Power Train Problems of Ford Ranger - part 1

My 2019 Ford Ranger, VIN 1fter4fh2kla63893, experienced a major transmission failure at approximately 35,000 miles. I took the vehicle to a Ford dealership for diagnosis and was advised that the transmission required major repair/replacement, with an estimated cost approaching $9,000. I also obtained an independent transmission repair estimate of approximately $6,700–$7,000. Given the extremely low mileage and the repair cost relative to the vehicle’s value, repairing the truck no longer made financial sense. The transmission failure substantially reduced its trade value and is forcing me to replace a vehicle that I otherwise intended to keep. I estimate the resulting loss of equity at approximately $7,000, in addition to the financial impact of prematurely taking on another vehicle and associated financing. After the failure, I learned of ongoing litigation involving Ford’s 10r80 10-speed transmission, including allegations involving 2019 and 2020 Ford Rangers. I am reporting my experience so this failure is formally documented and can be considered in connection with any investigation, litigation, warranty extension, recall, or other potential remedy involving the 10r80 transmission.

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8/4/2026 @ approximately 0630 when making a right hand turn vehicle (transmission) stalled for approximately 3-4 seconds before restarting. Reported to corwin Ford service dept. Here in reno,nv who declined to investigate. Said it was my responsibility even though vehicle is under warranty. 8/27/2026 @ approximately 0830 while entering high traffic roadway with 55mph speed limit with foot depressed on gas pedal transmission completely stalled while traffic rapidly approached. Transmission engaged at last minute before rear end impact.

Vehicle received and installed an over-the-air software update to the body control module, identified on the vehicle screen as bcm-26. 6. 3 and associated with safety recall 26s29 (a-pillar/sun visor wiring, NHTSA 26v238000). The update screen displayed a status of "not completed. " since that update the vehicle will not start and is inoperative. Current condition: opening the driver door wakes the center infotainment screen only. The instrument cluster does not illuminate. Pressing the brake pedal produces no response - no cluster illumination, no warning lamps, no chimes, no messages, no crank. 12v power is present; the manufacturer's telematics app still reaches the vehicle and returns status. Symptoms are consistent with a body control module that is powered but not communicating on the vehicle network. No warning lamps, messages, or symptoms were present before the update. The vehicle operated normally until the update was installed. Safety risk: the vehicle became immobile without warning immediately following installation of a manufacturer-pushed safety recall remedy. The transmission cannot be shifted electronically, requiring the manual park release to move or tow the vehicle. Had this occurred away from home or in a traffic lane, the vehicle would have been stranded and unable to move under its own power. The bcm also governs exterior lighting and hazard lamp function. Note: the update screen header displayed "25s29" while the body text referenced completing safety recall 26s29. The vehicle has a dealer-installed Ford performance procal calibration. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by the dealer or manufacturer. It is available for inspection upon request.

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While driving my 2020 Ford Ranger, the transmission has repeatedly exhibited unexpected and unintended gear changes, including sudden downshifts or gear changes without driver input, hesitation, and abrupt loss of power during acceleration. These problems have occurred during highway merging, pulling into traffic, and city driving. On 08/14/2026, while accelerating to pull into traffic, the vehicle suddenly lost power, creating a hazardous situation as vehicles approached from behind. I have also experienced instances in which the transmission unexpectedly shifted or hesitated without warning, causing the vehicle to lurch or slow unpredictably in traffic. This condition creates a serious safety hazard because an unexpected loss of power or unintended gear change can prevent the vehicle from accelerating when needed, such as when merging, passing, pulling into traffic, or avoiding a collision. The unpredictable behavior increases the risk of a crash and endangers both the driver and surrounding motorists. The vehicle was taken to crossroads Ford of indian trail on 08/14/2026, where it was diagnosed with a failed or failing 10r80 automatic transmission. At the time, the vehicle had approximately 57,500 miles and was approximately 5 years and 7 months old, which is 7 months beyond the manufacturer's bumper-to-bumper warranty. I have maintained the vehicle according to Ford's recommended service schedule throughout my ownership. I am aware that Ford has issued prior service bulletins and customer satisfaction programs related to 10r80 transmission issues, including TSB 18-2274, 20-2339, 22-2139, 23-2250, and 24-2254, although I have not confirmed whether any of them directly apply to this VIN. I am filing this complaint because the symptoms I experienced—unexpected gear changes, hesitation, lurching, and sudden loss of power—present an immediate safety risk to me, my passengers, and other drivers on the road.

