Power Train Problems of Ford F-150 - part 2

Coming down an incline in a parking garage and had a hard down shift while lightly applying the brakes issue is following pre warning signs for safety issues under investigation.

See all problems of the 2017 Ford F-150 🔎.

I had the factory recall done at a local dealership. The ensured me the programming was completed to solve the down shifting of gears while driving. It’s been a couple years since the reprogramming and I still have problems with the truck downshifting at different speeds. It also indicates the wrench on the screen and makes all the gauges including the screen, stop working. During acceleration, if you are merging and need extra speed, the truck stops accelerating and slows down. The only way to reset the wrench on the screen is to stop the vehicle immediately and shut it off until the mileage indicator shows the mileage the vehicle has. Several posts online indicate the same issues for those who own the f150. Driving on the freeway at freeway speeds the truck shifted into first gear while traveling at 75 mph. The tires skidded and the truck jerked hard when it happened. It startled myself and my kids who were in the truck.

See all problems of the 2014 Ford F-150 🔎.

10 speed transmission is not working 1 still gear hyper extends dont wanna shift 2 gear bangs 3 rundown rough then sometimes dowshifts back to 2 nd gear the transmission dosent wanna get hot to normal level.

See all problems of the 2021 Ford F-150 🔎.

My 2018 Ford F-150 experiences harsh, erratic, and unpredictable transmission shifting. The truck frequently hesitates during acceleration, followed by sudden and violent gear engagement. It also makes abrupt downshifts while driving, causing unexpected deceleration that can be dangerous in traffic. The truck will shift from 8th, 9th, or 10th gear down to 1st at highway speeds. This causes abrupt deceleration and significant loss of speed on the highway. On multiple occasions, the transmission has delayed engagement when shifting from a stop, creating hesitation when entering intersections or merging, followed by a sudden surge of power. This creates an unsafe driving condition and increases the risk of rear-end collision or loss of control. The shifting behavior is inconsistent and unpredictable, occurring during both in traffic and highway driving. The problem is worsening over time. Given the frequency and severity of these events, I believe this transmission behavior represents a significant safety defect that should be investigated for potential recall or corrective action.

See all problems of the 2018 Ford F-150 🔎.

We were driving on the interstate and suddenly the truck increased rpms rapidly with no acceleration when pressing the gas. The vehicle began to decelerate quickly on its own. We turned on our flashers to warn drivers around us. The truck suddenly gained back some acceleration, enough for us to move to the right, and lost full power again, and we coasted to the shoulder. If the vehicle had not gained back some acceleration after the initial deceleration, we may have been rear-ended. We had it towed to the nearest Ford dealership. They confirmed the transmission had a total failure. They quoted around 4500 for a rebuild, or 9500 for a new transmission. The truck has only about 53,000 miles on it. I wanted to report this concern because I’m now aware there are many reported issues with this 10-speed transmission, and the sudden complete loss of power as we were driving was extremely dangerous for us and the people around us. We did sometimes experience slightly rough shifting when the truck was “cold” upon starting, however we noticed this since we bought the truck new, and we thought this was normal for it. The failure itself was sudden and unexpected.

Transmission will randomly shift gears. At speed sometimes it will shift into a lower gear causing rapid deceleration. From a start it will jump to 5th then back to 1st and stall the rear tires.

See all problems of the 2016 Ford F-150 🔎.

Transmission will get stuck in 5th gear. Downshifts when traveling at highway speeds. Sometimes hard shifts.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving 75 mph, the check engine warning light illuminated, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted, and the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 24v444000 (power train) as possibly related to the failure. The vehicle was driven to a local dealer for a recall repair. The vehicle was repaired by the dealer. The contact stated that the vehicle was driven back to the residence, but the failure worsened. The vehicle was driven back to the dealer. The dealer denied the repair and stated that there were no issues with the vehicle. The contact stated that the additional issues were associated with the recall. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 264,711.

Very harsh downshifts at random speeds. Transmission slips very hard when cold and overall slips or down/up shifts hard randomly and fairly often.

See all problems of the 2015 Ford F-150 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2020 Ford F-150 🔎.

This vehicle is currently in the shop and the tech is saying we may have to have a transmission replacement. The tech also stated that Ford knows there is a issues with these transmissions and they have not corrected it or made any improvements. Also, Ford will not issue a recall. The vehicle has a very hard shift and is dangerous to drive and it also completely shut down on us, putting our life in danger. We do all the proper maintenance and upkeep on the vehicle at a Ford dealership. This issue is very disappointing as these are "american made" vehicles.

