Complaint 2238793

Complaint Summary

POWER TRAIN

Owner Narrative

While driving home from a work appointment in Rockwall, Texas, I entered an intersection with three lanes of uncontrolled cross traffic traveling approximately 35-45 mph. As I accelerated my Ford F-150 equipped with the 10R80 transmission, it started into the intersection and then began sporadically hunting for a gear. The truck suddenly lost nearly all acceleration and slowed to an almost complete stop while I was in the middle of the intersection. Vehicles were approaching me from the driver side, leaving me with almost no ability to get out of their path. I was extremely fortunate that I was not T-boned. This is the second time this truck has experienced a sudden and dangerous loss of acceleration, the first was with a 4th gear slip on an on-ramp. Neither incident was preceded by a warning light or other dashboard indication. I understand Ford has been aware of problems involving the CDF clutch drum in the 10R80 transmission and that the design was subsequently revised in later versions. My vehicles issues are textbook CDF Drum problems. Meanwhile, the known 10R80 problems have significantly reduced the vehicle's value, leaving me owing more than I can reasonably recover by selling it. This is not simply a reliability issue. A transmission that can unexpectedly eliminate a vehicle's ability to accelerate without warning is a serious safety hazard. Twice, this defect has put me in a situation where I could have been killed by cross traffic. I am asking NHTSA to investigate the 10R80 transmission, including the CDF drum/design issues, and determine whether these failures create an unreasonable safety risk and whether Ford has taken adequate corrective action.

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