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I was traveling south on I-35 going up a long steep hill and my transmission started to hard shift and then I would lose power and when I would accelerate, I had no power it would just stall out so I merged to the right side in case I had to pull over because I thought the engine had died. When I reached my destination, I looked under my truck to discover fluid on the under carriage at that point I knew the transmission had blown a seal or a high-pressure hose. So, I left the truck there and the next day had it towed back to my house. There were times I had slowed down so much that traffic almost hit me.

Truck is randomly switching to baja mode which engages the 4wheel drive making steering difficult.

Transmission hard shifts in low gear and sometimes slips gears or revs up engine without accelerating then slams into gear lurching forward. Had transmission oil checked by dealer and they said it looked great. Happened 29 July several times and again 5 Aug all throughout the day.

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My 2019 Ford Ranger with 10 speed transmission has been harsh shifting and will not always find the right gears. It will sometimes surge forward or at other time not respond to acceleration. It has 100,000 miles. Never used it for towing or hawling heavy items.

The drive mode randomly changes by itself while drive. When this occurs it can shift to 4 wheel drive will moving on dry pavement. This this not been checked out by the dealer because based on online forums others have the same issue and Ford can not reproduce or provide any fixes. I'm assuming there have been other complaints for this same issue reported to NHTSA. I'm adding a date for when this happened below, but it has happened at least six times since I have owned the truck online forums [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

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Hello, I have a 24-Ford Ranger raptor, this incident happened twice, I was driving approximately 60 mph and vehicle on its own started changing drive modes. It switched itself to baja mode which is 4-wheel drive and very dangerous at these speeds. I took my truck to local Ford dealer in valencia CA, dealer stated no codes or issues found. This is deeply concerning to me; I have family that also drives this vehicle. I have read online that other same vehicle owners are experiencing same symptoms and heavy concerns. Not sure where to go from here, any help or feedback would greatly appreciated. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Auto transmission is failing to shift when taking off from a stop or hesitating to shift to next year causing traffic behind me to get close to rear bumper.

When turning vehicle will intermittently lose power for 1 to 2 seconds, and then it suddenly returns.

The vehicle changed it's drive mode on it's own without user interaction. The event happened while driving at 70mph on the interstate. Vehicle changed to the baja drive mode by itself which also tries to change from 2h to 4h at speed. I was able to quickly move drive selector back to normal drive mode before the 4h change occurred, but it also tried to change to the rock crawl mode which would result in a 4l mode. Severe damage to the drivetrain could have occurred and could also result in loss of control of vehicle if it was able to slam into 4h or 4l at speed. This type of behavior has been reported by many other drivers at the Ranger6g forum. . Read more...

While driving at 60 mph drive mode selector changed to baja mode and switched to 4wdhi. Had to stop and shut off truck to resume normal driving. While driving at 25-30 mph in normal mode, drive mode changed to rock crawl mode, engaged rear axel lock, and attempted to engage 4wd low range (several times). My local dealer service dept. Is unaware of any other instances of this, although it appears to be fairly common according to posts on internet forums.

The vehicle went into baja mode 4wd high then 4wd low range out of nowhere while driving. It shot me off the road , and ive been researching it. There is a 6 page thread about new Rangers and Ranger raptors doing this on 6g Ranger forum, tons of people with the same issue. Super scary. Fear injury or fatality will happen from this as it shoots you hard off the road.

1st I reported to Ford that when my truck was in park and off, it started rolling down a hill. I jumped in and stopped it. Ford said they see nothing and everything looks fine. Since then I use the emergency break every time. 2nd, you feel the transmission shifting hard. Jerks truck. Also, if you drive around 25 mph, the truck starts jerking like it cant make up its mind what gear to be in.

