general problems of the 2020 Ford F-150 - part 1

My 2020 Ford f150 was diagnosed by a shop to have the well known cdf drum issue. This issue is very expensive to repair and have experienced several safety concerns while conducting daily drives to and from work or other locations nearby. The transmission will not allow you to accelerate while on the freeway making it impossible to merge safely out of the way or even just get up to speed safely. The truck will flare up in rpm but will not accelerate or shift into the next gear. Once it does it will do it very violently.

I suspect a cdf clutch drum sleeve migration. This is a notorious manufacturing defect in 2017-2020 1080 units. The truck just passed the 60,000 mile power train warranty. A 2020 4x4 sport is a highly sought-after, higher-trim truck. I invested heavily in a premium vehicle and expected it to last well past 65,000 miles. My truck is at the group 1 Ford dealership in shreveport and the service manager stated I need a new transmission. Quoted $8,800. I can not afford this and would like it to be covered for helped paid for. The service manager told me to call customer service at Ford and ask for a goodwill case stating these transmissions are in a lawsuit currently and Ford made a replacement part for the specific transmission. The cdf drum. The truck up and down shifts while driving down the road randomly and is a safety concern. Hard shifting between 1-3 and 4-6 speed. The 10 speed transmission.

Driving on freeway 10 speed transmission failed - hard knock and jerk, almost got in an accident. Gears 6-9 dead. Apparently this 10-speed transmission is a known issue, with many technical service bulletins issued, class action lawsuits, and angry customers. Ford refuses to issue a recall and the NHTSA refused to hold them to account. Something is broken - how can Ford make such a known, terrible important component to a vehicle that fails regularly - yet get away with it? I thought the NHTSA was supposed to protect us from these unsafe vehicles?.

Another failed cdf on 10r80 transmission, these are happening everywhere! where is the recall?!?!?!?!.

The transmission failed while driving. While accelerating to speed, there was a "clunk" and then the vehicle was unable to shift to another gear, stuck in 7th. The vehicle lurched continuously, decelerated suddenly, and I was unable to shift up or down. Cars behind me swerved to avoid hitting me. Luckily I was able to drive at below speed with hazards lights flashing to the nearby dealership. Truck has completed every recommended maintenance check and only has 65,600 miles on it. Repair costs for new transmission were stated to me at $9800 by the dealership. There were no warning signs or symptoms prior to the failure. However, reading multiple online complaints indicates Ford has known about the defect for the 10r80 transmission failure for years, as early as 2017, and there is a recall for this for model years 2017-2018. This is clearly a safety issue, and I am lucky I was not on the highway at high speed nor had my grandchildren in the vehicle.

While driving my 2020 f150 VIN # [xxx], at highway speeds, transmission abruptly shifts down to 1st gear then back to 9th gear and does not advance to 10th gear. Also, while accelerating, at 3 gear shift to 4th, there is a slipping of the transmission and eventually it kicks in to 6th gear. When the downshift occurs at highway speeds, the transmission slows immediately where we have to pull over or get hit by traffic in our lane. This problem was confirmed by an independent service center once I took it in. Other than the independent service center, I have not had anyone else inspect the vehicle. When this error happens, I get a wrench light come on and it will not go away until I shut off the engine and wait 1 min or so, then restart the truck. In one incident, when the truck was rolling at highway speed and the downshift occurred, the rear wheels locked as though I had hit the breaks. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Cdf drum failure on transmission causing transmission to miss shifts, rough shifts, and caused catastrophic damage to transmission, at just over 100k miles. It was out of warranty, but considering the number of complaints surrounding this issue, this needs to be a recall, and there needs to be financial reparations made by Ford to vehicle owners who have experienced this issue, necessitating a transmission replacement. Totally unacceptable.

2020 Ford F-150 custom-built in sept 2020 developed severe, textbook warning signs of rear-end failure while traveling—specifically severe low-speed metallic clanging and high-pitched whirring from the rear wheels. Recognizing the potential danger, we safely exited the highway and sought an immediate diagnostic from an independent shop. The diagnostic confirmed the defect mechanism detailed in NHTSA campaign 23v896000: fractured axle hub bolts, disintegrated pinion gears, and metal shaving contamination throughout the 9. 75-inch axle housing. While we avoided a high-speed highway shutdown by proactively seeking repairs, the underlying structural manufacturing defect is identical to the active recall. My truck's build date sits squarely inside the part production window specified by Ford in that campaign (starting Jan 28, 2020), but my VIN is excluded due to a generation cutoff. Note: we have retained the full replaced axle assembly fully intact and available for physical inspection by NHTSA investigators.

