I have a 2010 Expi EL Limited with approx 33K miles on it. It is a new truck to me. I bought from a friend who had recently had a problem with the truck not starting/cranking after it had run for a while then stopped for more than about 5 minutes. Took the dealership a long time to figure out it was a sensor in the transmission not telling the computer(s) it was in Park. The dealership replaced just about every computer unit in the truck until they finally figured it out. I bought the truck knowing all this, it was fixed under warranty and I didn't notice anything unusual while test driving it for about a week. The problems I will describe may have been there during my test period but I did not notice them. Recently, I have noticed some strange transmission and cruise control issues. I will try to break them into 2 categories but the issues may be caused by a common problem.

Cruise control... The CC is slow to respond on uphill situations. It will not downshift until it is almost 5 mph slower than the set speed and when it does shift it will usually drop 2 gears with a big jump in rpm. Then, when it reaches the top of the hill and shifts, it will sometimes immediately downshift again with a big jump in rpm for a short period then shift into 'normal' rpm/speed. Then, on long downhills (not short downhill runs), at the bottom it will gradually slow down past the set speed. Usually it will be 4-5 mph low before it begins to accelerate back to set speed. Sometimes it will stay at the lower speed with the CC active. Sometimes, the CC will actually go 'off' after it slows to well below the set speed.

Transmission... In addition to the CC issues listed above, the transmission seems to behave oddly w/o the CC on. Acceleration and downshifting seems sluggish in reacting. Sometimes it will downshift 2 gears instead of just one on gentle acceleration. Not consistent but noticeable. When coasting, sometimes it seems to be coasting against compression and then the speed/rpm will change like it is changing gears as it slows. Hard to describe but it is like normal deceleration then you can feel additional 'drag' and faster deceleration as if it downshifted. This typically occurs around 30mph.

Transmission 2... I have a long downhill run before the exit to my house. I often just pop the transmission into neutral and just coast. When I do this with the 2010, the engine maintains rpm like it is gear (CC not on) until it gets down to about 20 mph then the engine drops to idle rpm.

I have talked to the service dept at local dealership and so far they are baffled. Service manager says he has called HQ tech support about this but who knows.

My guess is the transmission control module needs to have the firmware reloaded but we are waiting for Tech Support to respond.

Any ideas or advice prior to taking it in to the dealer? Sorry for such a long post.

thanks
Woodie

 

My 2007 Navigator would not coast or shift down properly. At 40 mph when I took my foot of the gas the car would not slow down right away. Then when I braked to stop the down shift was late. The car kept pushing instead of relaxing.


I had remembered reading in the service manual that the transmission had an 'adaptive' shift strategy so I unhooked the battery for about 5 minutes.


After that those two problems went away.


Another issue I had was that when taking off from a stop, the transmission would take a long time to upshift. This made the car very slow accelerating.


The transmission was actually shifting out of first quickly and causing the ensuing shifts to be delayed.


I followed a suggestion from a thread here on the forum. When leaving a stop I pushed down harder on the gas pedal making the car stay in first gear until I reached over 10-15 mph and then let up. Doing this over and over again helped make the transmission behave better. My Navigator is not sluggish anymore.
Richard

 

Did a lot more reading about 'adaptive shift' Ford transmissions. Was all set to do the disconnect the battery trick until I read that just disconnecting the battery will not reset the shift patterns in the transmission and it needed a particular electronic tool at the Ford dealership to start the process. Then a very specific set of driving patterns to set the initial patters. So, I took the truck into the local dealership that had done the previous work and set up an appt to take the truck in. The conversation went well until I started asking them about resetting the patterns and 'did they follow the Ford procedure for setting the initial patterns'. First they told me if wasn't necessary and got a bit pissy when I asked why Ford had a procedure for doing it. Then when I asked if that would influence the cruise control behavior I started getting the run around again. Shortly after that and my conversation with the Service Manager, I now have an appt with the service department and their transmission specialist early in the morning a couple weeks out.