The truck is currently at a certified Ford dealer for diagnosis with a drive train fault. I suspect it is transmission-related, but was not given the history of all stored, pending and history of the codes. The truck exhibits unprovoked forward acceleration/violent lunging when braking to a stop and when driving at low speeds, making intersection control dangerous. It also has severe delayed gear engagement, causing high engine rpm spikes followed by sudden gear slamming, creating a sudden loss of acceleration power while attempting to merge into active highway traffic. The transmission symptoms have been repeatedly reported to and reproduced by certified Ford franchises (mullinax Ford and coggin deland Ford). Technicians previously performed superficial adaptive memory software clears (kam resets) rather than fixing the physical mechanical defect, which has persisted. The vehicle has been inspected multiple times by factory-trained dealership technicians. The initial symptoms first appeared on may 25, 2023, when the vehicle had 38,575 miles (fully within the factory powertrain warranty window). Persistent symptoms include: 1. Harsh gear engagement/slamming at various speeds. 2. Delayed shifting with sudden rpm spikes before catching gears. 3. Sudden low-speed lurching and acceleration when slowing down. The vehicle has now triggered an active "drivetrain fault" warning lamp on the dashboard illumination cluster.

Vehicle was placed into Ford’s neutral tow mode according to the owner’s manual before being recreationally towed behind a motorhome. The instrument cluster displayed Ford’s confirmation that neutral tow was enabled and the vehicle was ready for four-wheel-down towing. The transmission failure occurred during the second day of towing. After highway travel, the transmission severely overheated, expelled transmission fluid and lost all ability to move in forward or reverse. Diagnostic code p0218, transmission over-temperature, was present. Neutral tow was no longer enabled when the vehicle was subsequently checked. The Ford dealer states that the vehicle does not retain logs confirming whether neutral tow was enabled or remained enabled. Ford’s gsb 22-7086 directs the dealer to inspect for transmission damage associated with the drivetrain being rotated during recreational towing. However, the resulting damage cannot establish whether the owner failed to activate neutral tow or whether Ford’s electronically controlled neutral tow system confirmed activation and later failed to maintain the required mechanical state. The fact that the vehicle was successfully towed during the first day before failing on the second day raises concern that the transfer case, shift-control system or related electronics may have lost or failed to maintain neutral tow after it had been successfully activated. There are other reported incidents involving Ford Ranger, f-150 and bronco vehicles in which owners state that neutral tow was confirmed but the drivetrain subsequently re-engaged, overheated or suffered catastrophic transmission damage during recreational towing. This condition presents a safety risk because Ford’s system may display that the vehicle is ready and safe to tow while potentially failing to keep the drivetrain mechanically isolated. In this incident, extremely hot transmission fluid was expelled onto the vehicle, tow equipment and surrounding roadway, creating a poss.

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Making turn at approximately 10 mph, and as I applied the throttle to resume acceleration, the vehicle seemed to "stall. " engine was still running, but no response to throttle input for 2-3 seconds. This has happened twice, and my truck only has 30,000 miles.

Several times while driving at highway speed, my vehicle transmission will shift all by itself into baha 4wd mode, or 4wd mode causing my truck to become a hazard on the road. Should someone be following me and my transmission implodes due to this issue, people could be seriously harmed or killed.

The transmission under several circumstances will just stall out. Will not allow the vehicle to accelerate. Flooring the gas pedal does not do anything. Rpm may go up a couple hundred rpm (not thousand) but the truck just will not move. After this now happening several times I can tell you that it happens when making a left or right hand turn without coming to a complete stop and the area turning into is an up hill section. Watching the gear indicator normally shows a very high gear of 8 or higher. Trans needs to down shift but it will not. Stomping accelerator to the floor does nothing. On and off to the floor does nothing. Pulling the shifter to manual and flicking the change gear does work and if you don't have on coming traffic bearing down that's fine. But if you have on coming traffic and you can't move it is a major safety issue in my mind. The vehicle feels like you have pulled up to a parking curb and after stopping you try to go over it with little to no power being applied. This has happened now seven times. Ford dealer says the vehicle shows no codes.

2025 Ranger stx with 950 miles on odometer. When starting vehicle with transmission in park, a pronounced clunk/thump is heard and felt. The clunk/thump varies in intensity with the most intense episode resulting in the physical slight rearward movement of the truck. Symptom seems to be more prevalent when vehicle has been dormant for a few hours or overnight. Initially thought vehicle was going to lunge rearward by physical movement of truck. No warning lights were present with the event. Dealer appointment is scheduled later next week. Vehicle is availabe for inspection upon request.

