GEN 2 Possible transmission issues

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

OP
OP
E

EccentricRaptor

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2021
Posts
221
Reaction score
262
Location
Midwest
I have very similar problems with my 2017. Have had it into the dealer 4 times (aligned with other recalls) and the fix is always to clear the adaptive transmission learning tables. Drives great for 6 months and then goes downhill again. I haven't gone down the path of getting/learning forscan myself, but I might need to as the dealers never turn it around quickly (never less than a week so far).
Well that's no fun :( The last time I had my local dealer do that was around the beginning of August alongside an update. Not quite 6 months, but it's getting there.

Maybe that's all that's wrong with mine too. Right after they did it, the only real thing odd was the revving on downshifts in sport. But, in the past month or so, the other quirks started to surface.

Depending on how they fix it this time, I may end up giving Forscan a try. It didn't sound too complicated when I did a quick read online about it. It sounds better than taking it to the dealer all the time.

Never less than a week?? o_O That ain't cool.
 
OP
OP
E

EccentricRaptor

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2021
Posts
221
Reaction score
262
Location
Midwest
I dropped off the Raptor at the local dealer today. Fingers crossed it’s nothing major. Drove it over there in sport - started out shifting smooth but quickly became an odd mess :confused:

Also discovered back in November that it has a coolant leak (luckily I’m observant enough that I didn’t overheat the poor thing). Both the hose assembly and coolant reservoir were leaking. The parts came in just before the holidays (yay for backordered parts). So they’re fixing that too.

And another cherry on the big party tub of ice cream (forget the bowl - I want the whole party tub). I was using weather mode because the roads looked questionable and when it kicked into four wheel drive, it started pulling to the right suddenly (and harshly) enough that I almost went into the ditch. Was not expecting that at 5 in the morning… so… that’s also on the list too. I’ll be sure to include what was wrong there too because I’ve seen other forums mention issues with 4WD pulling hard to the left or right. Maybe it’ll help someone else out.

It’s sad - as much as I love the truck, I never expected that it would give me this much grief in the six months I’ve had it. When a friend was giving me a ride home after dropping it off, we noticed a gorgeous blue 4 door gen 2 for sale on the lot. Maybe it’s a sign :(
 
OP
OP
E

EccentricRaptor

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2021
Posts
221
Reaction score
262
Location
Midwest
Ok, so I got my beautiful critter back yesterday from the dealer. Here's the basic rundown of how this venture went.

  • Coolant leak should be good - cracked reservoir and leaky hose assembly have been replaced.

  • Pulling to the right in 4WD (gets worse the faster you go) was a bit surprising. They validated that it's properly engaging everything and therefore, 4WD is apparently not the issue. They decided to swap the two front tires and doing so apparently causes it to pull to the left now (I have yet to attempt this). Since the tires still have good tread on them, they suggested seeing what putting the front tires on the rear would do. Since it's almost due for a lovely oil change and tire rotation, I'll be going down that path then.
    • Beyond the general basics with vehicles, I don't know much about this. Would anyone be able to explain how this would even be a thing? I would think regardless of whether there's power applied to the wheel, if there's something wrong with the tire, it would pull harshly regardless of 4WD being on or not.
    • I always figured it was just naturally pulling in the direction/angle of the road (a handful of the back roads where I'm at are actually designed right and they're noticeably higher in the center of the road). But, since they've swapped the front two tires, it doesn't have the very slight pull to the right anymore. Very subtle, but it actually will stay in a straight line now when taking my hands off the wheel.

