In about another hour, I'm going to my Ford Dealer to part with about $2500.00 for replacement of the planetary gears and the reverse gear in my '03 250. I have had various truck savvy friends express shock over this failure and I am also always very suspicious any time a mechanic says the word "transmission." I got on the web to look for any comments on the TS and found the site. I saw this thread and thought I'd add my 2 cents.
I use my truck a lot. I have about 80,000 miles and haul horses about 400 miles a month. I noticed the transmission slipping occassionally when towing at highway speeds. Last weekend it slipped several times in a row. When I slowed down, the slipping subsided and we made it home. I never recall a slip when I was not towing. I bought my truck to haul horses. Based on the towing capacity, I should be able to haul my loaded rig with a 150. I bought the 250 to insure that I was never overloaded.

Up until now I have had nothing but praise for my 250. There is no recall on '03's to my knowledge. I feel completely betrayed!

Does anyone know how to make a formal complaint to Ford Motors?

 

I just got my 05 F350 back from the dealer. I bought it in Dec and received the recall letter in Jan. This was my worse nightmare, I seriously thought about getting a manual trany but reluctantly opted for the automatic. It was recalled because it had the snow plow prep package and this type of use stresses the reverse planetary gear ***'y.

The tech disassembled the trany 3 times, installed the recommended fix and it still wasn't working right. Ford finally sent a new trany and so far ((it's been (2) weeks)) and it seems to be working fine. Of course it never did act up because I didn't do any plowing and I'm fairly gentle with the trany.

You can get on the Ford Web site and put your vin # and it should list the recalls for your vehicle. As far as who you can complain too: call customer relation, you might be able to work a deal like have Ford split the cost. Also have the dealer work on the issue.

I heard one owner say he would install a Jasper trany if his failed. You might want to look into this option.

Ford is having real financial problems and selling troublesome products sure doesn't help especially involving such a critical and costly component like the transmission.

 

jabberwocky ...welcome ...check this out when you have a minute
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=325000

 

I was told there is a difference in the snap ring in the snow plow tranny. It was updated to produce a softer shift but doesn't hold in place.

 

Where might this Ford website be?

 

The Ford site is www.myford.com. You have to register and enter your truck's VIN#, then click on a link that searches for any recalls on that VIN#. That said, the 04B24 or the 05B27 programs are technically not "recalls." Ford calls them "Customer Satisfaction Programs." My truck has already had the 04B24 reverse planet replacement performed, and despite being called "04B24 RECALL" on the invoice, it never showed up on Ford's recall search tool.

 

Website denies my existence, now I recall why I stopped trying to access that website. Had to change my identity to log on, no recalls.

Is it possible this trans recall is a TSB? In which case I think you have to complain about it before they will acknowledge there might be a problem?

 

No, it's not a TSB, it's a Customer Satisfaction Program. If your truck is affected, you will get a letter from Ford. You can also go to a dealer and have them run an OASIS check on your VIN#, which will show any open campaigns for your vehicle.

The 04B24 campaign affects trucks with a build date from March 8 2004 through June 24 2004 (some folks insist that "build date" refers to transmission, but my trans has a Feb 04 build date and OASIS flagged it, and I also got the letter -- my truck build date is April '04).

 

FYI- After my last post my dealer fixed my shifting problem (not going into reverse) in about 10 minutes - he said the shifter bolt in steering column needed to be tightened.

 

Fieldday, wow that is an interesting spin on the situation -probably promoted disingeniously by someone to calm an owners jitter's. My understanding is that the trannys are the same, snow plow package or not, it is just that the constant hard shifting in snow plowing moves the slip ring right now, not at 80K or 140K miles when the repair is on parties other than Ford.

Where did you here that story. I hope it is true, otherwise I also feel betrayed.... perhaps Ford could send affected vehicles, that did not have the snow plow package, a new logo for the windshield that says: "sorta superduty - just don't push it too hard and hope for the best"

 

Thanks for the suggestions on contacts. I've now been through round one with the "Ford Motor Customer Relationship Center" also known as the Complaint Deflection and Neutralization Department. After some sitting on hold for awhile the "consultant" or "technician" or whatever was able to tell me exactly what was in my warranty. This would be useful, if not for the fact that I can read!

She did introduce me to the concept of the "Customer Satisfaction Program" (a no-fault recall). There is CSP in effect for my vehicle for carburetion adjustment. There is a Recall for tightening a loose nut on the battery mount. Thank God they are handling that major operation! There is nothing for the transmission!

It took some convincing, but I was finally able to get her to agree to switch me to a supervisor. (She must get paid based on successful deflections). Sadly, none were available. She has put in a request to have a supervisor call me within 48 business hours. Let's see...by my calculation that's 6 business days. Aren't they affraid that I might forget they were supposed to call?!

 

Curious event happened a day or so ago!

I've had the tranny recall done and all. Had no problem found by the Dealer on my '04 under the recall.

But went to back-up into a driveway on a hill a few days ago. Here is what happened:

Put the shift into reverse, a monentary delay in shifting into reverse, then it "slammed" into reverse unexpectively. After "slamming in" it backed-up fine. And no problems driving since or before!

BUT!! My trip odometer had reset to zero at this instant. (I was tracking fuel milage!)

Maybe Ford is chasing an electronic problem and not a tranny mechanical problem?

What to do or not to do?

Comments?

 

Sounds like you have a loose connection. I would check all grounds, battery connections and every thing you can think of. When you disconnect the batteries the trip meter resets. That is what makes me think you have a bad connection of some sort. Or you might want to take it back to the dealer and have them recheck it. Hope this helps.

 

That could be pretty crucial...

Bill Jordan, this delayed D/R engagement has been an issue with all of the latest flashes, most prominent with the 04 MY trucks. This could point to a program/software problem instead of a hardware problem.

 

PSD 60L Fx4, except for the cracked casings, snap rings that look like a gorilla played with them, planetary's getting shredded and sending crap through the whole system.

But who knows, maybe it is part of the problem.

BTW, I see in your sig line you have the Suncoast 5R110 upgrade. How do you like it? Any problems yet? Was it more expensive than the ATS upgrade? I have not had a chance to price Suncoast yet, but I did the ATS and it was pretty pricey. But on the other hand so is a tranny going out in the middle of the night in a blizzard, the warranty doesn't do me squat then.

I have not had the 'recall' for the snap ring done yet, because I do not trust the quality of the parts that FMC is going to install for me. I am thinking of spending the extra money and have a reputable company build my transmission as opposed to putting garbage back in and screw the warranty.