6r140 shift problems
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 526
Likes: 4
From: New Jersey
The TSB only applies if there are no other transmission concerns or codes. You shift concerns are actually common to the early build units and I have done quite a few. The symptoms are delayed and harsh engagement particularly in reverse, harsh 2-3 up shift and hunting as you have read. Replacing the three solenoids and updating the modules is an effective repair but as I mentioned, provided there are no other concerns. As far as the labor charge - not knowing what the labor rate is I would say $400 is not out of line to be honest especially when you consider you are servicing it in the process. You want to repair it yourself that is commendable but be sure that you get it right. And, the recalibration is absolutely necessary to correct all of the concerns.
Thread Starter
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Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,234
Likes: 2
From: Upstate NY
It has been almost one month and 1,000 miles since I installed my solenoids.
The transmission is fine and I still have not had the tcm reflashed, nor do I plan on it at this time.
Just wanted to update for anyone with these problems in the future or present.
Happy new year.
The transmission is fine and I still have not had the tcm reflashed, nor do I plan on it at this time.
Just wanted to update for anyone with these problems in the future or present.
Happy new year.
Thread Starter
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Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,234
Likes: 2
From: Upstate NY
Yes I wonder too, I'm sure that the flash would change shift points/timing , etc. but apparently it is not necessary for the replacement solenoids to work.
When I was picking up my solenoids I talked with a senior tech. He explained to me the problem with the early 2011's was that the polarity was reversed on the solenoids and caused them to fry.
When I was picking up my solenoids I talked with a senior tech. He explained to me the problem with the early 2011's was that the polarity was reversed on the solenoids and caused them to fry.
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 526
Likes: 4
From: New Jersey
Polarity reversed? Um..... No. 
Updating the TCM on a diesel powered truck is not necessary for the solenoids themselves however, depending on the symptoms with the transmission it may be necessary to address other concerns. There are two service bulletins regarding the shift solenoids on early build 2011 Super Duty trucks. One for trucks with 6.7L diesel engines which as I mentioned does not get a TCM update with solenoid replacement and another Service Bulletin for 6.2L equipped Super Duty trucks that DOES require updating the PCM with solenoid replacement. This is to correct an issue with the calibration and not the solenoids themselves.
I am of the belief that available module updates are beneficial to the proper operation and longevity of the transmission overall supporting better customer satisfaction. This is why I recommend checking for and applying available updates whenever repairing a vehicle as multiple concerns may be addressed. It is also considered a "good practice" to clear the transmission adaptive tables after making transmission repairs allowing the module to readapt to the new parts installed in the transmission quicker.
I apologize if my statement in an earlier post caused confusion concerning module reprogramming. I hope this clarified the matter for those who question the need for doing so.
Updating the TCM on a diesel powered truck is not necessary for the solenoids themselves however, depending on the symptoms with the transmission it may be necessary to address other concerns. There are two service bulletins regarding the shift solenoids on early build 2011 Super Duty trucks. One for trucks with 6.7L diesel engines which as I mentioned does not get a TCM update with solenoid replacement and another Service Bulletin for 6.2L equipped Super Duty trucks that DOES require updating the PCM with solenoid replacement. This is to correct an issue with the calibration and not the solenoids themselves.
I am of the belief that available module updates are beneficial to the proper operation and longevity of the transmission overall supporting better customer satisfaction. This is why I recommend checking for and applying available updates whenever repairing a vehicle as multiple concerns may be addressed. It is also considered a "good practice" to clear the transmission adaptive tables after making transmission repairs allowing the module to readapt to the new parts installed in the transmission quicker.
I apologize if my statement in an earlier post caused confusion concerning module reprogramming. I hope this clarified the matter for those who question the need for doing so.
New User
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 10
Likes: 1
From: southeast
I only wish I was able to do this work myself !! I absolutely abhor going to our local Ford Dealer. I already went through some issues with them and they were less then helpful and downright rude !! That was about some other "known issue".
So I'm having all these problems that are being described. The hesitating, rough shifting, no "power" while accelerating. This has been going on for a few days. Always on the first drive, after the truck sat all night.
I have one of the "early" 2011 F-350's.
Looking back it always had "wonky" shifting. Especially engaging reverse. Always does it with a big "clank". I thought perhaps that's what its like with a truck. Sigh. (First big Pickup) Then it would do the "odd" late shifting or jarring shifting.
However, now it has become downright dangerous. I have to merge onto a main road and you HAVE TO accelerate and MOVE to get onto that road safely. Its a miracle I haven't been rear ended yet or in an accident.
I have been researching half the night. Obviously its a WELL KNOWN issue to Ford !!! Why in the world was there no recall ??? This can be a dangerous issue. I guess it all comes down to money, though. They hope that warranty runs out before people notice or before the problem becomes severe (like in my case) so that they have us pay for something. Something that they haven't built right to begin with.
