Transmission cooler hose issue

[Andrew Macpherson]

So, had a bit of a shocker yesterday. Was at Lake Tahoe and all of a sudden the service light came on and the truck was stuck in 5th.
Pulled over and could see a heap of fluid dumped out and then after searching I find the hose is not connected to the cooler and it’s just dumped all the fluid.
Tried to call ford roadside assistance, got a message saying that they were very busy due to weather conditions... not sure what that means, and I should log my request online, tried that and got a message saying the system wasn’t available and I should call.... circular logic there.
Called the Ford dealer in Reno as they would be closest and they said they could have a truck there late afternoon and first they could look at it would be Tuesday next week.
its a holiday weekend and I have my camp trailer in a pretty remote spot.
So I went and sorted a tow to a local garage who were able to sort it for me after I took an Uber to the Ford dealer in Reno to pick up the right fluid.
Not the happiest customer! Truck is 3.5months old.
Pretty sure Ford won’t cover any of my costs even though it’s clearly something they should and it’s something I should t have to deal with. But faced with the option of not having the truck for 5 days because they can’t get their shit together I think I made the right call.
I’ll try to get some costs back, but based on the first call I made to corporate they really don’t seem to care.

 

[FordTechOne]

So, had a bit of a shocker yesterday. Was at Lake Tahoe and all of a sudden the service light came on and the truck was stuck in 5th.
Pulled over and could see a heap of fluid dumped out and then after searching I find the hose is not connected to the cooler and it’s just dumped all the fluid.
Tried to call ford roadside assistance, got a message saying that they were very busy due to weather conditions... not sure what that means, and I should log my request online, tried that and got a message saying the system wasn’t available and I should call.... circular logic there.
Called the Ford dealer in Reno as they would be closest and they said they could have a truck there late afternoon and first they could look at it would be Tuesday next week.
its a holiday weekend and I have my camp trailer in a pretty remote spot.
So I went and sorted a tow to a local garage who were able to sort it for me after I took an Uber to the Ford dealer in Reno to pick up the right fluid.
Not the happiest customer! Truck is 3.5months old.
Pretty sure Ford won’t cover any of my costs even though it’s clearly something they should and it’s something I should t have to deal with. But faced with the option of not having the truck for 5 days because they can’t get their shit together I think I made the right call.
I’ll try to get some costs back, but based on the first call I made to corporate they really don’t seem to care.

So the truck is repaired? The hoses at the transmission fluid to air cooler are only held on by spring clamps; was the clamp not locked or not seated properly at the end of the line?

Ford has programs for "emergency" repairs, so you may be able to get reimbursed. Save your receipts and ask if you can submit them for consideration.

 

[Oldfart]

Shit, that doesn't sound like a fun weekend trip at all!! Hope you get taken care of and the rest of your time there is fun.

 

[Traffic22]

So the truck is repaired? The hoses at the transmission fluid to air cooler are only held on by spring clamps; was the clamp not locked or not seated properly at the end of the line?

Ford has programs for "emergency" repairs, so you may be able to get reimbursed. Save your receipts and ask if you can submit them for consideration.

This.....as with any big corporation, it’s all about not giving up. Had a similar issue few years back where local BMW dealer claimed repair wouldn’t be covered under warranty for a CPO car I had. Kept nagging the next person in line up the corporate ladder. Eventually got a hold of a west coast regional rep who apologized for the run around, and got me reimbursed for the repair.

Just have to do the math on what this cost you versus how much time you’re willing to invest.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[MDJAK]

Def sucks but shit happens no matter how new the vehicle. No matter the make. Life throws curveballs. It’s how you deal with it that counts. Sounds like you have yours together and got it repaired.

 

[Andrew Macpherson]

So the truck is repaired? The hoses at the transmission fluid to air cooler are only held on by spring clamps; was the clamp not locked or not seated properly at the end of the line?

Ford has programs for "emergency" repairs, so you may be able to get reimbursed. Save your receipts and ask if you can submit them for consideration.

Yeah. All sorted now. Local shop in Truckee were awesome. Stayed after closing to get it all back together.
I’ll take it up with Ford next week.
The clamp was just not in place. So eventually the hose popped off and I get to hang on the highway waiting for a truck..

 

[CoronaRaptor]

That sucks, glad you had some wits about you and took care of stuff yourself. No way should you have to wait that long for a simple repair. Ford should pay you back, good luck.

 

[rightway]

Andrew's response to the situation was about the best caring responsible actions a person could have taken. I like the way he solved the problems. Good work. He gave me ideas of things to do if I ever get stuck on the road.

Now not to be a dark cloud and I am wishing for the best.

I would have some concerns on the condition of his 3.5 month old truck transmission's possible future durability.


A little bit on my background and reasons for my thoughts.

I have successfully rebuilt a couple of automatic transmission. Also a few years later I had reason to study another electronically controlled automatic transmissions in full detail and at the end of my studies knew and fully understood what every single part of that transmission did and why it was there. It was not a ford but the basic principles are still similar.

As long as everything inside the transmission had adequate fluid and the system was able to maintain adequate fluid pressure during the hose failure, all is good. If not some of the clutches may have suffered some slippage and glazing from possible lack of fluid pressure to its clutches. Bushings and gear facings too may have suffered from a lack of proper lubrication. No troubles now but some may show up later as premature failures.

If a Service Light came on soon enough and Andrew was able to find a quick safe point to stop all is probably good.

Today’s automatic transmissions have the ability to determine if all their components are moving in proper synchronization. For example if an internal clutch is slipping, the computer will note a difference in the transmission input and its outputs expected RPM, revolutions per minute. That could be an example for the service light Andrew saw. I would expect service codes to have been generated too. Some codes clear after a period of successful starts, I don’t know about these.

It would be curious on how many quarts it took to refill his transmission.

Just thought of this as I was prof reading --- Sure seems like a good time for the transmission dip stick ford left out. Could have easily secured the hose there and refilled.

Thanks Andrew, very nice photos. I going to go out and check my truck for crimp on hose a clamped on hose.

I would certainly think Ford would be disappointed in their facility and want to make things right.

 

[Andrew Macpherson]

I totally understand the concern for any further damage to the transmission. On the drive home today I noticed it was slow to downshift and when it did finally do it it was pretty harsh. Usually from 10th to 9th and also shifting back up. Truck is going in on Wednesday to have the rear view camera replaced at my local dealer and I’m going to get them to give it a full check and make it pretty clear that I expect it back perfect or with a new transmission...

 

[Andrew Macpherson]

Little update:- Took the truck to my local dealer in the Bay Area and they checked it and said all was good. Still heaps of ATF under the truck and they did a pretty crap job cleaning it up. Truck seemed fine after that but didn't get driven much until I drove to Park City a couple of weeks ago. On the climb up 80 to Tahoe the trans got hot, and it wouldn't downshift on time, then when it did it was really harsh. Also the engine seemed to cut power before a shift and then turn it all back on at exactly the wrong time (super hard downshifts) I babied it to the top of the hill and coasted along to get the trans temp down, then it was all good again.

I called the dealer in SLC and could only get it in there yesterday first appointment they had. They checked it again, did a great job cleaning it up and said it was all good. The on the drive up the Park City I had the same issue again, was able to get a video of it clearly showing truck in 10th then I am flat to the floor accelerator and truck stays at 2k RPM no downshift for ages nd then the gear indicator on the dash shows 1st then it changes to 5th really harsh with an audible clunk (all this at 70mph)

Goes back to the dealer on Monday and I guess I will take them on the same drive and replicate it.

Getting seriously concerned there is proper damage to the trans now... will be a fun topic to resolve with Ford I guess.