Strange Transmission Issue

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Dane

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So, another trip to the sand dunes and another problem. That's 2 out of 3 trips this year foiled by Raptor issues. I'm starting to feel pretty jaded about the phrase "Ford Tough". The first go round was a broken axle. That has been repaired under warranty, here's the next one - and it's hard to explain so please bear with me.

First, a couple things about the problem I'm about to explain:
  • The engine does not shut off
  • This happens in any combination of 2wd, 4wd, hi/low, off-road mode, tow/haul
  • It's more common in 4wd
  • It happens mostly under load (towing) or off-road with moderate to heavy throttle

So, the symptom. It feels like the transmission (or T-case) slips out of gear. You lose power and the throttle becomes unresponsive. You can floor it and nothing, though the engine "idles" in the 3,000 rpm range. The engine isn't roaring or anything, it just sounds like a high idle. As long as I take my foot off of the throttle it will pop back into gear - sometimes smoothly, sometimes roughly, and not always in the last gear I was in. When this problem happens, the dash gear indicator display says I'm in first gear, even if I am on the freeway in 6th. I am NOT in 1st gear - I'm in no gear. It isn't consistent, but it frequently thwarts any attempt at a hill climb. It also made towing my Jeep home quite difficult since I start losing power and am unable to maintain speed. Sometimes it happens 5-6 times a minute, sometimes I can drive 30 miles just fine. I was able to limp home and get the truck to the dealership. They were able to reproduce the problem and have identified it as a Transmission Range Sensor, which they will be replacing tomorrow. They said it is also possible this sensor could be causing my very occasional problem with remote start not working (which has been discussed in other threads).

I figured I'd throw this out there to see if others have had similar problems and in case others run into it. It's extremely frustrating and robbed a day from my camping trip. It's seeming like I must always take my Rubicon with me as a backup vehicle if I want to have a full offroad trip. :whymewhyme:
 
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Dane

Dane

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Well, should have the truck back today or tomorrow. The transmission issue should be fixed today, but I am also having them fix the tonneau cover (under warranty) since it seems it got off track and all bound up. It's a RetraxPro. I'm thinking in the future I'll make sure it's rolled up before playing offroad.
 
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Dane

Dane

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Got the truck back after having the transmission range sensor replaced and the tonneau cover fixed. All seems good now. I haven't seen the problem again.
 

f16YODA

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Crap...I have a 2012 and just turned 8000 miles. Haven't seen any problems even with having the truck out and about on a few occasions. I'll keep an eye out though. Glad your truck is good to go again.

Have at you!
- YODA:Jedi:
 

The Car Stereo Company

aka grumpy car stereo guy
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i hope it solved your problems. nothing is worse than being on a trip and having this kind of stuff happen. hopefully no one else has the same issue, we dont want it to be a common problem. keep us informed as to how its doing
 

rbarn

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Got the truck back after having the transmission range sensor replaced and the tonneau cover fixed. All seems good now. I haven't seen the problem again.

I was going to say it sounded like a bad sensor freaking the computer out. these new 6R80 transmissions have a lot going on in the truck's ECU. Bad info in - bad info out. With cars/trucks getting ever increasingly complicated and computer controlled issues like this will be common.
 

Dale Swanson

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have something very similar on the trans issue, still in the shop, turns out they found the attached burned harness that feeds to the trannny outside the harness looked OK But under the heat shielding melted wires. It was never secured properly in the factory - I am hoping this really is the problem - yes it was intermittent too even tho the harness was pretty cooked.
 

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