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ENGINE VIBRATION/LUGGING

carlosedro

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Hello everyone

This is now my second thread, its been now 1 month since I got my 2021 ranger XLT, I have been struggling to get use to the way this truck rides/drives. I feel this vibration when I press on gas, it feels like the transmission is vibrating, there is also this feeling underneath the floor and seats like the engine/transmission is lugging, the drive feels bumpy/vibrations, 95% of the time I feel this, sometimes very rarely it feels super smooth, but it comes right after a few seconds/minutes. I have noticed this only happens when the engine is warm, when it is cold I don't feel it. Ive been reading some users had this issue but got better after a few hundred miles, my truck now has 1500 miles, at the beginning when I got the truck I could not feel this, it started to get worse, it feels uncomfortable to drive. I tired it in sport and tow and also locking out gears but it is always present. I wanted to give it a few more miles before taking it to the dealer, I will be taking it after the new year, but was wondering what some of you with similar issue like mine did or if found a solution. After reading lots of threads I am just worried dealer will say it is normal for this truck to do this, this is just not acceptable to me, and I am sure this would bother anyone. I saw a video of the 2019 ford ranger review by savage geese, he explains this exact same issue I feel at minute 6:50. Thank you all, I really appreciate your time and input.

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VegasRanger

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My truck does this, but only around town. It's definitely transmission tuning in my opinion. The fix is to drive in sports mode around town. If you take it to the dealership, I doubt they will do anything except maybe clear the transmission, which I already did with forscan and it didn't do anything.
 

JesseS

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I have heard this from several people, but my 21 XLT Crew is smooth as glass thru the entire power band, does it search for gears at low speed in town, yes, but I just lock out the higher ones or use Sport mode, I have no acceleration vibration at all. I would think this is more an issue with the hanger bearing or driveshaft than the Xmission.
 

WNCblueridge

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Hello everyone

This is now my second thread, its been now 1 month since I got my 2021 ranger XLT, I have been struggling to get use to the way this truck rides/drives. I feel this vibration when I press on gas, it feels like the transmission is vibrating, there is also this feeling underneath the floor and seats like the engine/transmission is lugging, the drive feels bumpy/vibrations, 95% of the time I feel this, sometimes very rarely it feels super smooth, but it comes right after a few seconds/minutes. I have noticed this only happens when the engine is warm, when it is cold I don't feel it. Ive been reading some users had this issue but got better after a few hundred miles, my truck now has 1500 miles, at the beginning when I got the truck I could not feel this, it started to get worse, it feels uncomfortable to drive. I tired it in sport and tow and also locking out gears but it is always present. I wanted to give it a few more miles before taking it to the dealer, I will be taking it after the new year, but was wondering what some of you with similar issue like mine did or if found a solution. After reading lots of threads I am just worried dealer will say it is normal for this truck to do this, this is just not acceptable to me, and I am sure this would bother anyone. I saw a video of the 2019 ford ranger review by savage geese, he explains this exact same issue I feel at minute 6:50. Thank you all, I really appreciate your time and input

I had same issue on my 21XL approx 70% of the time while driving. If a dealer says "this is just how they are supposed to drive"then why is it butter smooth the other 30% of the time. So for that reason I suspect a TSB could potentially be a fix. Hopefully you have a good competent service department who will work with you to find resolution. They should have access to NVH equipment to detect frequency and isolate where the problem area is, or one of the TSB's as mentioned above. Having my aftermarket tires rebalanced and lower tire pressure helped make it at least tolerable for now or until I can get to dealer
 

Trigganometry

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Some have had similar issues but for most they worked their way out after some miles got put on. Mine was a little rough like that for the first 2.5K and then started to smooth out. During that period of time I would stay in D and lock out any gears I didn’t want it shifting to. Kept RPM anywhere from 1800 to 2200 and after months of driving like that it pretty much shifts on its own in that power band. After that 2.5K every now and then, like entering a highway I stomp the skinny and let her rip. That gets the rings set.

I’m at 13.5K now and still lock out gears. It wants to shift to the highest gear it can and that will make it lug if no intervention.

I do not run a tune as it’s still factory for the most part
 


Richie Rich

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Hello, I'm new to
Hello everyone

This is now my second thread, its been now 1 month since I got my 2021 ranger XLT, I have been struggling to get use to the way this truck rides/drives. I feel this vibration when I press on gas, it feels like the transmission is vibrating, there is also this feeling underneath the floor and seats like the engine/transmission is lugging, the drive feels bumpy/vibrations, 95% of the time I feel this, sometimes very rarely it feels super smooth, but it comes right after a few seconds/minutes. I have noticed this only happens when the engine is warm, when it is cold I don't feel it. Ive been reading some users had this issue but got better after a few hundred miles, my truck now has 1500 miles, at the beginning when I got the truck I could not feel this, it started to get worse, it feels uncomfortable to drive. I tired it in sport and tow and also locking out gears but it is always present. I wanted to give it a few more miles before taking it to the dealer, I will be taking it after the new year, but was wondering what some of you with similar issue like mine did or if found a solution. After reading lots of threads I am just worried dealer will say it is normal for this truck to do this, this is just not acceptable to me, and I am sure this would bother anyone. I saw a video of the 2019 ford ranger review by savage geese, he explains this exact same issue I feel at minute 6:50. Thank you all, I really appreciate your time and input.