See all problems of the 2019 Ford F-150 🔎.

I have a 6-speed (6r80) transmission. My v8-Ford F-150 2016, truck transmission has been experiencing shifting issues for quite some time now. I reading now that all of these same problems that has been going on with my truck might be a recall. My truck downshifts very aggressively and I was told it does not need to be replaced but it could be something electrical. I have taken my truck to numerous mechanic shops and all of them have told me the same thing it could be something electrical but they cannot figure out what that might be without just replacing the entire transmission which cost $8k to do, this is the only issue that has been wrong with my vehicle. I cannot drive over certain speeds on a highway and sense this might become apart of this recall and every issue that I have been experiencing, I would rather have it fixed if it is a recall instead of replacing an entire transmission if the issue is already known by Ford. Current miles 154,395.

My truck has had multiple issues with randomly downshifting while on the freeway, I'm getting a code that leads back to the "lead frame" wiring every now and then. The code comes and goes without having it cleared. I've had this issue before and have replaced it with the Ford manufactured part. Its now doing it again but now more frequent not even a year and a half after replacement. I have been almost rear ended multiple times due to it locking up the rear tires and once it locked up the tire on ice and it caused me to slide into the median. There are multiple reports of this issue currently on many Ford truck forums. I am currently in the process of contacting Ford again as last time they said to just replace the wiring. My truck is equipped with the 6-speed transmission.

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 contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 25v512000 (power train); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.

See all problems of the 2023 Ford F-150 🔎.

The contact owns a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 23v896000 (power train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the dealer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.

Multiple times while driving my 2016 F-150 I would lose all power to my wheels. The rpms would rise but no power would be transferred to the wheels. This happened one time while on the on ramp at 50+ mph, a second time while drive down a city street at about 30 mph, a third time while starting from a stop light, and a fourth time again when driving in the city at about 45 mph. The check engine light would come on for a minute or two and then turn off. After the vehicle did this for the fourth time the check engine light stayed on. After reviewing there are two error codes the vehicle relayed that the mechanic said are related. During these 4 instances there were two time (highway on ramp and city street at 30 mph when the loss of power to the wheels caused the vehicle directly behind the F-150 to have to swerve around to prevent a collision. P0722 (output shaft speed sensor circuit no signal) and p061a (internal control module torque performance). The vehicle is available as well as the scan results from the obd2 sensor from 4 February 2026. The vehicle was not taken to an auto shop due to the check engine light not remaining lit prior to the 4 February incident at that point it remained lit and an obd2 scanner was used to read the error.

The contact owns a 2015 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving 70 mph on the highway, the gear transmission independently shifted from sixth gear to seventh gear. The vehicle was turned off and restarted and the vehicle operated as intended. Neither an independent mechanic nor a dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 211,256.

Was driving my truck to work and all of a sudden it down shifted from gear 6 to gear 4. Then through up the wrench icon on dash. Would not come out of 4th gear. Code was p0720. Output shaft speed sensor. Once code was cleared, it was ok again for about 20 miles then did it again.

During the last two years with my 2017 Ford f150 XLT 4x4 5. 4l, I've replaced the brake pads 8 times. I've also replaced the rotors on all 4 wheels. Each time, with less than 30,000 miles between needing to replace the pads, the front pads have worn down the entire pad at an unreasonable rate. I do not brake hard, and I drive mostly on highways without much traffic, so having to replace the pads every other month is excessive. With new rotors, still the pads continue wearing down to plate quickly. I've also had to replace the calipers on each wheel more than once because the caliper pins seize and will break when trying to adjust the caliper. The brakes and all the components are a major safety hazard as I'm always worrying if the brakes will function properly any give time I need to slow down. Also, the transmission shifts roughly and even downshifts without cause on occasion. It startles me when I'm driving and suddenly the transmission decides it wants to shift with a violent jolt as though briskly stepping on the brakes. I've had the transmission fluid changed twice in the last 2 years, which did not have any effect on the issue. Prior to each flush, the transmission has also developed a significant leak, which I led to the decision to flush the fluid and replace the pan and gasket. However, after doing so, the transmission continues downshifting and leaking. Once again, these issues have a significant impact on how safe I feel while driving my truck. I love my truck, but I hope my complaint helps Ford fix these little big issues and can develop a fix for future models.

