10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 23 / 3
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 25 / 1
- Average Mileage:
- 72,500 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
In October transmission had a couple of hard shifts.
- Ashland, KY, USA
Sudden downshift of automatic transmission to first gear at 55 mph consumer stated molded lead frame was replaced and repaired.
- Middletown, PA, USA
Traveling at 70 mph on the highway the transmission shifted into 1st gear causing the rear tires to skid and the rear of the vehicle to loose traction. This lasted a few seconds before it shifted back into 6th gear and I was able to maintain control. Slowed to stop at a red light and vehicle shifted into first gear at about 20 mph then jerked forward when coming to a complete stop. The next day while making a left turn on a city street the transmission shifted to neutral causing me to stall into approaching traffic. Checking other complaints this appears to be an issue with the "lead frame module" with these transmissions. Took the vehicle to the dealer who replaced the module but also had to replace the transmission valve body which was apparently damaged in the erratic shifting. I have had the vehicle for 5 years and 4 months, which is 4 months over the warranty date. The vehicle has only 50,000 miles on it which is 10,000 under the mileage warranty on the drivetrain. I had to pay a significant amount for the transmission repairs. This issue is a definite safety hazard which could cause loss of control of the vehicle.
- Leander, TX, USA
Several issues spanning 5 months and becoming more frequent: 1. randomly from a stop F-150 will not shift out of 1st gear for 5+ seconds while revving RPM at 5,000+. 2. the wrench warning light indicator will display on dash pane and speedometer will read 0 mph while I am driving speeds of 45 mph. Tachometer will work as normal. To correct I have to pull over and restart my vehicle. 3. latest scenario 12/30/18 while highway driving my F-150 will hard downshift to a low gear and toggle between high and low gears causing violent jerking experiences producing very dangerous traffic scenarios.
- Heath, TX, USA
2 instances occurred: 1/ the vehicle was in motion on a regular street road. Speed was around 30 mph. The gear suddenly shifted to first gear and felt like the vehicle 'looked up'. it was a brutal stop. After stopping, the vehicle restarted and drove normally 2/ few weeks later, but with very low mileage completed since the first event, the car gears shifted from 2nd to 5th. The vehicle just turned, entering a car park at low speed. After stopping completely the vehicle, it restated normally. The issue however repeated few minutes later, gears again shifting from 2 to 5.
- Roswell, GA, USA
Transmission would shift from 6th gear to 1st for no reason locking up the rear wheels.
- Denton, TX, USA
While driving the vehicle it will downshift from higher gears and then no longer shifts or registers speed - wrench light will illuminate on dash. The speedometer will also drop down to zero and no longer register any speed even though the truck is moving. The digital display will display dashes and the air bag light indicator will stay lite. When you unbuckle the seat belt the indicator light will not illuminate. Took it in to have battery tested and had 100% charge but reading indicated a bad battery so had it replaced but issue still presented itself an hour later. Issue occurs intermittently and without warning. Took it to mechanic and they had it for two days and unable to replicate situation. Also took it to dealer and was told they couldn't do anything if the issue never presented itself while they had the truck. Asked if issue was ever presented at that facility or any known issues and was told no. Issue has occurred on four separate occasions over the last 20 days.
- Las Vegas, NV, USA
Vehicle downshifted from 6th gear to 3rd gear at 55 mph. After this happened, the vehicle would not shift out of 3rd gear. Shut off vehicle and let sit for 2 hours and then drove home, no issue. Called dealership to report issue. On the way to the dealership, vehicle downshifted from 5th gear to 2nd gear, locking up rear wheels. Vehicle did this 3 more times during the trip to the dealership. Vehicle is at dealership now.
- Browns Summit, NC, USA
While driving down the interstate our truck shut down stopped working. We coasted to the side of the interstate and re-started the vehicle. No warning lights, nothing the vehicle engine shut off. There was a wrench that appeared. We took the vehicle to a repair shop to determine what the code of issue indicated an issue. No code was detected. We were told that perhaps it was bad fuel. We purchased a fuel cleaner. Again, we traveled down the interstate and again the vehicle shut down without warning. We took it to the shop to find out that the bracket holding the entire drive shaft was broken. We replaced the part. Still the vehicle downshifted for no reason. We again took it to a repair shop and finally a code appeared. The code indicated that the transmission control switch was in error. This is a very dangerous issue. We called Ford Motor Company and there is no recall at this time. A very dangerous sit-in 2, 1. the drive shaft could have seized the rear wheels, thereby causing an accident. 2. the transmission control switch indicated that the engine shuts down with no warning. Please be aware that both of these situations could have caused a fatal accident, yet Ford Motor Company refuses to provide assistance, send out a warning to others that may be effected. This is irresponsible on the Ford Motor Company to provide no indication or warning to people that own these vehicles. 2011 and 2012 have been recalled. Please have your vehicles checked for both issues. The code that finally resulted in our further insistence P.1780-00 for your and any passengers safety. Please have your vehicle inspected.
- Alexandria, VA, USA
Was traveling at 60 mph and transmission down shifted to 3rd gear and rear wheels locked up.
- Quakertown, PA, USA
Transmission shifts erratically from 1st to 5th around 5 -10 mph on highway and sometimes sticks in 1st gear or starts out in 5th gear when shifting to drive. Have to come to complete stop and shift to neutral or reverse in order to reset gear.
