general problems of the 2020 Ford F-150 - part 2

Transmission has hard shifting, skips 2nd gear and sometimes will downshift out of 10th gear.

Transmission erratic shifting causes unsafe vehicle handling characteristics. Vehicle will not properly accelerate under certain circumstances. Occasionally in parking lots, vehicle will accelerate on its own after throttle is released under certain conditions. Transmission has been replaced several times, and issue persists in all units. Problems are reported in TSB’s sent out by dealerships.

The 10r80 transmission shifts extremely rough. For example, mine has 67,600 miles on it and has horrible shifting behavior in the lower gears (3,4 and 5) whether shifting up or down. This is a very common problem and Ford has yet to deal with it for recalls and improve safety. The fix is extremely expensive and needs to be addressed.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving from a complete stop, the vehicle went into limp mode and failed to accelerate as intended. After a while, the vehicle accelerated, but the acceleration was delayed. The wrench warning light illuminated, and the contact received a notification from the Ford app with the message “powertrain power reduced”. The contact drove the vehicle to a dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 49,244.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and attempting to shift into third gear, the vehicle started shaking abnormally, and the gear shift was difficult to engage, causing the transmission to shift hard. The contact stated that at faster speeds, while attempting to shift into seventh gear, there was a delayed response. The powertrain fault warning light was illuminated. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to technical service bulletin: 23-2123 (harsh/delayed engagement and/or harsh/delayed shift); however, the VIN was not included in the TSB. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 117,000.

10r80 transmission shifts from 7th & 9th gear to 2nd gear causing truck to jerk and over rev. There were two mil lights local shop was able to read and reset once and cleared codes. This just recurred and truck was not able to be driven. Ended up replacing transmission same week as this problem started. New transmission has been fine since.

The 10r80 transmission has harsh erratic shifting. The transmission will occasionally launch when downshifting into first gear when pulling into my driveway causing me to almost hit the front of my garage. The transmission also has harsh clunking when shifting gears and will clink and throw you forward when downshifting in traffic.

The transmission exhibits violent, harsh shifting, sudden and unpredictable deceleration, and most alarmingly, abrupt downshifting from 10th gear to 1st gear while driving at highway speeds. This is not a minor drivability issue — it is a severe safety defect that places my life, my passengers, and other drivers at risk.

Transmission (10r80) down shifts hard and shifts hard between 3-4 and 7-8 gears. And front differential makes a noise.

Transmission shifted from 10th gear to 1st gear at highway speed. Transmission was rebuilt by Ford, and is again exhibiting poor/harsh shifting.

Transmission is stalling, jerking, skipping gears and slipping. I have talked to the dealership several times about the transmission slamming really hard in 4th and 8th gear. They would tell me it’s just trying to find the right gear to be in, your battery is causing it or it needs to be reprogrammed. There has never been any warning lights. This truck has spent over 4 months in the shop for drive train issues. New rear end, new drive shaft and a vibration that has never gone away.

10 speed tremic transmission, the same one covered by NHTSA #24v-208. Transmission hunts for gears, and has dropped from a high gear to first gear without warning. The advisory says that it could drop out of any gear to first gear without warning possibly causing a crash. For some reason, my vehicle with the same transmission and same problems is not covered by the recall.

Vehicle is showing symptoms similar to common reported problems from people who owned Ford F-150 with eco-boost. Symptoms such engine had difficulty starting transmission shifting rattling noises coming out from the engine compartment oil leaks coming out the tail pipe gauge is showing engine is over heating turbo is having a hard time accelerating.

My truck is a 2020 f150 3. 5 eco-boost four-wheel-drive, 41,000 miles I’ve owned the truck since November 20th 2021, the mileage at time of purchase was 28,211. Less than 30 days later I had taken it to the Ford dealership to have the iwe’s replaced and wheel bearings, which is the four-wheel-drive locking hub assembly. It took them over six months to fix it. Now, December 1, 2025 the same problem has returned the iwe’s have failed, when they fail metal shavings goes into the wheel bearings. Mind you this is less than 13,000 miles since the first repair. Upon picking my truck up from Ford on a Friday afternoon at 5 pm, January 9, 2026. Upon start up now, my cam phases are rattling. . I even asked Ford. I lost over seven months of driving my pick up and not being able to use my warranty because it’s set up the dealership for so long. Now it’s out of warranty and I’ve left looking at over $6500 to fix the cam phaser issue that they knew was bad and they didn’t recall them. So as of today, January 11, 2026 my truck has 41,000 miles on it. I have driven it less than 13,000 miles in five years. And I’m not looking forward to having to fix the transmission as well because it has a major issue and that should’ve been recalled as well. Ford is leaving us hanging out there with these trucks that cost over $50,000 and in the end it’s gonna cost us another 20 to 30,000 to fix them. Ford still hasn’t fixed the recall that is presently out as well for the sync and back up camera.

