So this past weekend I went camping with my new F150 and at different times when I would be slowing down it would downshift way too early. It would be in fourth gear and shift into second, making the motor scream. After a few times of this happening, I put it in manual and shifted on my own. There were a couple of times where it didn't want to upshift either.

I am guessing that it is not normal to shift this way.

It was not a big trailer, it was a 12' steel "V" nose enclosed. The trailer is brand new and has brakes on it. I don't think the trailer brakes were an issue as I never smelled them getting hot or anything like that.

Ideas??

Suggestions??


Thanks guys, this is my first brand new truck and want to take good care of it.

 

When I had my 13 eco it would do weird shifting also,unless I had the selector in tow /haul mode. Talked to the dealer they said if it was not in tow/haul the weight would confuse the ecm and shift points. If you were in tow/haul and still doing that I would take it to your dealer.

 

There's another recent thread in the forum on the downshifting behavior with the transmission in the Tow/Haul mode. Basically, it seems Tow/Haul tries to minimize your use of wheel braking by downshifting aggressively whenever it can to control speed.

I suspect this is something you have to get used to, and I doubt it will damage the engine or transmission when it happens.

If you can't stand it, you could always move the gear selector into Manual and control the shifting yourself with the button on the shift lever.

I found that downshifting on downhills a bit disconcerting at first when I had the Cruise Control engaged in Drive and was on mountain highways (not towing). Now, I've gotten used to it and actually appreciate how it keeps my coasting speed relatively constant (only gains about 5 mph) on fairly steep downhills (about 6-7% grades). I used to control the speed manually in my old truck by turning off the O/D and maybe shifting down to 2nd if needed, so it happened when I commanded it. The "automatic" downshifting was a surprise. I haven't towed my trailer yet, so I don't know if it will be more aggressive or not, but I suspect it will be something to get used to also.

I DO love how the truck can take most uphill climbs without downshifting or maybe only downshifting to 5th gear. The old truck would drop into 3rd and then 2nd on these climbs when I had the Cruise Control engaged, and, I'd have to manually apply gas to keep the speed from dropping too much before it dropped to 2nd too.

- Jack

 

need more info, motor?, body style?, max tow? tow package? gears?

Lots of variables.

 

Its normal. Tranny is just keeping braking effort at minimum.

 

That sounds normal to me if you were in tow/haul mode.

 

Thanks for the info guys. It was in tow/haul mode. It is the 5.0 motor in the super crew cab. The trailer that I was towing weighed maybe 1.5 tons. Not exactly sure of the weight but it was not very heavy.

 

With that small amount of weight, I would not bother using tow/haul.

 

Sounds perfectly normal to me if you're in Tow/Haul mode. Ford put all those numbers on the tach for a reason, you're not hurting anything by using them. I will switch on the Tow/Haul when I'm driving in the mountains even if I'm unloaded to use the engine braking, compression is free, brakes pads cost money. Plus, my brakes are nice and cool in case I have to make a hard stop.