The transmission has a history of harsh shifting and slipping. At 101,600 miles being told this is a known issue with the transmission and likely needs to be replaced.

I own a Ford F-150 equipped with the 10r80 10-speed transmission. The truck has approximately 79,000 miles and has been diagnosed by a Ford dealership with cdf drum/cylinder and solenoid body failure. The quoted repair cost is over $10,000 for a remanned transmission replacement. This truck has shifted hard since approximately 30,000 miles, but I was led to believe it was normal behavior for the 10-speed transmission. The vehicle has been lightly used and properly maintained through Ford. It is still on its original tires and brakes, which supports that this is not a high-abuse or heavy-use vehicle. A major transmission failure at 79,000 miles under normal use is not reasonable vehicle durability. The failure involves the cdf drum/cylinder, a known failure point in the Ford 10r80 transmission. This can cause harsh shifting, delayed engagement, gear skipping, slipping, abnormal acceleration behavior, and unpredictable shifting. These conditions create a safety concern when accelerating into traffic, merging, turning across lanes, passing, or driving at highway speeds. Ford has issued technical service guidance related to the 10r80 transmission and cdf drum/cylinder failure, including diagnostic procedures for hydraulic leakage and internal repair. This confirms the issue is known and identifiable, yet owners are still facing extremely expensive failures outside the standard warranty period. Another concern is that Ford is proposing remanufactured transmission replacements rather than new replacements, despite reports of repeat cdf-related failures after remanufactured units if updated cdf components are not included. This is not normal wear and tear. This is premature failure of a known defective transmission component that affects drivability, reliability, and safety. Ford should not leave customers responsible for potentially multiple $10,000+ repair costs for a known 10r80/cdf drum failure.

The 10-speed automatic transmission in my 2020 Ford f150 slips between gears and has failed to engage from a stop in multiple instances. There are no warning lamps or other indications that anything is wrong with the vehicle. The issue is known as a very common problem with this transmission, as confirmed by multiple mechanics when inquiring about a potential fix.

Transmission shifts hard and downshifts with a huge clunk. Jerking the vehicle very big known issue for these trucks and am extremely low miles. Under 50k miles a bad safety issue and huge repair bill for the consumer.

When starting the vehicle, while the vehicle was in park, it acted like the vehicle was in drive and surged forward. This is unsafe and needs to be addressed by Ford.

I took it to the Ford dealership, they said the transmission needed to be replaced.

Driving down the highway at 70mph the truck dropped from 10 gear to 1st gear while losing speed I tried to accelerate to maintain safe speed but did not have power. The car jerked back to 8th gear then back down to 1st gear. Eventually back up to 10th gear but not full power. I was able to pull to the side of the road and turn the car off. After turning the car back on, the yellow wrench symbol disappeared from the dash and I was able to drive. The transmission now skips gears and does not have full power when accelerating. It felt extremely unsafe going 70mph then suddenly being in 1st gear losing speed as other cars continue around me at highway speeds and my car is decelerating without me using the brakes. There were no prior indications of this fault, my car was even serviced at a Ford dealership 2 months ago.

Transmission disengaged while driving rendering the truck immobile in traffic. This occurred on multiple occasions. No warning lights or indicators of vehicle problem. Diagnosis and condition/issue reproduced by a Ford dealer resulting in complete rebuild of the transmission. This vehicle has the 10r80.