Hello, my truck does the same thing. Some days are better than others. I cannot put my finger on what can be the issue? I felt it when I first drove it and did not think much of it at the time. I spoke to the fellow who leased it and he stated that is how it drove when he got got it new, and he did not think there was an issue. I have not taking the truck in for service yet for this issue since I just got it in Sept and I have a company vehicle. It drives me crazy at times because I feel the engine and trans should be a lot smother.
 

D Fresh

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Take it to the dealership.

Sounds like like normal lugging from too high a gear. But tow mode/S/manual shifting would alleviate it if that were the case.
 

Extreme01

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All my transmission shifting problems were resolved when I installed the Ford Performance Tune. No rough shifting, slugging or hesitations..
 

Wytchdctr

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If you are asking a 2.3 4cyl to move more than 4k pounds, without boost, at low RPM, with a turbo in the way of the exhaust (remember it hurts performance until it spools) - it's gonna be a bit rough about it. If it is doing the vibration/lugging at higher rpms or with the turbo awake... uhhh something is loose or broken. I had Genesis with a slightly imbalanced driveshaft that had weird vibrations until I got that sorted.

The stock "D" shifting can lean a bit too much towards mpg at times.. lugging the crap out of it. I get the same lug vibration at low rpm but started using tow mode if I know I am going to be stuck in slow-speed situations for a bit or drop into S if I know I might suddenly need power. That and I just started being a bit more... aggressive with the pedal. I took on a grab-it by the scruff approach to driving this thing in general compared to previous cars or the other three I own. It handles that vs being gentle far better.
 

UnregistredHypercam2

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Stock truck, similar issue when the trans goes for 10th gear around 40mph. Easiest fix is to lock out higher gears. 4 banger outside of power band without boost will kick and scream.
 
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carlosedro

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I forgot to mention, when braking and coming to a stop you feel this vibration/bucking feeling under car, there is definitely something wrong with this truck. Thanks all for your input, Ill update on dealer diagnostic
 

UnregistredHypercam2

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gwhalin

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The "lugging" in too high of a gear is something I have experienced from day 1 with this truck. Where I live it is a very hilly and windy small roads where max speed is usually 35-40 and I experience it a lot in my driving. The "fixes" many have already mentioned include Tow or Sports mode, locking out gears, or a tune (though even with a tune on mine it still is not solved completely). For what it is worth, I don't tend to use the different driving modes very often and locking out gears I find to be tedious and not something I feel I should have to do in a high priced automatic transmission.

At this point (8k miles) I have grown used to it and find it actually doesn't happen nearly as often. Probably some of that is the transmission settling, some is the tune (I have the Livernois soft shift 93 performance tune), and some is my driving. I have found that I have had to change the way I use my right foot. I was used to barely giving it any gas in situations where now I find I need to give it a bit more to get the transmission to downshift.
 

Wytchdctr

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I forgot to mention, when braking and coming to a stop you feel this vibration/bucking feeling under car, there is definitely something wrong with this truck. Thanks all for your input, Ill update on dealer diagnostic
That's not lugging. I'm going to guess it is something loose in the front suspension and letting the tire(s) act up on acceleration and deceleration. Totally different setup but I've had a control arm bushing give up and it felt weird .. but that was also under hard acceleration and braking. Guess still stands because of it happening on both.
 

Shoran12

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Hello everyone

This is now my second thread, its been now 1 month since I got my 2021 ranger XLT, I have been struggling to get use to the way this truck rides/drives. I feel this vibration when I press on gas, it feels like the transmission is vibrating, there is also this feeling underneath the floor and seats like the engine/transmission is lugging, the drive feels bumpy/vibrations, 95% of the time I feel this, sometimes very rarely it feels super smooth, but it comes right after a few seconds/minutes. I have noticed this only happens when the engine is warm, when it is cold I don't feel it. Ive been reading some users had this issue but got better after a few hundred miles, my truck now has 1500 miles, at the beginning when I got the truck I could not feel this, it started to get worse, it feels uncomfortable to drive. I tired it in sport and tow and also locking out gears but it is always present. I wanted to give it a few more miles before taking it to the dealer, I will be taking it after the new year, but was wondering what some of you with similar issue like mine did or if found a solution. After reading lots of threads I am just worried dealer will say it is normal for this truck to do this, this is just not acceptable to me, and I am sure this would bother anyone. I saw a video of the 2019 ford ranger review by savage geese, he explains this exact same issue I feel at minute 6:50. Thank you all, I really appreciate your time and input.

You still having these issues with the truck?
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