Transmission Question

[Reaper_Less]

What are your thoughts about cold start shifting? Is this normal?

I have a new transmission installed and it has some minor delayed shifts in 3-4 and 7-8th gear. Once the transmission temp hits 120° or higher, it shifts perfectly fine in all gears. It happens with the stock tune and with the FP tune.

I've used a '24 Escape and '25 Bronco as loaners and both had the same delayed shifting when cold.

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[Stevedbvik1]

What are your thoughts about cold start shifting? Is this normal?

I have a new transmission installed and it has some minor delayed shifts in 3-4 and 7-8th gear. Once the transmission temp hits 120° or higher, it shifts perfectly fine in all gears. It happens with the stock tune and with the FP tune.

I've used a '24 Escape and '25 Bronco as loaners and both had the same delayed shifting when cold.

I had a new transmission installed in July. Have about 2500 miles on it now. Not noticing any delays at all when cold. But I didn’t drive it in February or March. But it was plenty cold in December and January and didn’t notice any delays.

 

[Frenchy]

As a thought perhaps you should pick one tune and leave it there. When you reflash the PCM the transmission goes back into relearn mode.

 

[Reaper_Less]

As a thought perhaps you should pick one tune and leave it there. When you reflash the PCM the transmission goes back into relearn mode.

I plan on leaving the FP tune on. Its definitely still in the relearn phase. Just curious about the cold starts cause I've noticed it on 3 different Fords.

 

[Frenchy]

I plan on leaving the FP tune on. Its definitely still in the relearn phase. Just curious about the cold starts cause I've noticed it on 3 different Fords.

You have a 10-speed automatic that prefers to be hot. It's going to be a little jerky when cold

 

[Burnt Money]

I’m at 88k miles on my original transmission. I always let my truck warm up for at least 3-4min even in the summer. Usually longer in the winter. It randomly does the jerkiness sometimes when I first start driving. Maybe 2-3 times a month.

 

[Msfitoy]

What are your thoughts about cold start shifting? Is this normal?

I have a new transmission installed and it has some minor delayed shifts in 3-4 and 7-8th gear. Once the transmission temp hits 120° or higher, it shifts perfectly fine in all gears. It happens with the stock tune and with the FP tune.

I've used a '24 Escape and '25 Bronco as loaners and both had the same delayed shifting when cold.

I have same...when cold, there's like a hole between 3-4...slight hesitation...probably fluid not fully migrated to all passages...

 

[5thranger]

What are your thoughts about cold start shifting? Is this normal?

I have a new transmission installed and it has some minor delayed shifts in 3-4 and 7-8th gear. Once the transmission temp hits 120° or higher, it shifts perfectly fine in all gears. It happens with the stock tune and with the FP tune.

I've used a '24 Escape and '25 Bronco as loaners and both had the same delayed shifting when cold.

My 2018 F150 would delay the higher gear shifts when cold, Ford mechanic told me they are programed that way.

 

[KJRR]

Normal for me. Been that way since day 1 in my 2019 with 39k.. Dealer won't check the fluid, says they see no signs of leaks or other indications it would be low.
I let it warm for a minute in temps above 40 and a few minutes below that temp and all is fine. If I don't, it usually smooths out within a mile.

 

[harringtondav]

I guess I've been lucky with my 2019. ...granted, only 30K+ miles.
I learned to up pedal shift on a 3.3L Caravan that was marginal for towing my boat. Up pedal shifting cancels, or reverses the torque differential at the clutches. ...did the same with a '99 Durango.
Old habits die hard. I do this with my Ranger w/o a load on the hitch to force the up shifts. I've noticed it will jump 1 to 3, 3 to 5 depending on the mph. Once in 5 or 6 I let it do its thing.
When towing my 4K# boat I use the 'S' range and shifter button, but still throttle off until the shift completes.

 

[Msfitoy]

I guess I've been lucky with my 2019. ...granted, only 30K+ miles.
I learned to up pedal shift on a 3.3L Caravan that was marginal for towing my boat. Up pedal shifting cancels, or reverses the torque differential at the clutches. ...did the same with a '99 Durango.
Old habits die hard. I do this with my Ranger w/o a load on the hitch to force the up shifts. I've noticed it will jump 1 to 3, 3 to 5 depending on the mph. Once in 5 or 6 I let it do its thing.
When towing my 4K# boat I use the 'S' range and shifter button, but still throttle off until the shift completes.

You have 65K miles left on your tranny...

 

[harringtondav]

You have 65K miles left on your tranny...

I'm trying to stretch it beyond that. PPE pan, full flush + filter and LubeGard.
I don't know if Ford has fixed the fatal flaws on newer trannys, but my 2019 has all of them lurking.
They way I drive it, and the low miles/yr I put on it, I reckon 65K will give me another 10 yrs. ....not sure I'll out live it. ...I'll be pushing 82.
Or I can start beating the snot out of it and hope it pukes before Dec 2026 when my ESP times out.
More likely I'll lie about quirky shifting and see if that CDF scan (?) smokes out a pending failure.

 

[gwhalin]

Definitely janky when cold. I see it between 3 and 4 but also reverse. Worst was when it was parked outside in below zero overnight. Needed to back up an incline and wouldn’t go into reverse until trans temp got above 32.

 

[daniel3507]

4th gear is the issue on my transmission too. Holds 3rd long and sometimes holds 4th a bit long. 8th gear does it too at times, but not as bad. I brought it in last year for that issue and they did a refresh on it replacing some parts. I took it in last month because it was doing the same thing and they replaced the entire transmission. Guess what it's still doing?

 

[TJC]

Broken record on...

If your fluid is new pull out a little fluid and add LubeGard Platinum. It cured my severely bad transmission ills. If not new fluid, suck out 6-7 quarts with a xfer pump and add LubeGard Platinum with the new fluid.

I took my truck in early and was told it was "normal". Never went back! This was well before the transmission issues were widely known.

My trannie began it's errant behavior at 5K miles and got progressively worse until at 18K miles I stopped driving it. I didn't want to damage it further.
I had crazy shifting patterns, hard shifting up and down, slow shifts, it engaged once at a stop sign, and it refused to disengage at a stop light, then violently disengaged (I was hard on the brake trying to stop the truck) throwing us forward. Seat belts held us in place.

Was ready to unload it when I took the advice of a couple of folks on this forum and did the above. I'm at 25K and it has been flawless. I have no idea how long it will last but it has been 7K miles with no issues.

I have 2 cases of 12 bottles of ULV in the garage and LubeGard Platinum, and filter ready to go in if the need arises.

This shouldn't be happening, but it is reality. Shame on Ford! BTW, it never threw a code!

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