My family and I were merging onto the highway when without warning, the automatic transmission bucked, making a loud thump sound, then it lost power nearly causing a severe accident. The transmission then began to hunt for gears, seemingly confused. It even cycled through 1st gear, my heart dropped, but luckily it did not engage 1st gear since that would have caused havoc at highway speeds. Afterwards, the vehicle regained some power but was suddenly limited to only two gears (5th and 9th). I immediately drove home, when entering my driveway the transmission could not engage reverse. Therefore I had to roll it in using forward momentum. I just had the vehicle serviced a few days ago because this issue happened before (not as severe). However, I was told the vehicle was operating fine and a leaky transmission pan was the culprit. After the transmission pan was replaced, I picked up the vehicle just yesterday (4/11/26), and this incident occurred today,(4/12/26). Please help, this transmission was rebuilt by Ford under warranty (60k mile powertrain warranty) just two years ago due to the notorious defects that have been ongoing. I contacted Ford corporate but they've refused to provide any help. This problem was confirmed by Ford corporate and the dealer, which led to the initial transmission rebuild (in 2024). However I fear this defect may not be repairable since the issue has returned and is more severe. I believe Ford was aware of this defect and did not disclose this information to me prior to buying. If I had known, I wouldn't have purchased this vehicle. Thank you for any support you could provide on this matter.

Transmission gear shifting isn’t smooth. This has been occurring for 50k miles. Often going into one low gear to the next will hear a “clunk” sound.

The vehicle has less than 95,000 miles on it. The vehicle was purchased with around 83,000 (11/15/2024) started having issues with the transmission around 85,000. The truck will go from 6th to 3rd or it may go from 10th to 1st while running a good speed down the highway or it pulls out fine then goes to neutral. This is a safety issue. There needs to be a recall made on this vehicle before it causes one of us to get hurt. Please have someone to investigate. We need this matter corrected and I do not feel it should be out of our pocket to correct it. Yes, we could trade it but we do not want someone else to get hurt. Seeing as how the dealership sold it to us knowing this was an issue I'm sure they would not fix it to sell it. No incident has occured at this time. I'm trying to be proactive in preventing that.

As I was driving my truck down the highway at 60 miles an hour, it tried to downshift to first gear several times. During that same time it lost several gears in the transmission. Ford is now replacing the transmission which is going to cost me a significant amount since the vehicle is just barely out of warranty. The truck did not have any prior warning lights or codes. It was hesitating to shift between gears occasionally for the last few thousand miles. This was an unsafe situation because the tires could have locked up and caused me to slide off the road at a high rate of speed. The dealer called after the diagnostic and essentially said "there's no way around it, this truck needs a whole new transmission and parts related to the transmission replacement.

Having hard or delayed shift as described on TSB 23-2123. What I see dangerous is momentarily downshifts from 4th to 1st.

Transmission failure vehicle when pulling into traffic/or road while up shifting the trans would have harsh shift and would slip as if not in gear the engine would rev rpm’s and slam hard into gear usually 2nd gear through 7th gear. Sometimes while driving say going downhill the transmission would down shifting from 10th gear to 8th gear hard, sometime it would down shift on the display to first gear and seemingly be coasting until it would just up shift to any gear it chose. My safety and that of my passengers was that while merging into traffic with the transmission slip or hunting for gears caused other traffic to brake, slow or avoid my vehicle. There were never any warnings on the display dash. Manufacturer dealer had 7 week wait list for appointments but was scheduled. Manufacturer dealer mechanic tested vehicle and determined code o76f present for 7th gear leading to failure of transmission and recreated the same failure results while test driving. Recommended transmission replacement and has since replaced the transmission with new transmission at my expense of $8630. 00- taxes plus charge of $199. 00 for diagnostic work.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle unexpectedly downshifted. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

The vehicle just downshifted from 6th gear to 1st gear on the freeway nearly causing a accident and it caused a blown transmission.

My transmission unexpectedly jumps gears and down shifts. My car just stopped getting any sort of power on the highway. All this with my children in the car. I was able to pull over safely, but it was extremely scary. I put the truck in park and then put it in drive and it started driving again. My Ford f150 has under 80,000 miles on it. In my opinion this is a huge safety concern. A wrench popped up on my dash indicating that service was needed, but it has since gone away.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly slipped while changing gear, with the power train warning light illuminated. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

The transmission shifted unexpectedly from highway speed to first gear. The back wheels felt like they locked up and my passenger asked if we had been hit.

