Had to look at my past posts to go through the alumazilla info that I posted on the 2020 Order Tracking posts to make sure that my truck would not be included in that... and I was right. Production date 9/12/2020. My 10 speed has been spot-on flawless so far. Especially when towing.

 

My bad did not see that , thats what happens when you get old lol

 

My transmission took a crap about 5k out of warranty. I had to BUY A NEW ONE FROM FORD!!! Wonder if they will give my money back, because I just got the recall.

 

Year, make, model, motor type please.
Profile says 2021 F450 so...…?

 

it’s a 2020 F450 Diesel and they sent the recall to my app

 

OWNER REFUNDS
• Ford Motor Company is offering a refund for owner-paid repairs covered by this program if the
repair was performed before the date of the Owner Notification Letter. This refund offer expires
September 30, 2021.
• Dealers are also pre-approved to refund owner-paid emergency repairs that were performed
away from an authorized servicing dealer after the date of the Owner Notification Letter. Noncovered
repairs, or those judged by Ford to be excessive, will not be reimbursed.
• Refunds will only be provided for the cost associated with planetary one needle bearing
assembly.

 

Has anybody else had this "Customer Satisfaction Notice" show up in their Ford Pass app? I haven't seen anything yet and my truck falls within the build range (Feb 2020). I contacted my dealer and asked if this affected my truck and they said no but I'm not sure if they would know. It sounds like not all affected vehicles show up in their system yet.

What I find odd is there is no real indication as to what the actual cause of the problem is. Was it a specific part from a certain lot that is failing or is it a design flaw that affects all failing parts or an assembly error? I find it hard to believe it would affect all trucks built in the affected date range. That would be a LOT of trucks.

Right now I'm trying to decide if I should keep my truck. No way I want to keep this truck if the dealer repairs it. I wouldn't trust the transmission again after that. I'm a full time RV'er so if my transmission fails, we are stuck camping on the side of the road.

 

Yes, a few weeks ago. My dealer has ordered the parts but hasn't received them yet.

 

I should have worded my post differently. I saw that you and Mr_T_Smith got the "recall" notice. I'm just curious if anybody else has. And BTW, I'm really sorry your truck is affected :-(

 

"Parts to repair this condition are currently not available in sufficient quantities to service all of the affected vehicles"

"Therefore, to ensure an ample supply of parts are available, VINS will be activated as part supply allows, and owners of affected vehicles will be notified in separate mailings."

"Dealers should repair any affected vehicles that arrive at their dealerships, whether or not the customer has received a letter."


If I had to guess, Ford has effectively employed damage control, to avoid a tsunami of angry customers swarming dealerships to demand new transmissions, or demand that this repair be done then and there, rather than when on a long road trip with the family on vacation.

The mechanical part that fails is described in the letter, and the procedure to repair it is detailed in the NHTSA link above.

The fact that dealers are directed to repair all vehicles in inventory, and not to sell or even demonstrate those vehicles until the repair is done, is a strong indication that all 10R140 transmissions installed during the production dates specified have the same part, with the same potential for failure.

There are simply not enough parts available to fix everyone's truck at once, and not enough time available to produce and distribute the necessary parts instanteously.

So Ford apparently made a priority list:

1. New unsold vehicles in inventory

2. Emergency response vehicles

3. Wreckers

4. Vehicles with 4.88 axle ratios

5. Customer vehicles in the service departments already


As for notifications on Ford Pass App, if Customer A has an F-450 with a 4.88 axle ratio, and Customer B has an F-350 with a 3.31 axle ratio, and Customer A and B trucks were both built on the same day, during the affected period, Customer A might receive a notification, where Customer B would not receive any notification, or indication that it is also affected.

But several months from now, Customer B might then receive a notification, as the priortized vehicles have had a chance to be fixed, and parts supplies have been replenished and now available for what Ford consideres to be lower priority vehicles.

Of course, Customer B is not going to be too happy about being considered a lower priority, because Customer B's $90K is just as much as Customer A's $90K. But then there is physics. The necessary parts can't just materialize like Spock and the Captain did on Star Trek.

Logistics, in a Covid crippled economy, is challenging, and not eveyone can be first. Ford appears to have prioritized who goes first based on the least projected cost or liability to Ford, in the event the part should fail.

 

I understand the part that fails is in the letter. What isn't clear is if this part is from a bad batch or if it's 100% failure for this part in all applications. It also isn't clear what causes the part to fail (e.g. excessive heat, incorrect assembly, etc). Either way, the more I think about Ford not sharing the full scope of the problem, I think I'm going to just order a new truck. I realize a new truck will take months to arrive but I'd rather get my order in now and then just HOPE my transmission lasts until the new truck arrives. I don't want the transmission to fail this fall then try to find a replacement.

Your point about Ford instructing dealers to repair all vehicles in inventory and not allow demonstrations is excellent. Thanks for pointing that out again.

