Guidance with Ford Corporate, bad transmission?

I have been lurking here for a while and this is my first post, unfortunately not under positive circumstances. I bought a 2018 raptor at the very end of 2017, build date is 11/17. I really enjoy the truck and had 14615 trouble free miles when my transmission went out last Saturday. The dealer did a good job getting me into a rental F150. The first prognoses was a bad valve body. This was replaced mid last week, but didn’t solve the issue.
The transmission was removed on Friday and the current prognoses is that some gear in the front housing was installed wrong, this produced shavings that took out the clutches and valve body. Unfortunately, the dealer wants to repair and not replace the transmission.
What do you folks think? Shavings through the transmission and a dealer rebuild on a pretty new truck don’t sound right to me.
The dealer told me to contact Ford corporate with the issue. I tried the online chat, with no progress.
I have read in other treads that folks have had success raising such issues with corporate. I understand there is no email address? How are folks getting access to a higher order in Ford?
PS, I don’t need any tips about drilling 1/16” holes in things….I have already read all those threads

I’ve built several motors; well, rebuilt would be more precise, mostly for the purpose of going faster, but a couple just to repair. Carbs have always stymied me. i understand them fine, but manage to find a way to bungle up messing with them. Transmissions used to also baffle me early on, but in my misspent youth a friend of a friend offered to help me out, rebuilding a GM TH400 in an hour and most of that hour was spent jawing my buddy and me. I was really kind of surprised how fast he did it and figured, it’ll never work. It did work, flawlessly.

Mechanically, auto transmissions aren’t rocket science. They’re not idiot proof, but rebuilding may get you underway faster and be just as viable as a new or remanufactured unit.

Unless you overheated the trans significantly and held the temp there for an extended period of time, what exactly will a new, versus rebuilt transmission get you?

The repair is already going show on carfax, regardless of whether you get a new or rebuilt trans.

A “new” unit will have the same parts, fewer wear miles on them, new case, etc.

The rebuild of your current unit will get you new v/b, some new gears, and use the existing other parts. They’re going to blast out debris from the old unit.

I think you’re certainly right to be disappointed, but insisting they replace the whole transmission I think is achievable, but with such a limited potential return on investment as to not be worth it. You’re still covered by the factory warranty, extended if you already bought it; and that is unchanged if they rebuild your trans or replace it.

Legally, they’re not obligated to replace the transmission if they identify less expensive failed components. If there is any doubt, they should replace the transmission, though likely they won’t.

I’m not clear on whether the dealer returned the truck to you and you had to bring it back, or, if the dealer replaced the valve body and found that didn’t fix it. if it’s the former, I’d have lower confidence in the diagnosis. If it’s the latter and they caught it before returning to you, I’d at least feel more confident about that part of it.

I think if I had confidence in the shop and diagnosis, I’d go for the rebuild, but if they sent me home and I had to come back -no, I gave them a repair attempt I’m not playing the “sure, you can let your trainees and tire monkeys work on my truck” game.

I hope this helps.
And welcome to FRF. Normally I’d quip - pics, or it never happened but under the circumstances...

good luck!

The dealer doesn't really have a say in this game as corporate's the one that authorizes a rebuild or replacement. The length of time it sits at the shop waiting for parts is going to be the factor in whether corporate will budge on a replacement.

Corporate 800 is a joke, don't bother. I was in contact with the regional manager for my area and all she did was to try and put rush orders on parts (my dealer's parts manager already did that). After weeks of waiting for parts, when I told the her I wanted a replacement than a rebuild, she stated it was up to the dealer to escalate the issue with corporate warranty at that point and she had no authority to move such request along. All in all was a pointless contact.

Thanks for the reply Smurf, makes me feel a little better....but I'm still going to push for a new unit. As suggested, pic attached....I bet some dodge guys in Austin got a smile from this. BTW, the tow truck driver didn't want to use his winch. he put mine in 4auto and drove up the ramp.

I'm in the tail end of a similar situation.

Ford wouldn't authorize a new transmission. So the dealer had to open up the trans and fix what was wrong. They determined it was a bad pump and torque converter. They replaced the parts, took it for a test drive, and it broke down again with the same symptoms. Ford then authorized a new trans 5 days later. Tomorrow it is supposed to be finished. Tuesday will be 4 weeks total for repairs.

Tranny rebuild

With all respect to Smurfslayer, I disagree with his opinion. If you have shavings in the transmission unless each assembly is individually taken out, disassembled and thoroughly cleaned, you run the risk of shaving remaining that will work themselves out and cause damage to the rebuilt unit. I guess what I'm saying is it would depend on how thorough the rebuild is. If it's just r/r damaged parts (clutches, valve body) with major assemblies left in place then you're sitting on a time bomb with a future failure in place. I doubt (but am willing to be corrected) that the dealer would do a full teardown. Based on that I'd push push push for a NEW unit. NOW...if anyone knows how these rebuilds are done, and can state that a full disassembly is usual procedure I'll withdraw these comments. At any rate...disappointing to you for sure and I hope you're back on the road quickly and satisfied with whatever the resolution is. Sorry I can't offer anything on escalating w/Ford.

zemuron99 said:

With all respect to Smurfslayer, I disagree with his opinion. If you have shavings in the transmission unless each assembly is individually taken out, disassembled and thoroughly cleaned, you run the risk of shaving remaining that will work themselves out and cause damage to the rebuilt unit. I guess what I'm saying is it would depend on how thorough the rebuild is. If it's just r/r damaged parts (clutches, valve body) with major assemblies left in place then you're sitting on a time bomb with a future failure in place. I doubt (but am willing to be corrected) that the dealer would do a full teardown. Based on that I'd push push push for a NEW unit. NOW...if anyone knows how these rebuilds are done, and can state that a full disassembly is usual procedure I'll withdraw these comments. At any rate...disappointing to you for sure and I hope you're back on the road quickly and satisfied with whatever the resolution is. Sorry I can't offer anything on escalating w/Ford.

Click to expand...

I see what you’re saying; you’re correct, a blind “defective parts only” replacement will lead to a follow up repair, especially given the OP explanation. Again, I would have more confidence in some circumstances than others, and it’s completely dependent on the players.

I think @zermuron99 has a great fall back position. If you aren’t getting a new transmission, full tear down.

You have people here who have had similar issues, and provide at least circumstantial evidence that one a part in the transmission goes bad, potentially contaminating the fluid, the entire unit may be suspect.

Maybe some of the users who’ve had this issue could feed you some of the details to use with Ford
@k-rub did you get some kind of case number or similar with Ford? Maybe their help was worthless, but if OP can point to your situation or others it may help twist their corporate arm to cough up the transmission now, rather than several hundred dollars in parts and labor later and still cough one up.

I’d suggest pushing for a full tear down, using examples from users here on FRF of failed trans repair attempts. Make sure to point out, dealers have been told before - give me a new trans, don’t rebuilt it, they did it anyway, failed, and had to replace the transmission anyway.

If they won’t go for it, insist on the transmission being completely disassembled, inspected, get pictures to prove it or don’t accept it as repaired.

Depending on how you use your truck, asking for an extension of the factory warranty to go with your rebuild could be a good option. If you're going places that tow trucks can't get, you're probably better off insisting on a new unit.

I wouldn't entrust dealer techs to do a good job on a tranny rebuild. I'd certainly push for a new unit if at all possible.

With metal sent throughout the system you will also need a new torque converter (not alway part of a rebuild or replacement), trans cooler, lines, etc. Anything that carried fluid is contaminated with metal shavings. A proper flush may take care of the cooler and lines but I wouldn't trust the dealer to do it properly. A converter cannot be flushed.