* this complaint concerns a catastrophic failure of the transmission in my vehicle. This defect was first reported to a Ford dealer while still within the 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty (Jan 3, 2023, at 58,679 miles; invoice #xxx). * the condition worsened. Between July 2024 - Jan. 2026, I received 7 digital "service engine soon" warnings via the Ford app. My dealer advised that the vehicle was "ok to drive" as long as the light (which never stayed on) was not flashing. I was told diagnostics could not be made unless the light was active at the dealership. Jan 16, 2026, the light came on; I was able to take the truck to the dealer. A fault code was finally captured, but the dealer reported a two-month service backlog. I could not wait that long. 2026, I established a clean engine baseline. I spent $833. 15 to replace O2 sensors (ej’s automotive) to rule out engine?related performance issues. During this service (at 103,431 miles), an inspection confirmed metallic clutch material contamination in the transmission fluid only 10,248 miles after a 2nd professional flush. This failure occurred despite a total maintenance investment of $11,533. 80 across 21 service visits. * this failure resulted in a dangerous loss of motive power, creating a collision risk. The vehicle is currently grounded and completely inoperable. The dealership verbally designated the vehicle as vor due to the confirmed diagnosis, only to contradict that status by claiming it was "driveable" after I declined a $15,000 quote for a teardown to diagnose the issue. * since the truck can no longer tow, 2 third-party transports for a horse and a trailer relocation are necessary. The failure has also resulted in a total parasitic battery drain. The tailgate latch and door locks are inoperable, suggesting the transmission fault is interfering with module communication. This is consistent with the root cause Ford has acknowledged in tsbs 24-2101 and 25-2126 involving the cdf clutch drum sleeve. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of.

My truck down shifted from seventh gear all the way down to first, making rev really high and slow down all the sudden. I was doing 50 mph.

The vehicle transmission is slamming when the vehicle decelerates. I can feel the jerking in the vehicle. I am concerned the transmission will fail while operating the vehicle resulting in a crash. This is the second time I have had this issue. It was repaired once by the Ford dealership. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone for this occurrence. It has in the past for the same occurrence. There were no warnings prior to the occurrence. This is the second occurrence in several years. The current occurrence began on February 16, 2026.

2020 f150 with only 63000 miles has a failed transmission. The truck doesn't shift gears properly, gets stuck in gears, loses power suddenly. This is a huge safety risk as the vehicle just stops accelerating or working when driving. This clearly endangers me and other drivers. Ford refuses to pay even though their check engine light gave a transmission/power failure alert and the Ford dealership inspected it and their diagnosis replace complete transmission assembly. Has internal cdf drum bushing failure. This is an ongoing issue with these 10 speed transmissions on these f150s. There are several class action lawsuits against Ford over these 10r80 transmissions. Ford is not only refusing to recall these dangerous vehicles but also refusing to pay to cover the repairs on transmissions they've known are defect.

I bought a 2020 Ford f150 xl with 83,000 miles on 27 Jan 2026 from a local phil long kia dealership. I started to notice that the shifting was very harsh immediately after buying the truck and that the transmission was dropping the gear when I was driving at stoplights and even when I was entering an intersection almost causing an accident. I notice the issue more at slow speeds and in lower gears. Today is 19 Feb 2026. I brought the truck to a local Ford dealership and they told me that the transmission needs to be replaced.

While driving my F-150 I made a turn and when I went to accelerate again, the truck acted like it was in neutral - would not go. Engine continued to run but would not accelerate. A second car was directly behind me and almost rear-ended me when truck failed to move. Pulled over, tried low gear and reverse and nothing happened. Transmission is shot. Currently in for a rebuild. This is the Ford 10-speed trans, which has been known to fail. I only have 33,000 miles on the vehicle. Could've been much more dangerous had I been on the freeway when it failed.

While driving the truck automatically down shifted. If I drove move 20 mp it would shift. The truck would not go into reverse, the gear was stuck. I had to turn if off and then turn it back on then it let me shift the gears. On the dashboard the wrench and other indicators lit up on the dashboard.

Vehicle was purchased certified pre-owned from dealer at around 35k miles. Currently around 65k miles. Complete loss of power at 45 miles an hour. Truck shifted from 7th gear to 1st in a split second and brought the truck to a complete stop. Luckily able to pull onto shoulder to avoid getting rear ended from car behind. Decent maintenance records with dealer, no prior issues with transmission other than some rough shifting before this issue. Vehicle was dropped at dealer on 2-5-26, have not received any type of feedback or updated since dated 2-8-26. I know there is a current TSB on these transmissions, I believe they are defective based on other reports and my personal experience. Complete safety danger, 45 to 0 in under 2 seconds.