Truck is shifting into low gear while at highway speed cause load thump or bang.

The vehicle continuously goes into limp mode caused by a bad sensor in the transmission, this is a known issue and Ford has not taken adequate responsibility causing an unnecessary financial burden to vehicle owners including myself. This likely affects millions of vehicles with this powertrain and they need to be held accountable.

See all problems of the 2013 Ford F-150 🔎.

Rough shift in 4th gear . . Transmission bangs going in and out of 4 th gear . . There's been news reports your investigating this issue and that it could possibly cause the transmission to lock up at highway speeds.

The contact owns a 2025 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 25v512000 (power train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.

See all problems of the 2025 Ford F-150 🔎.

I live in canada. While driving, my 2017 Ford F-150 with the 6r80 automatic transmission suddenly shut off without warning. The vehicle lost power while in motion, creating a dangerous situation. The incident was accompanied by multiple powertrain fault codes (5 p-codes). This appears to be related to sudden transmission faults and loss of gear position. No prior warning lights before shutdown.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly slipped. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the transmission unexpectedly shifted upshifted and downshifted on several occasions. The vehicle was turned off and restarted to temporarily correct the failure. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.

While driving at a 40+ mph speed the truck suddenly downshift to 1st gear and all gauges stop working. 3rd will downshift to 1st and 5th to 3rd.

I seen there were some issues going around with the 6r80 and wanted to voice my concerns as I am having this issue as well. Intermittently ive been having issues where ill be driving, could be doing 65 down the highway. The wrench light pops up for a second and my truck slams down into 2nd or 3rd gear and goes into limp mode. This could happen at any given time without warning. This just happened to me on Monday, went and got a code reading, and have a code for the output shaft speed sensor. Although I was fine, it is certainly not okay the truck just decided to slam down into gear ultimately slowing down the vehicle tremendously fast while being in traffic. Could have caused an accident or worse.

Transmission issue. Sudden down shift and spike in rpms while driving. Hard shift during acceleration.

Was traveling down the road and my truck randomly downshifted into 1st gear and caused my rear wheels to lock up and I almost went off the road. . Occasionally 9n way back home gear shift selector was randomly cycling back and forth and truck would seem like was neutral and would suddenly go back into a random gear.

Truck goes into first gear shifts automatically at any speed.

There is a hard jerk that happens when moving from a dead stop and then it will shift into gear. Its been reproduced by a maintenance shop. They stated it was the transmission. It has not been inspected by a manufacturer. There was no warning lamps which causes a high risk of safety, including a possibility of accident while on the road.

When the truck is put into reverse especially when cold the transmission does not initially go into gear. When it finally does the vehicle lurches rearward violently and I have to slam on the brakes to not hit anything. The transmission was just "bench" rebuilt under the Ford powertrain warranty supposedly with a cdf drum and valve body replacement along with software updates including adaptive reset and relearn with the appropriate drive cycles however the vehicle still exhibits this condition. I called Ford customer service and filed a complaint with them last month. They told me to bring to another dealer which the vehicle is currently at and has been for a month. They claim that it is normal for this transmission and refuse to fix it. I have video evidence of the truck being put into reverse and the rpm rising before it slams into reverse. I also demonstrated first thing one morning to a technician after a cold soak overnight and he agreed that the vehicle has a delayed engagement in reverse and when it did finally engage it did so violently. The dealer told me to record it and that would be the best evidence and I did along with presenting it to them. After this they changed their mind and said actually a technician has to witness which I also did. Again they said this wasn't good enough. A field engineer supposedly looked at the vehicle and they wont tell me what he said. Very odd. I feel like im getting the run around and have an unsafe vehicle that Ford refuses and it trying to worm their way out of safetly fixing! in the description below is when the truck can be seen in the video recreating the problem however it has done this countless times.

My truck started to over heat due to lost of radiator fluid. The cause was the transmission coolant line chafing against front drive shaft.

The transmission will sporadically shift hard and make a squeal noise on acceleration and deceleration between 20 and 50 mph. Yes it's available for inspection. It has never stopped completely so the risk factor is unknown. Not reported to dealer or independent mechanic at this time nor has it been inspected by the manufacturer or government agency. There are no warning lights dash messages ever displayed.