- Aiken, SC, USA
An unexpected downshift from 5th gear to 1st gear causing the vehicle to slow down suddenly and without warning when driving at speeds between 45 and 65 mph on the highway. The rear tires lock up momentarily, causing skidding. The transmission shifts erratically and randomly through gears 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1st. The truck will go days without another incident, but then multiple times in one day. Reprogramming of the computer module at the Ford dealership did not resolve the problem.
- Bemus Point, NY, USA
While at hwy speed, automatic transmission went from 6th gear to 1st gear. While stationary going to accelerate, vehicle started in 4th. Vehicle is 2013 Ford F-150. 2011 and 2012 Ford F-150 pickup trucks were recalled for same issue. Dealership"... found fault with output shaft speed sensor signal. Causing transmission to into limp mode due not reading the correct speed. To correct issue removed transmission fluid pan and removed main control valve body and replaced molded lead frame containing speed sensor. Also set PCM/tcm to latest calibration and cleared dtc's post road test."
- Fort Worth, TX, USA
Truck erratically shifted to first gear while traveling at 55mph causing rear wheels to lock up as if I slammed on my brakes. There is a large wrench icon on the display which causes the speedometer to read 0 mph while the vehicle is in motion and odometer reading is dashes "-------.--" truck will also get stuck in first gear while accelerating from a stop which nearly caused me to be involved in an accident because I could not accelerate as I was expecting to. Truck will also get stuck in fifth gear while at a stop. Dashes and wrench clear when truck is shut down and restarted. Erratic behavior is completely random and makes me feel completely unsafe driving my vehicle.
- Mililani, HI, USA
In Feb 2018 truck began random hard shift and loss of power when taking off from a light, no check engine light. In August 2018 at 70 mph, had a momentary lock up of rear wheel, causing the wheels to chirp on the road and release, slowed to a stop, placed in nuetral no check engine light all seemed normal. Accelerated to 65 mph at steady speed observed speedometer indication momentarily drop to 50 mph and back to 60 mph, shortly after the fuel economy on the computer average drop from 18.5 mpg to 17.5 mpg. No check engine light. In December 2018 after stopping in idle, moved truck from park to drive, felt no power to move observed I was in 5th gear. Placed in park, shut off and restarted vehicle with no issues, no check engine light. Spoke to dealer and they stated that with no check engine light or code they would have to drive until issue was repeated. I have ordered and will replace the lead frame assembly as that appears to be the most probable cause, and clean and inspect all connections to transmission. This was the same issue the recall on 2012 covered on the same transmission, Ford did not include 2013 in this recall.
- Manahawkin, NJ, USA
My 2013 Ford F-150 XLT with 71,000 miles is having transmission issues and problems with shifting and completely losing power while driving. This issue has started intermittantly about a month ago. While I'm driving, a giant wrench appears on the dashboard which is then followed by loss of power and acceleration. The vehicle is then stuck into a single gear and the speedometer and mileage computer go blank so I no longer know how fast I'm travelling. My vehicle issue seems very similar to the 2011-2012 Ford F-150 transmission downshifting recall from below. 'federal safety regulators are investigating whether to reopen and expand a previous Ford recall by more than a million vehicles for unexpected downshifting. The initial 2016 recall affected more than 153,000 Ford F-150, Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator and Ford mustang vehicles from the 2011-12 model years. A second recall would increase that number to an estimated 1,375,577 vehicles affected, and expand into the 2013 model year."
- Gilbert, AZ, USA
Put the Ford F150 into gear, would not shift up from 1st gear. Same issue we have been having and have taken to the dealership and they cannot find any problems with the transmission. Had to turn off truck and restart
- Galena, OH, USA
On highway, speed(60 mph), gauges on dash began swinging wildly, transmission began shifting up and down rapidly and then down shifted to 1st gear at 60 mph. The rear tires started screaming and threw me sideways into the next lane and onto shoulder of road. I had been on highway for approx. 20 minutes before fault happened. I restarted and vehicle seemed to operate. I attempted to travel to Ford dealer when after another 20 minutes fault resumed throwing truck off highway and luckily onto exit road. I again restarted truck and proceeded at 20 mph to nearby dealer. My Ford dealer found intermittent loss of oss signal from the lead frame. Exact problem and repair as in recall #16N02 but my truck was just out of recall range. I believe this safety recall should be extended to include 2013 trucks with the same unsafe condition. I had some drive train warranty left so repair cost me only $100 but recall would have extended my transmission warranty to 150,000 miles.
- Bloomington, MN, USA
At least once a week the transmission behaves erratically. When acceleration from a stop all power is lost. A big wrench light comes on on the dashboard. I am forced to coast or limp out of traffic. Usually it will stop if I shut the truck off and restart it. Another problem I have experience is sudden downshifting into first gear while traveling at speeds in excess of 40 mph. Again I need to pull over and shut the truck off and restart it to correct the problem. Another powertrain issue I have experienced, however not as dangerous. Is all of a sudden all the gages will go blank. No speedometer, tachometer, or odometer. Sometimes I'll see the big yellow wrench. Again, to fix this I need to shut the truck off and restart it. I have a 2013 Ford F-150 XLT with 3.5 ecoboost approxmittly 80,000 miles. I experience at least one of these three problems at least once a week and seems to be getting worse.
- Simsbury, CT, USA
- Ashland, KY, USA