From reading the many threads I have it won't do me any good getting in touch with Ford over this. I dread going to the local Ford Dealer. They do not care what information one finds or presents. They will do it their way and make me pay for every (some unnecessary) steps of the way. And then, if that doesn't fix it, you are being told "thats the way it is, this is normal".
If this goes as badly as I think it will, this will be my first and last Ford vehicle ever. Even though I love this truck. I cannot deal with "Ford Service"
So I'm having all these problems that are being described. The hesitating, rough shifting, no "power" while accelerating. This has been going on for a few days. Always on the first drive, after the truck sat all night.
I have one of the "early" 2011 F-350's.
Looking back it always had "wonky" shifting. Especially engaging reverse. Always does it with a big "clank". I thought perhaps that's what its like with a truck. Sigh. (First big Pickup) Then it would do the "odd" late shifting or jarring shifting.
However, now it has become downright dangerous. I have to merge onto a main road and you HAVE TO accelerate and MOVE to get onto that road safely. Its a miracle I haven't been rear ended yet or in an accident.
I have been researching half the night. Obviously its a WELL KNOWN issue to Ford !!! Why in the world was there no recall ??? This can be a dangerous issue. I guess it all comes down to money, though. They hope that warranty runs out before people notice or before the problem becomes severe (like in my case) so that they have us pay for something. Something that they haven't built right to begin with.
From reading the many threads I have it won't do me any good getting in touch with Ford over this. I dread going to the local Ford Dealer. They do not care what information one finds or presents. They will do it their way and make me pay for every (some unnecessary) steps of the way. And then, if that doesn't fix it, you are being told "thats the way it is, this is normal".
If this goes as badly as I think it will, this will be my first and last Ford vehicle ever. Even though I love this truck. I cannot deal with "Ford Service"
Official Ford Rep
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,123
Likes: 6
...So I'm having all these problems that are being described. The hesitating, rough shifting, no "power" while accelerating. This has been going on for a few days. Always on the first drive, after the truck sat all night.
I have one of the "early" 2011 F-350's.
Looking back it always had "wonky" shifting. Especially engaging reverse. Always does it with a big "clank". I thought perhaps that's what its like with a truck. Sigh. (First big Pickup) Then it would do the "odd" late shifting or jarring shifting...
I have one of the "early" 2011 F-350's.
Looking back it always had "wonky" shifting. Especially engaging reverse. Always does it with a big "clank". I thought perhaps that's what its like with a truck. Sigh. (First big Pickup) Then it would do the "odd" late shifting or jarring shifting...
Just to clarify, have you ever mentioned these symptoms to your dealership? How many miles are on your truck currently? I want to see what I can do to help.
Crystal
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New User
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 10
Likes: 1
From: southeast
The truck is just over 90,000 miles. I never contacted the Ford dealership about this problem before, because I assumed the hard clanking when going into reverse and the occasional rough shifting were part of driving a large truck. But now it has gotten to the point where it has become downright dangerous, esp. when trying to merge into fast moving traffic. Since this seems to have been a built related issue, I wish Ford has put out a recall so I could have had this fixed a long time ago. Before it had gotten to this point. I appreciate any assistance and information you can provide. My Ford dealership is located in Enterprise, AL 36330. Thank you.
Ps. I have custom ordered he truck when this model has first come out and I have been the only owner. Truck has been kept well maintained and taken care of.
Official Ford Rep
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,123
Likes: 6
Hi Crystal,
The truck is just over 90,000 miles. I never contacted the Ford dealership about this problem before, because I assumed the hard clanking when going into reverse and the occasional rough shifting were part of driving a large truck. But now it has gotten to the point where it has become downright dangerous, esp. when trying to merge into fast moving traffic. Since this seems to have been a built related issue, I wish Ford has put out a recall so I could have had this fixed a long time ago. Before it had gotten to this point. I appreciate any assistance and information you can provide. My Ford dealership is located in Enterprise, AL 36330. Thank you.
Ps. I have custom ordered he truck when this model has first come out and I have been the only owner. Truck has been kept well maintained and taken care of.
The truck is just over 90,000 miles. I never contacted the Ford dealership about this problem before, because I assumed the hard clanking when going into reverse and the occasional rough shifting were part of driving a large truck. But now it has gotten to the point where it has become downright dangerous, esp. when trying to merge into fast moving traffic. Since this seems to have been a built related issue, I wish Ford has put out a recall so I could have had this fixed a long time ago. Before it had gotten to this point. I appreciate any assistance and information you can provide. My Ford dealership is located in Enterprise, AL 36330. Thank you.
