NHTSA Complaint #11704605 — 2018 FORD F-150

The 10R80 automatic transmission exhibits harsh/delayed shifts, gear-slipping, and occasional unintended downshifts, especially at highway speeds. More specifically, gears 3 and 5 exhibit hard shifts at lower speeds in heavy traffic, such as stop-and-go city driving. The 8th gear specifically will have issues at higher speeds on the highway when you apply more gas, and the vehicle will drop out of 10th gear and have a very hard shift into the 8th gear, almost like the transmission is about to come apart at dangerous speeds. This appears to be a well-known issue that Ford has issued a TSB 21-2357 back in October of 2021. The specific problem has been confirmed with a dealer and ASE-certified mechanics from the dealership documenting the gear issues, as well as the CDF drum that is a known culprit in the earlier versions of the 2017-2020 F150, based on the poorly designed bushing inside of this drum that slides out of position, resulting in the pressure loss and slippage of gears. This has been confirmed by the dealership, as well as multiple issues documented on the 10R series transmissions. No warning lights or indicators other than The specific problem has been confirmed with a dealer and ASE certified mechanics from the dealership documenting the gears issues as well as the CDF drum that is a known culprit in the earlier versions of the 2017-2020 F150based on the poorly designed bushing inside of this drum that slides out of position, that results in the pressure lose and slippage of gears. This has been confirmed by the dealership as well as multiple issue documented on the 10R series transmissions. No warning lights or indicators other than how it drives and understanding the hard shifts are not supposed to happen in an automatic vehicle. The issue first started about earlier this year, and Ford told me it was an issue, but we can’t get to it for another 8 months. This is unsatisfactory and a huge concern for people and safety of others on the highways.