Will be interesting to see how this turns out.... might not even run when they get thru with it.... ;-)

Woodie

 

Woodie,
I am very interested in following how or if ford fixes your transmission and cruise control. The problems sounds complex. I know it is tough to fix things when more than one thing is wrong with a system. I hope the dealership is patient and sticks with it until all things are normal.
Good luck,
Richard

 

Thank you Richard. I hope so also and have the advantage of knowing the original owner (good friend) and also having driven the vehicle before it had these issues. All I can do now is wait for the dealership to examine/drive the vehicle and see what they recommend.

BTW, my friend that owned the truck previously was a 'granny' type driver so the 'adaptive shift patterns' probably match his driving style. However, the cruise control problems did not exist before Ford worked on this vehicle to solve a 'no crank/no start' problem which turned out to be a sensor in the transmission issue. I have been driving the Expi more aggressively on purpose and there might be some small change in the responsiveness in general driving, hard to tell. My preference will be for them to erase the KAM for the transmission and start with a clean slate.

Woodie

 

Dealer appointment is next Tue, Oct 7. Quick update tho. Meanwhile, I have been driving the truck more aggressively than I normally would and the transmission shift behavior is changing slowly. Too early to tell for sure, but the cruise control seems to also be changing. No longer shifting late on uphills and the strange upshift/downshift at the top of hills seems to be going away. I will keep the dealership appointment scheduled for now but may cancel it if the shift pattern continues to improve.

Woodie

 

Let us know if your dealership ends up taking a look at this, woodie. I'll be able to look into ways to help once you've had this diagnosed.

Crystal

 

Thank you Crystal

If I keep the appointment, will post what the diagnosis is here on the forum. Like I said, the transmission shift patterns appear to be changing based on my driving so maybe the software in the TCM is adjusting to match. It is actually starting to feel 'normal' most of the time now. And hopefully the cruise control is changing to match.

Woodie

 

Woodie,


Interesting how your transmission is changing behavior. For the better too.


I've noticed on my 2007 Navigator that mine slowly trends back to the 'grampa' behavior. So I for several consecutive starts I push on the gas pedal harder in order to make it stay in first & second gear longer.
This seems to help it stop the 'grampa' shift trend.


Richard

 

Took the Expi in to the local dealership today. They ran diagnostic tests and drove the truck. No errors reported by the truck computers but they were able to verify the issues I reported were in fact happening. Dealership did not want to reset the transmission computer until they understand the issue better. They also escalated the problem to Ford Tech Support.

Waiting for Tech Support to recommend a course of action. Dealership was helpful, polite, etc.

Just to be clear, the truck is drivable, the issues I describe do not prevent me from using the truck, just some strange cruise control behavior.

Woodie

 

Woodie,

So far so good. They didn't tell you to go away. ha ha

Did your transmission show them all the symptoms you listed in the original post? I ask because you posted that the transmission was shifting a little better under some circumstances.

Good luck,
Richard

 

Richard

Yes, the transmission is shifting better from a standing start. I have been driving it more aggressively on purpose and it does seem to be gradually changing the shift patterns.

And yes, they were able to duplicate the issues I reported with the cruise control. I also got a call from the Service Manager at the dealership this afternoon saying he had a follow up email from Tech Support, so they are working on it.

Woodie

 

Another update

Ford Tech Support contacted the dealership recommending reflashing the transmission computer. Basically, resetting everything to 'new' and starting from there. Appointment for reflash is Tue, Oct 14

Woodie

 

Woodie,


Thanks for posting. I hope the reflash procedure fixes the problem.


I guess in some way the cruise control system and transmission control must be in harmony. We'll see.


Richard

 

Dealership reflashed 'everything' yesterday. When I drove away, my Expi thought it had just rolled off the factory assembly line....

I did some tests up and down the long hills between the dealership and home. First impression is there is an improvement. Still exhibits some of the initial symptoms but all in all it 'feels like' it is better. Further driving and letting the car adjust to my driving etc might show more improvement.

All in all, I think it is better. It is definitely different than when I took it into the dealership.

What was supposed to be a 2 hour appointment turned out to be 3.5 hours but the dealership has a nice customer service lounge with coffee and hot chocolate... ;-)

Woodie