be. Your dealer should complete the TSB without any problems once the non shifting issues are brought to their attention. Keep your WOT runs to yourself.

I don't have any tunes/mods and have not had any transmission updates. I am going to take my car in Wednesday and will be discussing the transmission issues (I have also had a couple HARD downshifts).

As for the WOT runs, I don't have any reservations about disclosing this information to the dealer and/or Ford. If they advise against WOT runs, I will get rid of the car.

James

 

[Retnavy]

Will do... I have an appointment on July 14th to replace the chrome bar on the trunk (which bent after being forced to remove the tail lights when doing the replacement for chrome peeling off). So, I will call them this Monday to see if they can make it at the same time... I hope they won't suspect me of damaging the transmission myself when they here the exhaust and see the CAI... If they say anything, I will have them stop there and will try at another dealer...

I have both a CAI and Corsa exahust on mine. I have a good relationship with both the service manager and the tech who does the work. Neither have ever questiioned me about either after market add-on. The last trip in the tech asked me if I still had the tune installed, which I didn't. When I know there might be a chance of a reflash, I always install the original tune.

 

[markathome]

Yep, agree with Bob, you gotta get the transmission TSB's performed...

 

[steve142857]

Yep, agree with Bob, you gotta get the transmission TSB's performed...

This Thursday, I called the dealer this morning asking them to perform the TSB 11-5-6.
Thanks all!

 

[jcgrumman]

I brought my show to the dealer on Wednesday and we had a spirited discussion. I told him about the two HARD downshifts I experienced along with the event cited in this thread. I also told him that I felt the car was not running great 0-20 mph. Then I did the unthinkable. I mentioned this website, the experiences people have had, the related TSB's and inquired about getting some of them performed. He told me that he was not going to perform maintenance based on what "some guy said on the internet". He said he would not do anything unless he can duplicate the problem or there is a code showing. I then told him that if I have one more HARD downshift something absolutely will be done, code or not.

I then discussed the conversation with some of my friends who work in sales/management. I told them that I understand how obnoxious "internet experts" can be, but that I also feel it's important that I look out for my own interests.

An hour later I get a call from the service adviser and he tells me that he is going to perform TSB 11-5-6. I asked if they had actually driven the car and he said " no, but their is a TSB which addresses the symptoms I described" and that the car would be ready the following day.

Ultimately, he did exactly what he told me he would not do and the car seems to be running much better.

I am going to start a new thread "2 TSB or not 2 TSB" to discuss when and how to get TSB's performed.

James

 

[Showgun]

Good to hear James. Nice to know more people are tapping into our wealth of information.
There's actually things to learn from "guys on the internet".

Thanks for sharing.