Complaint 2234852

Complaint Summary

POWER TRAIN

Owner Narrative

The internal mechanical failure of the Ford 10r80 transmission due to design fault causes unsafe driving conditions as the transmission stalls (fails to power at request) or lunges (powers forward without driver input) causing unsafe conditions for vehicle occupants and nearby vehicular & pedestrian traffic. My vehicle exhibits two well known and documented conditions; stalling and lunging forward. The most common failure is that the transmission fails to shift from 1st to 3rd gear in a low speed condition (e.g. navigating parking lots amongst pedestrians). Upon the failure to shift, the vehicles computer system senses this, overrides by raising the vehicle RPMs significantly without driver input to do so, the vehicle then hard shifts and jerks forward several feet in an uncontrollable manner. Anticipating the jerk and overriding with the brakes fails to stop the vehicle from lunging forward. The second most common failure is the transmission totally failing to provide drive. A common scenario would be sitting at a traffic light waiting to make a left turn. Upon the opportunity to make a safe left turn, the vehicle at times will roll slightly forward (in its first gear), it will then attempt a shift while the vehicle may potentially still be in cross-traffic, and the vehicle at times will fail to drive, without any inputs (brake, gas, manual shift) getting the vehicle out of the no-drive condition, and leaving the vehicle subject to a dangerous potential for collision or safety hazard. The issues with the 10r80 transmission failures are well documented, well understood by Ford Motor Company, and specific to my vehicle have been identified by a reputable dealer as requiring repair. My vehicle's transmission is exhibiting failure at 47,000 miles. No warning indications exist prior, during or after this repeatable incident. Ford has since fixed the design flaw, but refuses to address the safety issue with vehicles manufactured before the re-design.

Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.