Ps. I have custom ordered he truck when this model has first come out and I have been the only owner. Truck has been kept well maintained and taken care of.
Crystal
New User
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 10
Likes: 1
From: southeast
I wish I could. While I've learned to do a lot by myself, I'm not confident to attempt to do this. Unfortunately..
Left the truck at the dealership, they want to drive it in the morning. Just wish there would have been a "recall" or at least a notification sent to owners of this model. The whole time I thought that hard shifting into reverse and occasional "skip" was normal.
But what is going on with it now, cannot be ignored. Attempting to merge into fast moving traffic is a little bit to "exciting" (scary) for me. While I try to speed up, as you have to, the truck is going nowhere in a hurry all the while the cars behind me coming up FAST.
Left the truck at the dealership, they want to drive it in the morning. Just wish there would have been a "recall" or at least a notification sent to owners of this model. The whole time I thought that hard shifting into reverse and occasional "skip" was normal.
But what is going on with it now, cannot be ignored. Attempting to merge into fast moving traffic is a little bit to "exciting" (scary) for me. While I try to speed up, as you have to, the truck is going nowhere in a hurry all the while the cars behind me coming up FAST.
New User
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 22
Likes: 3
From: N.E Ohio
Well I'm back to update and close this up for anyone that's been following. This may turn into a small rant.
I got pretty aggravated over the last few days, Thursday I received my first call from the ford customer service rep at around 1:30pm, I missed the call but called back within 30 minutes and never received a call back. The next morning (Friday) at around 9 am I receive a second call from ford but missed it again and called back at 10am, never received a return phone call. Now both times I called I left a nice detailed message and asked the customer service rep to please give me a call back, it states on her answering machine she is there until 5:30pm. Now just to put this in perspective... They know I own an f250 super duty TRUCK, where do they think I was both times they called? At home on the couch? No I was on a job site in the cold trying to do 100 things at once, of course I'm not paying attention to the phone.
One of the greatest sayings is if you want something done right, do it yourself.
Drain the transmission pan, 1/2" drain plug, then remove the pan bolts (8mm) and there are quite a bit.
Now drop the pan down and weasel it out being careful not to bump any thing around for fear of knocking debris, dust, rust or dirt into the valve body area.
The gasket is a reusable crush proof (metal insert) style, mine stuck to the pan side during removal.
Locate the 7 solenoids and start unclipping all of the pigtails, there are no clips on them, just grab firmly and pull straight down. Although keep in mind it is plastic that sees extreme heat and cooling cycles, which can cause things to become brittle.
Do not cut any of the zip ties holding the harness together as it keeps all the pigtails in the correct position so you know which solenoid connects to which pigtail. If you follow the harness closest to the driver side you will see another 2 wire connection that goes into the valve body with a gray connector. Unplug that one too.
Now you have enough slack in the harness to swing it out of your way to actually get to the solenoids. First get a T-30 torx with at least 1.5" shank to clear the solenoids and unscrew the 8 bolts holding the solenoid retainer to the valve body. Once they are out the retainer just falls out.
Now is the important part, you need to document each solenoid and which port it came from in the valve body, each solenoid has a DIFFERENT BAND NUMBER AND THEY DO NOT INTERCHANGE.
Find your band number then look up the part # I had two M and one N code solenoids, my local ford dealer had them in stock.
Put some transmission fluid on the new solenoids o rings and reinstall them to their corresponding valve body ports. Then continue to put everything back together.
My truck immediately shifted better, I took it for a test drive this morning as well and it did not slip in between 2-3 or have reverse engagement problems. No wrench lights, no slipping, no cussing as I pull off to the side of the road in morning traffic because my truck won't shift out of 2nd, it shifted as it should even with it being a quart low in fluid. Which reminds me, buy more than 10 quarts because with the pan removed for an extended period of time and removing the solenoids you will lose more than a typical "drain and fill" servicing.
I also did not get any flash or software update, I checked my door tag and my truck is in fact mfd 6/10 so it's earlier than I thought.
Oh yeah and thanks for nothing Ford.
I got pretty aggravated over the last few days, Thursday I received my first call from the ford customer service rep at around 1:30pm, I missed the call but called back within 30 minutes and never received a call back. The next morning (Friday) at around 9 am I receive a second call from ford but missed it again and called back at 10am, never received a return phone call. Now both times I called I left a nice detailed message and asked the customer service rep to please give me a call back, it states on her answering machine she is there until 5:30pm. Now just to put this in perspective... They know I own an f250 super duty TRUCK, where do they think I was both times they called? At home on the couch? No I was on a job site in the cold trying to do 100 things at once, of course I'm not paying attention to the phone.
One of the greatest sayings is if you want something done right, do it yourself.
