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Left front axle leaking transmission fluid


Chris Kurtz
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Thanks for the great update . Hope that is the solution

Your van is going to last a long time in your climate and low mileage.

thanks GBL. hope the van last but it seems the transmission is the achilles heel of this vehicle.

it shifts pretty hard at times, mostly on downshifts.

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When does it shift hard,

It likes to get into 6 gear fast, if you coast down and the speed is low it will drop two gears

Skipping 5, this will make the revs go high fast, and could be what you are feeling.

Mine improved the shift quality as I passed 5500 to 6000 miles. Yours might need to take a few road

trips.

Another thing I learned is with the Cruise on it will actively brake to maintain, the set speed

it felt very weird until I knew what was happening .

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When does it shift hard,

It likes to get into 6 gear fast, if you coast down and the speed is low it will drop two gears

Skipping 5, this will make the revs go high fast, and could be what you are feeling.

Mine improved the shift quality as I passed 5500 to 6000 miles. Yours might need to take a few road

trips.

Another thing I learned is with the Cruise on it will actively brake to maintain, the set speed

it felt very weird until I knew what was happening .

shifts hard on downshifts like you describe, a little clunky and not as smooth as you expect from a new vehicle.

I'll pay more attention to when it happens exactly. I do a lot of canyon driving to the beach so I shift from D to S on the downhill portions..

I'm still trying to figure out when it downshifts to add that extra braking as a lower gear. I haven't read the manual on how that's supposed to work.

My last wagon had L1 and L2. I'd use the L1 for all the downhill portion and then L2 for steep drops where I didn't want to burn up my brakes. The TC doesn't have that but seems to do a good job. It holds the van in a lower gear longer than I'd like it to at times. I haven't touched the paddle shifter yet as I haven't read about that either. I really need to go through the manual and figure out the features of the van. one of these days.

I like the cruise control very much. being able to set the speed to a specific MPH setting is slick. very accessible controls too.

I like the braking feature to hold it at the set speed. I didn't know about that until you posted about it a few months back. could save you from a ticket on a down hill run where another car can drift higher than the set point.

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My hope is that the tight shifts are to protect the clutches.

The computer gets alot of data that affects the shift quality. In times pasted the trans was

Signaled by throttle position and engine vacuum.

The Paddle shift is good fun, It gives good RPM to speed information.

Just finished a 240 mile pull with my Trailer the Trans shifted well.

Put some miles on the TC will get better!

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Hey, sorry I haven't replied in so long... been super busy and fighting with the dealership about financing this vehicle, but that's a whole other can of worms. I haven't even crawled underneath the vehicle to check the transmission since the "fix" but I did shine a light around the cv axle area before a long road trip and didn't see any signs of the infamous leak. I had 1000 miles when I noticed the leak and have 4000 on it now. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks!

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Hey, sorry I haven't replied in so long... been super busy and fighting with the dealership about financing this vehicle, but that's a whole other can of worms. I haven't even crawled underneath the vehicle to check the transmission since the "fix" but I did shine a light around the cv axle area before a long road trip and didn't see any signs of the infamous leak. I had 1000 miles when I noticed the leak and have 4000 on it now. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks!

good new so far. keep us updated after your next oil change.

good luck with your dealer issues.

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Alright. Got under there tonight to do an oil change and so far no leak! :happy feet: I did find tons of grease... oh well. I wiped most of it away, but at least I know the cv axle was lubed, right? On another note, I've noticed that the trans is a bit rough when changing from reverse to drive and when downshifting sometimes. When I was under the car, I noticed one of the mounts looked really weak. It was secured correctly and not broken, but I could basically rock the engine back and forth with the wheel... I'll be looking to upgrade that thing asap if anyone knows of such a thing. Maybe something for the escapes would fit it? I think a poly mount would do wonders.

On another note, I'm still battling with the dealership...

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Good news on the trans leak.

The motor will move on the mounts a noticeable amout, If the mounts are too stiff

the driveline vibration will be very noticeable and the ride quality will suffer

The shift quality on my tc Kept getting better up through 10,000 miles .

keep us posted

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  • 2 weeks later...

I get that there has to be some play to help dampen the vibration, it just seems a bit too clunky for my taste. I'd give up some ride quality to smooth up the random rough downshifts and upshifts. Ah well, I'll be at the 10k mark soon enough and see what happens. It could just be me adjusting to a car that doesn't have a manual trans... ;)

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  • 4 weeks later...

16945 on the clock, with the exception of a soon to be resolved heater air flow issue The car is in the Groove.

The shift quality and fuel mileage are very good. The car definitely adapts to the driver. Hope it lasts

Keep us posted on your experience as the miles go on

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  • 3 weeks later...

16945 on the clock, with the exception of a soon to be resolved heater air flow issue The car is in the Groove.

The shift quality and fuel mileage are very good. The car definitely adapts to the driver. Hope it lasts

Keep us posted on your experience as the miles go on

Hi did you get your transmission leak fixed permanently is there a fix out ? Thanks

I also have a cabin thermostat issue I think when I turn temp all the way down to cold I feel warm air coming out at the wents is this what you had and the outside temp!is 55 I need to check the temp of the air from the wents.

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Not yet on the leak Windguy has and he posted a copy of the work order from the dealer with the parts used and the SSM bulletin number . His post is on page 4 of this topic .

The issue I found was a missing piece of the right duct to the rear seat which was allowing the air both hot and cold to empty out in the console area.