Problematic transmission shifting with lower gears causing significant hard shifting and jerking motion while driving. The problem was confirmed by my local Ford dealership on 11/26/2025, who recommended an overhaul to the transmission and tear down to determine if further damage is present or if a new transmission is needed. There were no warning lamp indicators showing any earlier related matters.

The transmission has the potential to shift erratically most recently when crossing a divided highway, trying to get in them median, the truck switched gears, causing the truck to stop blocking oncoming traffic. It was only momentarily and shifted back to the correct gear. It has the potential to hard shift pretty consistently.

Transmission unexpectedly downshifting to first gear at speed. It sounds like shift cable locking clip problem.

Transmission failed. Pulling into traffic the transmission failed to shift from first gear into second, instead not going into any gear at all, putting my entire family at risk of being struck by oncoming traffic! engine revved and truck would not move. Then suddenly shifts into third gear jerking violently. Currently in shop for transmission replacement. After a bit of research I found that this is a common issue with the transmission.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving 70 mph on the interstate, while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle decelerated to 2 mph. The messages to “schedule maintenance” and “powertrain - reduced power” were displayed on the instrument panel and the mobile app on the cellphone, and the vehicle went into limp mode. The contact pulled over to the right side of the road and researched the failure. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the dealer would be contacted, and then the contact would receive a callback. The approximate failure mileage was 46,000.

Once the vehicle is in drive and starts shifting through the gears, the truck losses all acceleration for 3-5 seconds and then experiences a harsh shift into gear. This causes the vehicle to "stall" in intersections and other hazardous locations if it does not shift properly. The 2020 f150 3. 5 ecoboost has been serviced at local Ford dealerships since bought. Most recently, it was taken into a Ford dealership for routine oil change, transmission fluid change, spark plugs and coils, and 100k inspection due to the vehicle being at 94k miles. I advised the service technician of the concern for the shifting issue that started between the last oil change, which got significantly worse during day-to-day operation.

Oil consumption takes several quarts of oil before next oil change. Erratic and harsh shifting and sudden hard downshifts.

The transmission was already rebuilt under warranty, had 49,700 miles. While traveling between 70-80(while passing)open road the transmission tried going into 1st gear happned a few times until went into limp mode. Just me, no trailer, nothing in the bed. The dealership nor corporate would do anything since I had turned off the truck. Even though the codes were stored.

Three separate times vehicle shuttering and jerked, and wouldn’t engage into certain gears left my son and I stranded on the freeway. Unable to drive, it started and drove fine hours later after it cooled. Weeks after this happened leaking fluid, overheating, and unable to shift into gear. Shop said it fried 3 gears. Currently having to replace the entire trans which costs half of what the vehicle is worth.

Truck was traveling at 30 mph and slowing down for stop sign and shifted from 4 th gear to 3rd gear so hard the trucks engine turned off and had to come to a stop and shift into park to turn truck off and back on again. Truck was traveling at 30 mph and slowing down for stop sign.

Transmission will not shift into gear. No recall on this and dealers option is for service and repair. Transmission was serviced and problem shifting still continues. I have received alerts from Ford pass app indicating powertrain malfunction/ reduced power — what is happening? the transmission control module has detected a concern when trying to shift to 7th gear. A failsafe logic disables 7th gear for the remainder of this key cycle. What should I do? have your vehicle checked by an authorized dealer as soon as possible. This loss of power is a huge safety issue as when I accelerate into traffic the lag in shifting causes the truck to not get up to speed and you’re basically a sitting duck. Transmission was serviced and this did not resolve the issues. Replacement is now scheduled and will cost a minimum of $9000. 00. This is a known issue with the 10-speed transmissions and should be recalled for repair &/or replacement by Ford. This truck has only 116,000 miles!!.

10rd80 transmission cdf drum failure. A known design defect on 2020 f150 that Ford should issue a recall on. Ford finally fixed the design issue in August 2022. My truck is out of warranty so I will be out over $6000 that I do not have to fix. Extreme financial problem as I do not have the money to fix and this is my only vehicle.

