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Transit Connect 2012 Transmission Issue (or not?)


Loafer
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While driving on the highway at 65mph and wanting to pass, I accellerate, then the tranni slams into gear making a loud noise. I took it to a transmission repair service and when they checked it no codes appeared.  Is this normal for a 4 speed transit connect?  Have others experienced the same issue?  Is there a Ford fix?  Thanks in advance. 

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Additional info:  120,000 miles, motor mounts just replaced, transmission fluid just changed, The problem persists despite this.  Other posters have also cited this problem with their transit connects.  This seems to be a common issue and I'm wondering if it's normal?  If not, is there a fix?  Hey Ford, are you out there?

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33 minutes ago, G B L said:

Could be, if the engine speed  is great enough it could be shifting down two gears and this would make a big noise and jolt.

Are you talking MPH or RPM's? 

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Sometimes it's mechanical.  Transmission may need a rebuild.  Internal parts wear after so many miles.  

 

In some cars, there's an update or reflash for the transmission control module.  In some cases, you can clear the adaptive learning strategy, and the TCU will relearn the shift firmness.

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On the same transmission, Mazda uses an Idemitsu fluid with greater viscosity.  But I don't think that filling with Idemitsu Type-M fluid is the solution.  

 

You mention that transmission fluid was changed.  Was it a complete fluid exchange?  Or was it just a drain & fill?  Was Mercon LV used?  I believe that on your model year, Mercon LV is the specified fluid.  In earlier models, some of those transmissions were factory filled with Mercon V.  If a shop did the work, they may have filled your transmission with some sort of Dex/Merc compatible fluid, which is not suitable for Mercon V or Mercon LV.  And I have seen where shops make mistakes with filling to proper level.  You may have issues if the transmission was only drained & filled, with the wrong fluid, and the transmission fluid level is not correct.

Edited by Fifty150
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On 7/5/2019 at 8:32 AM, G B L said:

RPM,   If you use the transmission in the manual mode you can see the rpm change for the gear changes .  then you would see if your downshift  was causing a two gear change.

4000 + RPM

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On 7/5/2019 at 2:56 PM, Double Nickels said:

Sometimes it's mechanical.  Transmission may need a rebuild.  Internal parts wear after so many miles.  

 

In some cars, there's an update or reflash for the transmission control module.  In some cases, you can clear the adaptive learning strategy, and the TCU will relearn the shift firmness.

Interesting and worth a try. 

 

On 7/5/2019 at 2:58 PM, Double Nickels said:

 

 

This video is very helpful.  Thanks

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On 7/6/2019 at 1:42 AM, Fifty150 said:

On the same transmission, Mazda uses an Idemitsu fluid with greater viscosity.  But I don't think that filling with Idemitsu Type-M fluid is the solution.  

 

You mention that transmission fluid was changed.  Was it a complete fluid exchange?  Or was it just a drain & fill?  Was Mercon LV used?  I believe that on your model year, Mercon LV is the specified fluid.  In earlier models, some of those transmissions were factory filled with Mercon V.  If a shop did the work, they may have filled your transmission with some sort of Dex/Merc compatible fluid, which is not suitable for Mercon V or Mercon LV.  And I have seen where shops make mistakes with filling to proper level.  You may have issues if the transmission was only drained & filled, with the wrong fluid, and the transmission fluid level is not correct.

I don't know.  I will check to be sure that Mercon LV was used and the fluid level is proper.  It was changed about a month ago at a Ford Dealer, so It should be correct, but I will check.  A trusted transmission shop recently drove it and then checked for codes and found nothing. 

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  • 11 months later...

I do have the same issues FORD TC 2012 200000KM  , climbing  a hill and trying to keep my speed , I feel a hard downshift  , It is happening all the time I press the gas pedal . On a same hill , It happened twice and even the exhaust muffler blown out .Brought it to Ford and they could not figure out , they keep saying the exhaust line have a restriction and this will cause the hard downshift . Anyone resolved this problem ? 

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On 7/7/2020 at 10:37 AM, Patof said:

I feel a hard downshift

Which gear and how fast are you going.

 

On 7/7/2020 at 10:37 AM, Patof said:

the exhaust muffler blown out

What do you mean by this?

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  • 1 month later...

I'm in the process of dealing with what sounds like the same issue and I thought I would share my experience on here. I have a 2012 with 66K miles that has been hard downshifting from 3rd to 2nd. It is a really loud, jarring bang. It had been doing this for months and then finally after a long drive I got the service wrench (orange light) to turn on after multiple hard downshifts. 

I took it in to the dealer and they charged me $150 to tell me that there was an internal transmission failure, and gave me a quote for $10,000 to put in a new one, or $8000 for them to rebuild it ?

I am going to pull the transmission pan (again) and see what the magnet looks like after I cleaned it 4000 miles ago. Also going to replace solenoid A and B. I don't really expect it to resolve my issue, but it's a cheap part, and the transmission seems to shift buttery smooth otherwise, so I'm holding out hope that it is something simple. But I do fear that it is a deeper issue that will require a full rebuild or replacement....

 

I also have a low/rough idle which I thought might be related since the computer could be having a hard time rev-matching if it can't control the engine speed, but that seems like a stretch. Oh, and the dealer charged me another $150 to tell me that the idle speed issue would be fixed with motor mounts LOL.

 

In summary DON'T TAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP

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  • 3 months later...

Ok, so I guess I mis-read the quote. It actually included two options, $4500 for a rebuild or $5500 to replace the tranny, the dealer did not do a good job of explaining the paper they handed me haha.

 

I replaced the A & B shift solenoids as well as the throttle position sensor (I'm also having a low idle issue), and it seems much better but still fairly rough. It doesn't BANG down into second any more but still lurches pretty hard. The fluid seemed pretty healthy after just 4000 miles and the magnet was pretty clean. I'm going to make a point to keep the fluid extra fresh and see how long I can keep this transmission going, but I am optimistic that it will last a good while longer. 

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I've had the same issue going on as well and I just got the wrench on my dash. Ran a diagnostics and it came up with error code P 0733: The P0733 code means that the powertrain control module (PCM) has detected something unusual with the ratio of the third gear in the vehicle's transmission.

 

Just had the 2-4 band replaced by a Ford Transmission shop as they thought that was the issue. It's clearly an issue with 2012's, in general, may be worth approaching Ford about it. 

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