  • As for the transmission. I got what I expected I would (but honestly, I wanted it confirmed because I'm a pessimist that always assumes the worst). No new updates for the transmission. No codes being thrown for issues. Fluid levels are good. Fluid looks and smells fine. No transmission fluid leaks. The transmission is functioning as Ford says it should and therefore, there's not much the dealer can do. I figured it was entirely the crappy transmission software combined with an excessive amount of gears (6 to 8 gears honestly would have been enough - it's not a semi). As much as I enjoy my truck and Raptors in general (they're the neatest and most attractive trucks straight from the factory and with a little bit of mods they're WOW), I can't help but feel that Ford could have done a MUCH better job with the transmission.
    • Since I find comfort in that the transmission issues are likely entirely software based and it's still under warranty, I'll just keep an eye on it and ignore the fact that it's clumsier than me. And if it gets on my nerves too much, then there's always the option of having a little fun and trying out something like Forscan :)

Can you tell? I like writing novella messages that most people would get tired of reading before they even get halfway though them :p I gotta throw humor into everything - it's my style of making life easier.
 

FordTechOne

FRF Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Posts
6,665
Reaction score
13,044
Location
Detroit
Ok, so I got my beautiful critter back yesterday from the dealer. Here's the basic rundown of how this venture went.

  • Coolant leak should be good - cracked reservoir and leaky hose assembly have been replaced.

  • Pulling to the right in 4WD (gets worse the faster you go) was a bit surprising. They validated that it's properly engaging everything and therefore, 4WD is apparently not the issue. They decided to swap the two front tires and doing so apparently causes it to pull to the left now (I have yet to attempt this). Since the tires still have good tread on them, they suggested seeing what putting the front tires on the rear would do. Since it's almost due for a lovely oil change and tire rotation, I'll be going down that path then.
    • Beyond the general basics with vehicles, I don't know much about this. Would anyone be able to explain how this would even be a thing? I would think regardless of whether there's power applied to the wheel, if there's something wrong with the tire, it would pull harshly regardless of 4WD being on or not.
    • I always figured it was just naturally pulling in the direction/angle of the road (a handful of the back roads where I'm at are actually designed right and they're noticeably higher in the center of the road). But, since they've swapped the front two tires, it doesn't have the very slight pull to the right anymore. Very subtle, but it actually will stay in a straight line now when taking my hands off the wheel.

  • As for the transmission. I got what I expected I would (but honestly, I wanted it confirmed because I'm a pessimist that always assumes the worst). No new updates for the transmission. No codes being thrown for issues. Fluid levels are good. Fluid looks and smells fine. No transmission fluid leaks. The transmission is functioning as Ford says it should and therefore, there's not much the dealer can do. I figured it was entirely the crappy transmission software combined with an excessive amount of gears (6 to 8 gears honestly would have been enough - it's not a semi). As much as I enjoy my truck and Raptors in general (they're the neatest and most attractive trucks straight from the factory and with a little bit of mods they're WOW), I can't help but feel that Ford could have done a MUCH better job with the transmission.
    • Since I find comfort in that the transmission issues are likely entirely software based and it's still under warranty, I'll just keep an eye on it and ignore the fact that it's clumsier than me. And if it gets on my nerves too much, then there's always the option of having a little fun and trying out something like Forscan :)

Can you tell? I like writing novella messages that most people would get tired of reading before they even get halfway though them :p I gotta throw humor into everything - it's my style of making life easier.
A bad front tire can most definitely cause a pull only in 4WD. That is because torque is being applied to the front axle in 4WD, which puts a load on the tires. The bad tire will then become readily apparent.

If you’re unhappy with the factory transmission calibration, you may want to look into an aftermarket option to get it to operate how you’d like.
 
OP
OP
E

EccentricRaptor

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2021
Posts
221
Reaction score
262
Location
Midwest
A bad front tire can most definitely cause a pull only in 4WD. That is because torque is being applied to the front axle in 4WD, which puts a load on the tires. The bad tire will then become readily apparent.

If you’re unhappy with the factory transmission calibration, you may want to look into an aftermarket option to get it to operate how you’d like.
Makes sense - I wonder how that bad tire will respond on the rear then? I guess I'll find out next week when I take it in to have the oil changed & tires rotated.

Yeah, it's certainly odd with the shifting logic. I have a tendency to tinker with things the longer I have them, I'll likely look into it :)

Thank you for the info! :D
 
Top