Transmission issues. Random hard shifting. Random over revving due to improper shifting. Multiple components are being replaced. They are all heavily reported as issues in the transmission. The dealer refuses any remedy. No warnings show prior to the issue.

I had just replaced the transmission (r1080; 6 cyl 3. 5l turbo) on September 3, 2025 due to p0734-00 (gear 4 incorrect ratio and p07f7-00 (gear 10 incorrect ratio). The transmission matter can be referenced on NHTSA id # xxx. On September 30, 2025, while driving down the parking deck ramp (at 3-5mph) my check engine light came on with code p0022 (camshaft timing); resulting in replacement of the camshafts. The camshaft had a hole in it (photo supplied). The camshaft issue is another issue many Ford f150 truck owners are experiencing. Again, Ford has continued to give "band-aid" fixes with TSB's and no real fix to a continuing issue with these trucks. On December 3, 2022, this used truck was purchased from a Ford dealership in raleigh, nc (77,100 miles) and was Ford gold/blue certified per my purchase information. The gold/blue paperwork even included that the "customer satisfaction repair" (not a true recall mandated by NHTSA) had been performed by a TSB (along with the unintentional tailgate opening also a customer satisfaction repair). There are no recalls issued on this vehicle. Ford has offered no assistance towards repairs. As evidenced by the number of complaints filed on the NHTSA website for this particular engine, at what point will the NHTSA open an investigation and mandate that Ford issue a recall for the known problems with the r1080 3. 5l and the camshaft/phasers. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Like most people with the same model and year. My transmission stopped shifting, and stalled. I was fortunate since I was sitting in the intersection. You need to look into the 10speed transmission they are faulty and need to be investigated!.

Like a lot of F-150 owners, my 10speed transmission stopped working not allowing me to accelerate or shift into reverse. I was stuck in the intersection luckily I didn’t get into an accident. The truck was stuck in 7th gear! this is dangerous and happens far too commonly, please investigate, this is dangerous and expensive for the average consumer. Please help.

Transmission shifts hard looses power. I reported it to Ford before my warrenty ran out. They said it was fine and just needed an update. It did not fix it took it and got second opinion and the transmission was bad and needed to be replaced. I had to pay out of pocket because they did not take care of the issue while it was under warrenty. Now im out 7000 because of a faulty transmission and Fords lack of addressing the issue.

10 speed transmission, started slipping. And then slamming into gear while it would down shift. We have had 4 rebuilt transmissions put in with Ford. And now the truck just went into the shop again for the same issues. This last time before going into the dealership, felt like the transmission was just going to drop out. It was hard. Do not feel safe in this truck any more. It is not reliable. No warning lights at all.

The Ford 10 speed transmission has continued to give me issues. Delayed shifting, harsh engagements, and overheating are the symptoms. I have been to the dealer several times for the issue. They programmed the transmission, reset values, then replaced the valve body. After valve body replacement, the service manager at the dealership told me that it shifts fairly well compared to other f150s and there’s nothing more they can do. There have been several instances where I have to pull over in traffic due to overheating. The lack of predictability in the shift also makes for unsafe situations.

Component/system failure: the 10-speed automatic transmission failed prematurely at only 75,000 miles. The transmission is still in the vehicle and available for inspection upon request. The symptoms include harsh shifting between gears, particularly into lower gears, followed by significant lag and then abrupt jumping/engagement. This is consistent with numerous other complaints filed regarding the 10-speed transmission in this model year. Safety risk: the unpredictable transmission behavior created dangerous driving conditions. The harsh shifting and lag followed by sudden acceleration made it impossible to safely merge into traffic, navigate intersections, or maintain consistent speed on highways. The erratic gear engagement put myself, my passengers, and other drivers at risk as the vehicle's response became completely unreliable. The truck is currently unsafe to drive. Professional confirmation: yes, the problem has been confirmed by aamco transmission on sept 17, 2025. They diagnosed it as transmission failure requiring complete replacement. Manufacturer/other inspection: no inspection by Ford has occurred to date. Warning indicators: no warning lights, check engine lights, or dashboard messages appeared prior to or during the failure. The only symptoms were the physical driving symptoms described above—harsh shifting, significant lag, and abrupt gear engagement—which began approximately gradually over the past month and progressively worsened until the vehicle became unsafe to operate.

The transmission has harsh, jerky, clunking shifts. It also has delayed engagement and complete power loss. There is also problems with downshifting from 7th gear to first gear when coming to a complete stop. Vehicle seams to be in neutral then finally shifts to 1st gear before vehicle finally moves.