I have a F250 withe the 5 speed torqueshift transmission. When truck is cold, trans has difficulty shifting out of first and second. After a mile or so of driving transmission shifts normal. I bought the truck in May and I didn't notice any problems until the cooler weather hit. Is this normal for Fords?

Snapperusa

 

Mine shifts slower in low gears when cold too. I figured it was normal...I'm sure the smart guys will pipe in...

 

Are you letting the truck warm up properly? come down off of high idle?
Rich

 

I don't think you have anything to worry about, Ford has them set up to hold lower gears until the trans reach operating temp.

 

Interesting. Well here is a related question: I notice when starting it cold the tranny temp gauge will climb faster than the engine temp gauge. How in the world is that possible? I am taking just sitting there idleing the trans seems to warm up much quicker than the engine.

 

Mine does the same thing. The radiators on these trucks are hugh, and while the engine is running it is warming somewhat, the trans is generating heat even in park. Because the hydraulic pump is still circulating fluid in readiness for driving. So the trans is geting warm even though you are not driving. LindenBruce

 

Mine also holds the shifts back when the engine is cold. I think they're doing that to try and get the engine up to operating temperature faster.

The trans temp gauge is a fun topic.

The reason the gauge climbs up like that is because it is not 100% based on the data from the transmission fluid temperature sensor the way your engine temperature gauge is. This topic has been hammered out more than a few times on the 6.0 Diesel Forum. The first little climb into the Normal range seems to be done on a timer rather than temperature sensor data.

The transmissions on these trucks are quite large and have a massive amount of fluid. The transmission cooler is almost as large as the radiator (although it has less rows). Without a serious load, there really isn't going to be much in the way of heating up. That means that Ford's tranny temp gauge would spend an awful lot of time parked in "Cold" for many Super Duty owners. That would have undoubtedly resulted in hordes of people calling the dealers with "My Transmission Temperature Gauge is broke. It never goes off cold!". On top of that, people would start worrying about the dangers of working a truck with a cold transmission, etc. So, they compromized. The thing pops up to Normal, and from that point on it moves on the sensor data.

 

Sorry about that, I didn't know it was beat to death already, we of course have enough topics that are beat to death. Thanks for the clarification. I guess eventually ALL gauges will not be "Real" data. It's like gauges run by a politition.

 

Mine tends to hold the lower gears a little longer when it is cold too.

 

Interesting thread (for me anyway).

I've wondered about my trans guage too. Guess my '06 F250 W/Torqueshift is normal.