I have a question for our transmission gurus here. Just got back from our 1st towing trip: 17' Hi-Lo 3300# loaded up, 2010 XLT 4.6 3v, 3:55 Screw, 2216 miles on odometer at start.

Towed beautifully with one glaring exception.....when it downshifted to 4th gear on hills, it banged really hard. Only did it at around half throttle, but it was severe enough that I was a bit timid on hills for fear of breaking something. If I floored it, 4th gear went in fine and smooth, like 5th......but partial "foot" really slammed into 4th....what gives??

Also, it only did this about 4 or 5 times and then quit and began shifting fine without any roughness whatsoever.

Any help or ideas here would be much appreciated!! 3300 miles now and it shifts like butter.

SIDEBAR: Managed 14.6 mpg overall towing with a lot of hills, so I'm quite happy. Didn't even feel the trailer back there. Pretty amazing small V-8.

 

Without going into detail, what you experienced was the trans module adapting to your driving style.

 

Thanks, I thought about "learning" but never experienced this kind of banging while my Tacoma or Ridgeline "learned" my driving habits.

Why only 4th gear by the way? Every other gear downshifting was smooth.

 

Good luck with that FMF.
I have 24K miles on my 2009 4x4 Lariat SuperCrew and it still slams into 4th when towing, even light loads. Been to the dealer 4 times (maybe 5, I cannot remember now) on tranny shifting problems and they blame it on all kinds of things (new computer update, tire balancing, etc) but have never fixed the problems over the past 14 months. Who knows, maybe it takes 30K miles to "learn" my driving habits...

I'm sick of taking off of work to go into the shop. I guess I just got one of the few bad ones.

I said this in another thread that I would try another dealer one last time as soon as I get a break from work, just haven't had the opportunity in the past fews months, hopefully soon. Keep us posted on what Ford says about your shifting problem.

Best,
Bullet Bob

 

Thanks Bob,
I will mention it when I go in for my first oil change, but I doubt anything will happen as I can only replicate it with my trailer hitched to it. Now even that will be difficult as it stopped doing it after 5 or so rather scary downshifts. I see your truck is still on the same transmission after 24k, so I guess mine won't blow up anytime soon. I read where Ford is still fooling with re-flashing these transmissions, so evidently they haven't gotten them quite right yet.
Bill :~)