NHTSA Complaint #10294812 — 2006 FORD EXPLORER

I HAVE A 2006 FORD EXPLORER XLT V6 WITH 55K MILES ON IT. I BOUGHT THIS VEHICLE WITH APPROXIMATELY 30K MILES ON IT AND WITHIN ABOUT 2,000 MILES OF THE PURCHASE I STARTED NOTICING SHIFTING PROBLEMS. FOR SOME REASON THE VEHICLE SEEMS TO SHIFT FINE, BUT HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN. MOST VEHICLES SHIFT 1ST, 2ND, 3RD, SO ON PER THE SPEED AND SHIFTS TO ASSIST GAS MILEAGE AS WELL. WELL, MY EXPLORER WILL SHIFT INTO WHAT I BELIEVE IS 5TH GEAR AT 30 MILES PER HOUR AND ITS SOUNDS LIKE ITS BOGGING DOWN AND THERE IS ALMOST NO ACCELERATION AT ALL! AS WELL IT WILL SHIFT INTO 5TH WHEN CLIMBING A STEEP HILL AND WHEN IT FINALLY DOES DOWNSHIFT IT MAKES A "CLUNK" NOISE AND DROPS INTO 2ND GEAR CAUSING THE ENGINE TO REV WAY UP AND IT SUDDENLY FEELS LIKE YOUR TAKING OFF IN AN AIRPLANE. IF YOU LET OFF THE GAS TO SLOW DOWN IT DROPS RIGHT BACK INTO 5TH GEAR AGAIN AND THEN THE STORY REPEATS ITSELF. I HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER 3 TIMES NOW AND THE ONLY CHANGES MADE WERE A TCM UPDATE AND ADAPTIVE LEARNING STRATEGY MEMORY CLEARING AND NEITHER OF THOSE THINGS FIXED THE ISSUE AT ALL. I NOTICE AS DAYS GO ON THAT THE PROBLEM IS GETTING WORSE AND I NEVER GET A GOOD ANSWER. UPON DOING SOME RESEARCH I HAVE FOUND THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE HAD THE SAME TRANSMISSION RELATED ISSUES FROM LUNGING, TO CLUNKING, TO SEVERE SHIFTING DELAYS. I'M WORRIED THAT MY TRANSMISSION OR DRIVETRAIN WILL EXPERIENCE SOME KIND OF CRITICAL FAILURE AND FORD WONT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY. I CONTACTED FORD DIRECTLY AND THE ONLY ANSWER I GOT FROM A CSR WAS, "UNFORTUNATELY WE HAVE NO COMMENT TO ASSIST YOU AT THIS TIME." I WOULD REALLY LIKE SOMEONE TO LOOK INTO THIS ISSUE FOR A POSSIBLE TRANSMISSION OR DRIVETRAIN RECALL. *TR