Violent Downshifts

[LotusDriver]

wow. well lotus to be honest my SHO has been perfect. could be the driver, seems odd
a new car is having this many problems.

Ah.. yes... I didn't read the manual that explains how to accelerate on the highway.. so perhaps I'm doing it wrong.

What is odd about a first run car... with a brand new drive train and other various brand new components and technologies is having problems? Seems pretty normal to me. Unfortunately, I get the one so far with most of them.

 

[ST 2 SHO]

A ford with a Hard Shift tranny problem ????? NNNAAAAA lol

I know the 4F27E sucks.... and ford knew of the problems before production. Ford then covered the problem with a new tune and stronger bans in 03. Better than before.... YES problem fixed.... NO

I'm sure there are problems with the new SHO. Its a production spec car , just keep those things in mind guys. The new SHO has a lot for its price tag.
Fluid pressure from the valve body solenoids maybe changed though tuning..... This may help hard shifts. In some cases ford uses the TVH setting along with the RPMs the determine solenoid pressure for shifting.

 

[MilTownSHO]

Ah.. yes... I didn't read the manual that explains how to accelerate on the highway.. so perhaps I'm doing it wrong.

:thankyou:

 

[SoonerLS]

:laugh_ti: There nothing wrong with my tranny, but I don't think it's really smooth, ie. when I slow down and then get back on the pedal, the downshift isn't really smooth.

That sounds like a calibration issue--ie, something that could be fixed with a PCM flash.

 

[PonySHO]

That sounds like a calibration issue--ie, something that could be fixed with a PCM flash.

Thanks Sooner, I'll check into it.

 

[93rev2sev]

[complete conjecture]
I think Ford calls this a shift "bobble". I've felt this before on other Ford cars and trucks. It feels like the trans gets confused. As the engine is ramping up, it's like the transmission can't decide which of the lower gears to use and "aborts" the shift all together, and goes back into gear...since the engine was ramping up for a downshift, it ends up feeling like a "neutral drop". This kind of thing will happen most frequently when I quickly press the pedal and don't settle the position of my foot.

Try slowly rolling into the throttle...let the trans shift before your foot gets to it's destination. Don't just take the throttle from 8% to 40% and make the computer guess.

[/conjecture]

It seems to me that this would be very harsh and excellerate wear on everything from rod bearings to axles. Take it in now. Make them fix it. If they give it back with the same problem 3 times, you may be entitled to a lemon-law replacement vehicle. (this may be a state law and not applicable in CT.)

 

[typhoon5000]

[complete conjecture]

Try slowly rolling into the throttle...let the trans shift before your foot gets to it's destination. Don't just take the throttle from 8% to 40% and make the computer guess.

[/conjecture]

I've had this problem with my Crown Vic, which has got the 4R70W, but it also has 130k+miles on it and is 7 years old now. I would not expect a new car, let alone a new Ford, to do this because their quality targets have ramped up significantly in the past few years and the new SHO is supposed to be the poster child "flagship" of the new Ford now. I would find the above suggestion to be unacceptable on a any new car.

I've driven some new SHOs on extended test drives and the trans in all of them has a bit of a harsh shift IMO, but I believe it was designed like that to have more of a sporty feel and I prefer a more direct shift. Some people think a good shift is one that you don't even feel. So it may just be what you're expecting from the car isn't what you're getting. IDK since I haven't driven your car and I'm not saying you're a liar about having a mechanical problem, I'm just throwing out another suggestion to your issue.

If it doesn't meet your standards, take it to the dealership and let them know. Also make sure to have them tell Ford too because with brand new vehicles that are still in Job 1, like yours, they are always looking for customer feedback. If they do fix a problem under warranty, Ford automatically gets notified (since they're paying for it after all).

Good luck on a resolution.

 

[Markus]

wow. well lotus to be honest my SHO has been perfect. could be the driver, seems odd
a new car is having this many problems.

No less odd than the engine in your 08 Taurus blowing up at 6K miles.

 

[SoonerLS]

Thanks Sooner, I'll check into it.

FWIW, when I'm saying it sounds like a PCM flash can correct it, I mean that it's something that can be corrected in software, not that there's a PCM flash to fix it right now.

For the heck of it, I asked someone I know who used to be a transmission calibration engineer for Ford, and he said he also thought it sounded like something that could be fixed in software. He said the calibration teams test as much as they can, but they can't test everything; some things just have to be calibrated in the field, so to speak, and the engineers will start working on an issue if it gets flagged often enough. That sounds to me like you should definitely talk to your dealership's service department about it, and it probably wouldn't hurt to check back with them periodically.

Best of luck with it!

