Torque converter failed

Should change the name of the thread to Transfer Case Failed*

I've had a small seeping trans fluid leak at the bell housing for a few months now. It only leaks when the trans is hot and I'm offroad. The fluid only drips on top of the skidplate and doesn't hit the ground. I made the mistake of cleaning the leak off and then scheduling a service appointment in Tucson, AZ. They acknowledged the fluid on the skidplate but wouldn't fix the leak because they couldn't see it. They put some dye in the fluid and sent me on my way.

Fast forward a month. I am coming down from a camping trip in Big Bear, CA. Coasting down the road I hear a metallic thunk and then lose all forward power. Just revs like in neutral. Luckily I found a pulloff point. Transmission fluid leaking a little bit. Grinds trying to go into drive, won't shift into 4wd, and won't shift out of 1st gear.

I called Ford roadside assistance and they had a towtruck to me within an hour. The automated text link they sent was pretty cool to get a tow. Super easy to use. The dealership I towed it to was pretty good. They looked at it right away and requested a new transmission from Ford. Ford denied it and said to crack open the trans and fix whatever is wrong. They opened it up and the torque converter was bad. The torque converter was on backorder with no ETA. Next step was a new transmission. So Ford got me a rental that I drove back to AZ. Transmission should be in Monday and done by Wednesday. They are going to ship my truck to me in AZ.

I had called the Ford hotline and opened a case. They were quick to reply and pretty helpful. My hotel costs for 3 are going to be paid for as well as the rental car. On a side note, the hotline rep said that since the new 10 spd trans are so "high tech", that dealerships have to request authorization to drop them from the truck and again request authorization to open them up. Crazy.

As ****** as this experience was, Fairview Ford in San Bernardino and Ford took care of me.

UPDATE on page 2: 17 days in and not looking good.

UPDATE on page 3: 29 days and still not looking good.

Good to know ford is keeping close tabs on the 10speeds too. I know with the GMs (same trans ford/gm project) I have to call TAC and get an authorization number before I can do anything with the trans. Right down to simple torque replacements. Of which I have done a lot of....

Have had a few cases hard shifts or delays. TAC will have me do a few little tests. Then they send a unit and have us send the old one back. Won't even let us open them up

Good to hear they delt with you quickly and efficiently!

Porsche does the same thing with their PDK dual clutch transmission. They walk through a few sensitivities then simply replace. I guess that is part of being the beta for their latest and greatest.

I’m surprised they got to your truck this fast, but good on them. Like you said, crappy that it happened, but well handled all things considered.

Glad they took care of you and picked up your expenses.

k-rub said:

As ****** as this experience was, Fairview Ford in San Bernardino and Ford took care of me.

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Out of curiosity, have you done any engine modifications to your truck? Tunes, IC, exhaust, t-stat, spark plugs, etc.

I am trying to gauge the level of tolerance for engine mods that "might" be related to transmission issues when dealing with the Ford warranty.

TXRaptor said:

Out of curiosity, have you done any engine modifications to your truck? Tunes, IC, exhaust, t-stat, spark plugs, etc.

I am trying to gauge the level of tolerance for engine mods that "might" be related to transmission issues when dealing with the Ford warranty.

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I have all of the above mods. I don't run the tune anymore but did for several months last year. I run the truck pretty hard too. I've never dealt with this dealership before and they didn't say anything at all about the mods. My home dealership hasn't given me any pushback either.

k-rub said:

I have all of the above mods. I don't run the tune anymore but did for several months last year. I run the truck pretty hard too. I've never dealt with this dealership before and they didn't say anything at all about the mods. My home dealership hasn't given me any pushback either.

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Any particular reason you removed the tunes? My truck is in the shop getting all of the above mods right now...

TXRaptor said:

Any particular reason you removed the tunes? My truck is in the shop getting all of the above mods right now...

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I had one of the first 5 Star tunes. It was pretty crappy. Way to jumpy and the shifting was awful. They couldn't dial it in after several months and different iterations. They finally stopped returning my emails to fix it.

The truck has plenty of power for me doing normal driving. I've spent a good amount of time on the dirt and at no point did I feel like the truck needed more power. More suspension, yes but not more power. Baja and sport modes take care of the power issue for me.

k-rub said:

I had one of the first 5 Star tunes. It was pretty crappy. Way to jumpy and the shifting was awful. They couldn't dial it in after several months and different iterations. Thy finally stopped returning my emails to fix it.

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OK, that makes sense. I went with MPT, so I hope my experience with the tunes and shifting will be better than yours.

Funny thing is that I am running 5 Star tunes on my Gen 1. The shifting is a little harsh at times, but overall I have been happy with their 6.2L NA tunes for the last 7+ years. After spending several weeks researching tunes for the Gen 2, I came to the conclusion that 5-Star was one of the least liked by the members of this forum...