Anyone had to rebuild or replace their transmission?

Well, it finally happened… my 2017 Titanium’s transmission died out of nowhere at 104k miles. I was always on top of maintenance, did drain and fills every 25-30k miles, but that didn’t save it. Ended up getting my 6F35 rebuilt at a local transmission shop over a couple of days.

Got it back today and it drives really smoothly overall, but I noticed some hard downshifts and a slight jerk when shifting from park to drive or reverse. Only driven about 25 miles so far. I looked around and saw some people say it needs to ‘break in,’ but I’m not sure how true that is.

Before I go back to the shop, has anyone else been through this? Did yours smooth out over time or should I be worried?

I haven’t had mine rebuilt, but I’ve rebuilt plenty of 6F35 transmissions. The relearn process can take a while depending on how much you drive and whether the shop reset the adaptive tables. Also, your old transmission probably wasn’t shifting right for a while before it failed, so your car might just be adjusting to the new one. As long as the shop knew what they were doing, I wouldn’t stress. Give it a couple of weeks.

@Valor
Appreciate that! Since you’ve worked on these before, I’ll hold off on taking it back for now and see if it smooths out after some driving.

Following this… my mom’s 2018 is getting a rebuild right now and she’s supposed to get it back in a week. Hope we get some good info here!

Had to replace mine at 58k miles… two months after the warranty expired. Cost me $7k.

I wouldn’t call it ‘breaking in,’ but the transmission control module (TCM) needs time to adjust. It learns based on your driving habits, so some rough shifts are normal at first. Should settle in after about 500km (300 miles).

2013 model… needed a new transmission at 64k miles :nauseated_face:

Got a 2014 that’ll need a rebuild sooner or later, but I’m close to 200k miles, so I might just get a new car instead. The 2.0T has been solid though!

Dallas said:
Got a 2014 that’ll need a rebuild sooner or later, but I’m close to 200k miles, so I might just get a new car instead. The 2.0T has been solid though!

Did you do any drain and fills or just let it go?

@Eli
Did my first drain and fill way too late… only last year. It still drives fine, but there’s some shuddering at low RPMs. Been like that for over 50k miles, so who knows, maybe it’ll last to 300k. I bought it new, and honestly, I’m just ready for a change. Been a great daily though.

@Dallas
I’ve got a 2014 2.0L at 141k miles. Sometimes it shifts hard when I’m in cruise control, but other than that, no real issues. Love this car!

Briar said:
@Dallas
I’ve got a 2014 2.0L at 141k miles. Sometimes it shifts hard when I’m in cruise control, but other than that, no real issues. Love this car!

Nice! I have a 2015 2.0L. You at 141k miles or km?

@Zorion
Miles.

Had a 2021… needed a new transmission at 93k miles. I took a huge loss selling it, but I just wanted out. Also had to replace my turbo at 30k miles (luckily under warranty), but it was still frustrating. Plus, the 7 other times it was in the shop for random issues. Never again.

I’d call the shop and see what they say.

Yeah, I’d check with the shop. We had my daughter’s transmission rebuilt, and there was no jerking—it shifted perfectly.

Sorry this happened to you. When I had my Escape’s transmission rebuilt, it was jerky at first too. Took a little time to smooth out. Not sure if it was the shop’s work or just how these cars are, but on the first day, I got a transmission error code and it wouldn’t drive. Had to tow it back, and when they checked it, they said everything was fine and didn’t touch anything (I still wonder if they actually forgot something and fixed it quietly). Do you have a warranty on the rebuild?

@Bela
Yeah, I got a 1-year full warranty on the transmission. Took it for another drive, and it already feels better, but I’ll see how it does tomorrow. Really hoping I don’t get any error codes like you did :grimacing:

Why aren’t we all filing a class-action lawsuit against Ford for this? These cars clearly have defective transmissions, and we’re just accepting it like, ‘Oh well, guess I’ll drop thousands of dollars to rebuild it.’ This is ridiculous! My friend had a Ford Focus that was a complete lemon, and she fought with Ford for 3 years until they finally bought it back from her.

Ford has software updates (FDRS or FDJS) that sometimes fix transmission issues. Dealerships can update the calibration to increase clutch pressure, which helps reduce slipping and overheating. A lot of these smooth-shifting calibrations actually make the transmissions wear out faster. Always check if your PCM or TCM has an update before jumping straight to a rebuild. Tons of info out there on this.