NHTSA Complaint #11184012 — 2013 FORD F-150

WIDELY REPORTED- PLEASE READ CAREFULLY! VERY SIMILAR TO EXISTING RECALL*, BUT NOT THE SAME. POTENTIALLY DEADLY. CURRENT RECALL DOES NOT ADDRESS THE SUDDEN UP-SHIFTS MENTIONED HERE. 2013 FORD F-150 MFG DEFECT: MOLDED LEADFRAME ASSY IN 6R80 TRANSMISSION SYMPTOMS: INTERMITTENT LOSS OF SPEED SIGNAL CAUSES SUDDEN/UNEXPECTED SLAMMING UPSHIFT FROM 1ST GEAR TO 5TH WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP, CAUSING A COMPLETE AND UNEXPECTED LOSS OF ALL ACCELERATION. INDICATIONS: 5TH GEAR SUDDENLY INDICATED ON DISPLAY, DASHES REPLACE NUMBERS ON SPEED/MILEAGE RELATED DISPLAYS (MPG, ODOMETER). SPEEDOMETER MAY READ 0, AIRBAG SYMBOL POPS ON, LARGE ORANGE WRENCH SYMBOL MAY BRIEFLY APPEAR. PRESSING ON ACCELERATOR DOES NOT CAUSE DOWNSHIFT. MOTOR MAY STALL. REMAINS IN 5TH GEAR WITHOUT SOME OTHER CORRECTIVE ACTION. TURNING ENGINE OFF AND BACK ON WILL RESET THE COMPUTER, AND VEHICLE OPERATES NORMALLY UNTIL NEXT OCCURRENCE. DANGERS: THIS COULD BE FATAL WHEN PULLING OUT INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC, BOTH FROM THE SIDE (PULLING OUT IN FRONT OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC FROM SIDE STREET) OR FROM REAR (SUDDEN, UNEXPECTED LOSS OF SPEED/ NO BRAKE LIGHTS). FORD CANNOT FIX THIS BY RE-PROGRAMMING THE VEHICLE TO IGNORE THE FAULTY SENSOR ANY MORE THAN YOU CAN IGNORE AN ONCOMING CEMENT TRUCK OR TRAIN. REPAIR IS APPROXIMATELY $800. IF NOT RECALLED, OWNERS MAY TRY TO LIVE WITH THE RISKS OR TRADE TO AN UNKNOWING PERSON, ENDANGERING LIVES OF OTHERS. *THIS DEFECTIVE PART IS ALSO THE ROOT CAUSE OF FORD RECALL #19S07, INVOLVING SUDDEN VIOLENT DOWN-SHIFTS (NOT UPSHIFTS). FORD IS AVOIDING THE PROBLEM BY RE-PROGRAMMING THE ECU TO IGNORE THE INTERMITTENT SPEED SIGNALS, ALLOWING THE TRANSMISSION TO FAIL MORE GRACEFULLY, DEFECTS TO BE REPAIRED AT OWNER'S EXPENSE. THIS APPROACH WILL NOT WORK FOR THE UP-SHIFT PROBLEM. THE DEFECTIVE PART SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY REPLACED AT FORD'S EXPENSE TO CORRECT BOTH PROBLEMS.