 

[LotusDriver]

Thanks. I actually had a similar issue with my Expedition. It was downshifting hard when you were slowing to a stop. It went in for a reprogram, and it has been perfect ever since. I didn't even think of that with this car. Sooo as soon as I get this windshield and glass mess taken care of, I will be bringing it in for that.

 

[SHODWN]

Scott, if your not doing much this weekend take a ride up. Id like to see what its doing and we can compare it to mine.. Plus I can show you the program that im working on, and its mostly about shifting right now.

 

[LotusDriver]

Ummm.. my car can't go anywhere. I take it you didn't read this...

http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=104498

But thanks for the help! Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

 

[SHODWN]

Sent over by a friend from Ford.


OASIS SPECIAL SERVICE MESSAGE NUMBER: 21058

MESSAGE TITLE: 6F50/6F55 TRANSMISSION ADAPTIVE LEARNING DRIVE CYCLE REMINDER

APPLICABLE VEHICLES :
2009 - 2010 TRUCK : 00176 EDGE
2009 - 2010 TRUCK : 00189 FLEX
2009 - 2010 CAR : 00190 MKS
2010 TRUCK : 00194 MKT
2009 - 2010 TRUCK : 00177 MKX
2009 - 2010 CAR : 00117 TAURUS
2009 CAR : 00082 SABLE

OASIS MESSAGE :
THE 6F50 AND 6F55 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION UTILIZES AN ADAPTIVE LEARNING ROUTINE
TO ASSIST IN OPTIMIZING SHIFT QUALITY. THE TRANSMISSION MAY HAVE FIRM AND/OR
SOFT SHIFTS WHEN FIRST DELIVERED DUE TO IMMATURE LEARNING. THIS OPERATION IS
CONSIDERED NORMAL AND WILL NOT AFFECT FUNCTION OR DURABILITY OF THE
TRANSMISSION. DEALERSHIP TECHNICIANS INVESTIGATING LOW MILEAGE SHIFT QUALITY
CLAIMS (LESS THAN 1 MONTH IN SERVICE) SHOULD PERFORM THE SOLENOID BODY STRATEGY
DRIVE CYCLE (FOUND IN SOLENOID BODY STRATEGY SECTION IN THE WORKSHOP MANUAL
SECTION 307-01) TO ASSURE ADAPTIVE LEARNING PRIOR TO ANY RE-FLASH OR KAM
CLEARING STEPS (IE: BATTERY DISCONNECT). IF SHIFT QUALITY IS NOT IMPROVED VIA
THE DRIVE CYCLE, FOLLOW NORMAL DIAGNOSTIC STEPS.

APPLICABLE SYMPTOM CODES :
500000 DRIVELINE
501000 DRIVELINE AUTO TRANS UPSHIFT CONCERNS
502000 DRIVELINE AUTO TRANS DOWNSHIFT CONCERNS
503000 DRIVELINE AUTO TRANS ENGAGEMENT CONCERNS
503300 DRIVELINE AUTO TRANS SHIFT LEVER/LINKAGE
504000 DRIVELINE OTHER AUTO TRANS CONCERNS

 

[Roadboss]

Who would want to have a "paddle shifted" car with the sportiness the SHO has and have a soft feel shift. It is meant to have a firmness.

 

[stephen newberg]

Personally, I would rather soft shifts.

So to your question of who, me, I guess. Lots others too, I suspect. Remember, its a 'sports luxury' car, not just a 'sports' car.

pax, smn

 

[typhoon5000]

hmm, that's interesting. I would prefer firm shifts, but it's nice that it adopts so everyone is happy.

So I guess the first thing to do when buying a new Ford 2nd hand down the road is disconnect the battery so the trans and powertrain programming resets and adapts to your driving style instead of the previous owner's.

 

[Roadboss]

Amen !!

 

[Dougfr]

I had a somewhat simular experience yesterday. I was doing 25 mph down a hill in 2nd. I put it into manual shift and hit the button to shift into first. Nothing happened for a moment or two then WHAM it downshifted. At first I thought I had run over something (like block of cement or steel pipe) it was so violent, harsh and loud. I was very suprised the transmission was still in one piece.

 

[IM Buddy8]

I had a somewhat simular experience yesterday. I was doing 25 mph down a hill in 2nd. I put it into manual shift and hit the button to shift into first. Nothing happened for a moment or two then WHAM it downshifted. At first I thought I had run over something (like block of cement or steel pipe) it was so violent, harsh and loud. I was very suprised the transmission was still in one piece.

Does the transmission rev match for you on downshifts? If not.. yeah if you've ever driven a standard and you were rolling at 25 down a hill and put it in first your gonna get an effect much like that..

 

[typhoon5000]

I remember it rev matches slightly, but not exactly and that was just the engine speeding up to the trans speed. The car is smart enough to deny downshifting if it will over rev anything though, so you shouldn't have to worry about damaging any thing.