Is the Ac button engaged when this happens. If it is not engaged then the air will be at the temp of the air entering the vent which could pick up some engine heat. When the AC button is on then the air will be cold .

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Not yet on the leak Windguy has and he posted a copy of the work order from the dealer with thekindmofnd the SSM bulletin number . His post is on page 4 of this topic .

The issue I found was a missing piece of the right duct to the rear seat which was allowing the air both hot and cold to empty out in the console area.

Is the Ac button engaged when this happens. If it is not engaged then the air will be at the temp of the air entering the vent which could pick up some engine heat. When the AC button is on then the air will be cold .

Hi. No I just want the air from the outside to come in and it is warmer than it is outside I was guessing it's gets heated up on its way like!you said its kind of sucks because I don't want to use the a\c all the time my old Honda odyssey did not have this problem .

Thanks anyway!

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  • 4 months later...

I'm providing an update on my transmission and recent service.

I think there might be another transmission thread in the forum with more recent posts but I couldn't find it so using this one that has some history to it.

Brought my TC in for a 5K service - 99P Multi-point inspection with oil change and filter, tire rotation.

I plan to do oil changes at 5K intervals, which is about a years worth of mileage for me.

Inspection of the left drive shaft seal showed no signs of leaking and the AT fluid was at the correct level, so it appears the SSM done back on 08/11/15 at 2,834 miles is working so far. The original seal was leaking and detected during the initial 1,000 mile oil change.

I asked the Service Advisor what the difference is between SSM 44938 that I had done versus SSM 45441 that another poster had done (posted in that other thread). Advisor said the work under both SSM's is the same. The number difference is only based on the VIN.

In case anyone is interested, the cost for the service was $39.95 plus $5.35 for an additional quart of oil.

Last month I enrolled in Ford's Owner Advantage Rewards program on their website, which offers some member benefits that seem useful.

No cost to sign up so check it out if you plan to have your TC serviced at a Ford dealer.

Edited by windguy
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  • 1 month later...

Well, it happened again! I took my Van in for its 15,000 mile service and lo and behold, they found that I had another axle seal leak. I had the left seal replaced at roughly 4600 miles and on the Dan for six months and now I am at 15,385 and another axle seal is leaking and I've only had the car less than two years. What is going on with this issue? I also had to have the driver side sunvisor replaced because it would not stay up and that was happening after the first week that I had the van. I'm questioning why I purchased a Ford!! I guess it was a good thing that the dealership found the issue because the first time I found it but it's a little unsettling to have this issue happened again with a car that is so new.

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I suspect it its the left side again, The right shaft goes from the transmission to a shaft bearing and then to the CV Joint. The left side is a short half shaft and as the wheel goes up and down there is radial motion at the Trans axle. I think the seal is the weak link. The problem has been around longer than the Gen 2 . I wonder what the percentage of units have the problem. The fix for the Escape must not have been the real thing. The Seal on mine has be come a small drip so I check it every 2500 Miles . I have 25987 on the clock now and just about to change the fluid in the gear so I will look at the seal issue again

Maybe the new seal that they used is a fix this time.

Keep us posted.

Unfortunately all big companies are slow to admit a non safety related recall. The possible good news is the Escape did get a recall for the Axle seal

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Well, it happened again! I took my Van in for its 15,000 mile service and lo and behold, they found that I had another axle seal leak. I had the left seal replaced at roughly 4600 miles and on the Dan for six months and now I am at 15,385 and another axle seal is leaking and I've only had the car less than two years. What is going on with this issue? I also had to have the driver side sunvisor replaced because it would not stay up and that was happening after the first week that I had the van. I'm questioning why I purchased a Ford!! I guess it was a good thing that the dealership found the issue because the first time I found it but it's a little unsettling to have this issue happened again with a car that is so new.

@Chris Kurtz - please check your paperwork from the first seal repair and see if the dealer referenced one of the two SSM's I mentioned in my post above (SSM 44938 or SSM 45441). Shown below is the list of parts under the SSM that was used to fix my seal leak.

AT leak repair invoice

Edited by windguy
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Sitting at the dealership now and before they told me that it was a different seal leaking, but as I just asked the service advisor again after waiting 2-1/2 hours after they said it would be an 1-1/2 hour job, it is the left axle seal again!!! Twice in 15,000 miles and the car only has 15,000 miles on it!! Isn't there a lemon law for the same part going on it 3 times??

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Sorry to have to commiserate with you as you sit at the dealership. The fix that windguy had done was the seal the left axel bushing and a new inner CV joint . that seem to be the fix that has the best chance of working . Make sure the dealer does it that way. The paper work pictured includes the kit.

Good luck and keep us posted

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Sitting at the dealership now and before they told me that it was a different seal leaking, but as I just asked the service advisor again after waiting 2-1/2 hours after they said it would be an 1-1/2 hour job, it is the left axle seal again!!! Twice in 15,000 miles and the car only has 15,000 miles on it!! Isn't there a lemon law for the same part going on it 3 times??

sorry to hear of your woes

if the Ford mechanic didn't fix the problem the right way the first time and the problem happened again, it might have more to do with the mechanic's work and not the vehicle itself. But, there have been a few posters along the way that were never able to get it right after multiple attempts to get it fixed. not sure why when the majority isn't having this problem. Have you asked the service advisor what SSM they are using? That info should be shown on your paperwork as I posted above.

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