 

I was looking at the Carfax for a used F-450 today that is located at a Ford dealer. It shows that this repair was recently completed on that truck.

 

Also take note that both assembly lines of Super Duty production are effected, from the earliest 2020 models built all the way back in February 2019 (not June of 2019 as would be typical of a Job 1 for the next model year... but February 2019... that's pre production for the Texas truck show introduction time period) through the end of production of the 2020 model year, in August 2020 when 2021 models entered into production.

The 10R140 transmission is manufactured at the transmission plant in Sharonville, Ohio, and is shipped as an assembly by the truck load to both Super Duty production lines, one being at Avon Lake, Ohio (closer) and the other being in Louisville.Kentucky.

It is interesting that the Ohio plant stopped installing the affected transmissions sooner than the Kentucky plant. As has happened in previously discovered failures with brand new parts in brand new transmissions... failures that did not present themselves until the product got into the hands of customers... there is some delay in time in assessing if the problem only presents itself in certain applications. While that assessment is taking place, the show must go on, and production keeps going, as it hasn't yet been verified that the manifestation of the problem is universal, even if the problematic part may be installed universally.

An example of this happened 20 years ago, when Ford installed a new internal part in the 4R100 automatic transmission for the 2001 model year. All the transmissions were built the same (also in Sharonville), but a problem was discovered in 6.8L gas applications that did not present itself in diesel applications. This was because the gas motors created their power at a much higher RPM (over 4,400 RPM), whereas the diesel application at that time rarely even approached 3,300 RPM. All the transmissions were built with the bad part, but Ford only did a stop sale demonstration hold on the 6.8L applications, because that is where Ford was able to recreate the MANIFESTATION of the problem most consistently, and where Ford predicted that customers would EXPERIENCE a problem within the 3/36 warranty period.

Beyond the 3/36 warranty period, many owners with the diesel engine also experienced transmission problems related to the same faulty part that Ford replaced under warranty for the 6.8L owners. Ford did change the part in production for ALL applications, in the middle of the 2001 production year, reverting back to the previous design which didn't exhibit the problems that the new design had (intermediate one way clutch, or sprag, if I recall correctly, but it doesn't really matter what the specific part is),

So, the point to all this is that if Ford was still DECIDING whether or not the part at issue in the 10R140 is really bad or not, while the 2020 production was still rolling along, Ford may have weighed the risk based on the information available to them at that time, before more field experience rebalanced the risk assessment. So a few big truck loads or a train car of 10R140 may have already made the trek to the Lousiville plant, and were built out, before Ford decided... six months of data gathering and testing later... that yikes, maybe we better call those customers and rebuild their transmissions when we get some parts in stock to do so.

The question is probably not "Does my transmission have the part that is causing the problem?".

The question more likely is, "Will my transmission manifest the problem before Ford gets around to my turn in replacing the part?"

And it is quite possible that the transmission may not manifest the problem, despite having the badly designed part, because the duty cycle of usage, the propshaft rpms dictated by the axle ratio, the GVWR of the vehicle, and other factors may combine together to put one vehicle at lest risk of manifesting the problem than another vehicle. Just like the V10 gas engine applications were more likely to experience an issue with the one way clutch than the diesel applications of the 4R100 era in 2001.

Lots of folks never buy first year. No matter how many proving grounds, simulations, testing in the desert, in the mountains, in polar regions, etc... there is no test that can replicate what a few hundred thousand customers can do to their vehicles in a year. Some would rather wait for those test results to turn in before buying. And some cannot wait. Those who cannot wait typically cannot wait for the next new model also, so they are always covered under warranty anyway. Let's hope anyone affected by this issue gets covered. Ford has put an unlimited mileage warranty on the affected transmissions, that expires in one year from the March 31 announcement, or March 31, 2022.

 

I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts about this issue. Based on all the information I've gathered up to this point, I agree with your statement above. I've decided to order a new 2022 truck. The problem is I can't sell my current truck until the new one arrives because we use it to tow the RV we live in full time. Sooooo, we're just going to take our chances and drive our 2020 until either the transmission fails or the 2022 truck arrives. There is no way I'm keeping my 2020 F-350 with this problem. I will never trust it - even if it gets repaired. The repair books at 10 hours and looks pretty involved to me. I have no faith that the repair would be done properly and result in a normal lifespan.

With the nationwide shortage of trucks, this is a REALLY bad time for this to happen.

 

My biggest issue with this repair is the fact that they only change the planetary. It plainly states the trans can become damaged by the contaminated fluid so what else is being worn out with this bad fluid? You could wind up with a trans with 20k miles on it that has 150k miles worth of wear on the clutches and other bearings. If this truly affects 100k super dutys then that is a bs solution for ALOT of owners out there. People that took a chance on a first year trans and got burned...this was my first Ford truck and I intended to keep if for a looong time, no way I will keep it or buy another if this is how it goes down.