Drain the transmission pan, 1/2" drain plug, then remove the pan bolts (8mm) and there are quite a bit.
Now drop the pan down and weasel it out being careful not to bump any thing around for fear of knocking debris, dust, rust or dirt into the valve body area.
The gasket is a reusable crush proof (metal insert) style, mine stuck to the pan side during removal.
Locate the 7 solenoids and start unclipping all of the pigtails, there are no clips on them, just grab firmly and pull straight down. Although keep in mind it is plastic that sees extreme heat and cooling cycles, which can cause things to become brittle.
Do not cut any of the zip ties holding the harness together as it keeps all the pigtails in the correct position so you know which solenoid connects to which pigtail. If you follow the harness closest to the driver side you will see another 2 wire connection that goes into the valve body with a gray connector. Unplug that one too.
Now you have enough slack in the harness to swing it out of your way to actually get to the solenoids. First get a T-30 torx with at least 1.5" shank to clear the solenoids and unscrew the 8 bolts holding the solenoid retainer to the valve body. Once they are out the retainer just falls out.
Now is the important part, you need to document each solenoid and which port it came from in the valve body, each solenoid has a DIFFERENT BAND NUMBER AND THEY DO NOT INTERCHANGE.
Find your band number then look up the part # I had two M and one N code solenoids, my local ford dealer had them in stock.
Put some transmission fluid on the new solenoids o rings and reinstall them to their corresponding valve body ports. Then continue to put everything back together.
My truck immediately shifted better, I took it for a test drive this morning as well and it did not slip in between 2-3 or have reverse engagement problems. No wrench lights, no slipping, no cussing as I pull off to the side of the road in morning traffic because my truck won't shift out of 2nd, it shifted as it should even with it being a quart low in fluid. Which reminds me, buy more than 10 quarts because with the pan removed for an extended period of time and removing the solenoids you will lose more than a typical "drain and fill" servicing.
I also did not get any flash or software update, I checked my door tag and my truck is in fact mfd 6/10 so it's earlier than I thought.
Oh yeah and thanks for nothing Ford.
There's a big difference in cost between 7 of them or just 3 of them...
More Turbo
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 701
Likes: 17
From: Alberta, Canada
I read through all of this when it got bumped to the top at the beginning of the month and was thinking I could relate to it. The occasional delayed shift in to reverse (only coming from drive, not park), and my shifting problem is between 4-5 (possibly 3-5?) where it seems to slip on the upshift before engaging somewhat violently.
I was on a trip last week and the 4-5 upshift slip occurred. I can't remember if it was up to normal operating temps but I was able to replicate it once more when the truck was cold. It was during a moderate acceleration from a stop light, with a momentary let off of the pedal before continuing the moderate acceleration to switch lanes and grab my exit. It was as if after the truck experienced the acceleration from the dead stop and the throttle was relaxed it wanted to upshift to maintain where I was currently cruising at, however I was back on the pedal a moment later to continue accelerating and 'caught it' when the truck was telling itself it needs to be back in a lower gear.
The truck is a 2013 that I've owned since new, currently 90K kms. The reverse issue and upshift issue occur only a couple times each per year.
Aside from being a 2013, I'm also deleted and running H&S box tunes with a MiniMaxx, as well as their trans tuning.
I remember the upshift problem occurring when the truck barely had a few thousand kms on it. Any opinions whether this is relatable enough to be some solenoids as well, or a slow transmission failure that may or may not be related to the aftermarket tuning?
I was on a trip last week and the 4-5 upshift slip occurred. I can't remember if it was up to normal operating temps but I was able to replicate it once more when the truck was cold. It was during a moderate acceleration from a stop light, with a momentary let off of the pedal before continuing the moderate acceleration to switch lanes and grab my exit. It was as if after the truck experienced the acceleration from the dead stop and the throttle was relaxed it wanted to upshift to maintain where I was currently cruising at, however I was back on the pedal a moment later to continue accelerating and 'caught it' when the truck was telling itself it needs to be back in a lower gear.
The truck is a 2013 that I've owned since new, currently 90K kms. The reverse issue and upshift issue occur only a couple times each per year.
Aside from being a 2013, I'm also deleted and running H&S box tunes with a MiniMaxx, as well as their trans tuning.
I remember the upshift problem occurring when the truck barely had a few thousand kms on it. Any opinions whether this is relatable enough to be some solenoids as well, or a slow transmission failure that may or may not be related to the aftermarket tuning?
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 153
Likes: 0
I've got the same issue. Odd thing is that the absolute awful shifting is after a trans flush due to water intrusion due to Harvey. Oh well, glad to know their is definitely a fix, and glad I made it 160k trouble free miles with the Trans. I guess I'll be comparing costs of full dealer install or DIY.