I believe this is a transmission problem; however, not sure if it could be program related. The main safety issue is after taking off from a stop, the truck just stopped accelerating and hesitated, as if though it got "stuck" trying to change gears. This issue has happened a few times, once with my wife in the truck, who looked at me like what the heck was I doing. This definitely creates a situation for a rear impact collision if the person behind you didn't hit the brakes soon enough. The transmission also seems to "clunk" real hard at times when coming to a stop, as if though it is switching gears from say 4th down to 1st, skipping 3rd and 2nd gears. I did report this to kendall Ford of eugene and they said it shifts just the same as all of the other Rangers with this same transmission. I received no warning lamps, symptoms, or messages.

While making a right turn, vehicle suddenly lost all power and shut down for several seconds. This is a safety issue, stalling out in front of oncoming traffic, etc. No warnings lamps, messages appeared. No dealer inspection yet. Numerous other owners on message boards have reported the same issue occurring with their vehicle.

Transmission. Total mechanical failure. TSB. 23-2250 tbs 24-2101 tbs. 25-2134. Transmission fluid was replaced at 83709. Replaced at 104263. Factory schedule 150000. Ford is aware they are selling a product that has factory mechanical issues.

2021 Ford Ranger 98160 millas firts time buy 01 19 2022 transmition went out 7 2 2026, my factory defect.

The transmission has issues not shifting gears and having loss of power when pulling out into intersections that are getting worse with time.

Transmission is awful jerky, jumps in and out of gear, causing engine rpm’s to go really high. Shifts erratically, causing me to almost rear end other vehicles. Very dangerous situations a many occasions. Won’t accelerate at times when pulling out in to traffic, causing other drivers to slow down or get in to another lane suddenly. This has happened on many occasions.

Purchased this truck new and took on a trip over the weekend. Put on just under 800 miles no issues. This morning while driving to get my wondows tinted I noticed my truck flashing to apply brakes as it was trying to shift itself into 4wd low setting. Sure enough I looked over and the truck was switching drive modes when no one had touched it. Nothing in my cupholder either that could have accidentally bunped it either. I quickly pulled over and pressed the 2 wheel drive button and restarted the truck. I did a quick google search and found that others are having this issue too. I cant even imagine what damage it would have done to the vehicle or myself if it fully shifted over while driving at highway speeds.

While driving, randomly and intermittently the vehicles drive mode will change on its own, usually requiring the driver to slow down to allow for a 4x4 shift, as called out by messages on the dash and an audible warning. This has happened multiple times and Ford cannot replicate this issue. I was going to just replace the drive mode selection knob but as it turns out it's on national backorder.

I previously submitted another complaint about a 2020 Ford Ranger I own (tracking number 11707667). I own a 2020 Ford Ranger and had to have the transmission replaced at 86k miles. Since having it replaced, I have experienced all the same problems with the transmission. There have been extremely aggressive shifts, jolts, and lags. It has stalled when going through intersections and more. It has been extremely dangerous. The truck is now back in the shop and the new transmission is undergoing a valve body replacement. The new transmission has less than 15k miles and it is undergoing major repairs as I type this. These Ford 10r80 transmissions are completely and utterly garbage and a total liability to the public. They pose as an extreme safety hazard to everyone on public roads.

The ring gear wore out and had to replace the whole rear end.

The vehicle occasionally will change drive modes while in motion. In the past three months, it has switched from normal to baja mode three times and from normal to rock crawl mode one time. The issues occured while driving on the freeway in construction traffic, driving slowly down rural county roads, and driving slowly in my subdivision.

Truck was shifting weird the day before incident got really bad. The next day on the way home from my newborns dr appointment it began shuddering really badly and would make a loud thud noise when shifting so I had to pull off to the side of the road. There was never a warning lamp or message prior. I took the truck to a reputable transmission shop and they found the issue to be the cdf drum that had shifted out of place. Cdf drum and valve body was replaced. Truck had just over 35000 miles at time of repair. I can provide receipt from shop if needed. While speaking to the mechanic at the shop he informed me that this is a common occurrence for these 10 speed transmissions and there was another vehicle there for the same issue.

Hash shifting and at times kicks into gear hard at a stop light nearly hitting vehicle in front of me.