I've read the forums and haven't seen anything very close to my issue.

I've got an 06 screw 4x2 with the 5.4 and trailer tow.

When I was coming home yesterday, I had been coasting down a hill for about .2 of a mile. When I went to get back on the gas, the RPM's spiked, but speed did not. After that, I had almost no forward power when stepping on the gas. RPMs would spike but still no forward power. I took it out of OD, and it made some difference, but you could still feel it slipping. Then, when at a red light and taking off, twice I heard a pretty good grinding noise, along with the slipping and vibration. It did this for about 10 miles until I got home.

After I unloaded, I went up and down the street a few times, and it was fine. Today to work and back (about 20 miles), it was also fine. I don't have a clue what this could be, and the fact that it is intermittent is what bothers me. I know the dealer here will just want to drive it, say they couldn't duplicate it, and return it. But, for it to be doing what it did for that long, there has to be some kind of issue.

Any ideas or things I can tell the dealer to focus on?

Thanks everyone
BC

 

How many miles on it? Have you ever changed the tranny fluid? Did you check the tranny fluid? Do you do much towing and/or heavy load carrying?

 

Sorry I forgot to mention that!! It only has 13k miles on it and the heaviest load it has even seen is a big ice chest and an ATV. Tranny fluid was good, checked it when I got home.

 

I'm kinda experiencing a similar issue. I have 22,500 miles on my truck and my transmission has been rebuilt 4 times already and I'm still having problems.

2006 F150 Lariat 4X4 5.4L

Summary of Dealer Visits

Trip 1
At 11,700 miles I decide to take my truck in because it is slipping/grinding and there is a shudder during the 1-2 shift. I've had this problem since it had 6,000 miles on it. The dealer rebuilt my transmission.

Trip 2
At 11,720 miles I pick my truck up from the dealer and it's still having problems. On my way back to the dealership I put my truck manually into 2nd gear and give it throttle. My RPMs went to 4K and the truck barely moved. I was able to limp the truck back to the dealer. They found a broken weld on the forward clutch drum. Dealer rebuilds transmission again and replaces all the clutches in 1st and 2nd gear.

Trip 3
At around 14,000 miles I take my truck back to the dealer for the same problem as the 1st time. Basically slipping/grinding noise accompanied by a shudder in the drive train. The dealer puts heavier duty clutches in 1st and 2nd gear and tightens them down to maximum specs.

Trip 4
Around 18,000 miles the original problem comes back, but it is more intermittent. The heavier duty clutches hook up a lot sooner masking the problem that's still there. It seems to really show up after a long drive and then getting into heavy traffic. The dealer sends a few Ford engineers to examine the transmission. They found a piston casing in the transmission that would warp when it got hot causing one of the pistons to seize. This would cause it to act up during the 1-2 shift in heavy traffic.

Well, my truck is doing much better now, but I'm still having some very intermittent problems now. I started keeping a log of all the problems I'm having so there would be some sort of documentation when I start the Lemon Law process. It's so intermittent right now I doubt I could make it act up when they come to check it out. So, far it will still act up after a long drive of several hundred miles. Over the last 2 weeks it's acted up 8 times, but before that it would act up 8 times a day.

Good luck getting it fixed. Ford also barely offered to give me a rental car. During the 4th repair attempt I was given an F150 as a rental. It had the 4.6L V8, but I never had an issue with the transmission on it for the 2 weeks I had it. I don't know why they never tried to replace the transmission. I'm tired of these replace and pray practices at my dealer and with Ford. They'll wish they replaced the transmission when they have to buy the truck back from me.

 

I'm surprised that you didnt start the lemon law process after the 3rd trip back to the dealership!!

 

The Texas lemon law requires that I give the dealer a reasonable number of chances to fix the problem. That happens to be 4 times. So, I'm getting my paper work ready right now to start the process. I have to write Ford a letter saying the dealer didn't fix the problem and that they need to send their expert to try and fix it. Then I have 6 months from the date my truck turns 24,000 miles to file a lemon law claim with the state of Texas. That is if the Ford expert didn't fix the problem. My truck is about to turn 24,000 miles so I'm giving myself about 5-6 months to try out the last repair attempt.

They never tried to replace the transmission at all. Ford said they wouldn't replace a transmission unless the rebuilt cost was 70% the cost of a transmission replacement. So, they've probably spent over $8,000 on the repairs so far, and they still might have to buy my truck back.

 

Word to the wise...

Ex-na in the osting - pa if you are going thru with lemon law hearings. This can be used in court. This thread, as well as all of your other posts...

 

This isn't the problem with the original poster's truck, but I have seen a problem with the weld on the sun shell failing myself, and that kinda worries me seeing as how I deal with vehicles that have a lot of power. Hearing about another one worries me even more because these were both on very recent transmissions. I didn't like the way they riveted that shell on the 04-05 stuff, but at least I haven't seen one of those break yet. I wonder if they changed manufacturers when they went back to the welded shell ...

As for the truck in question, on the slipping, I would say that you heated up the OD band and probably the direct clutches a little too. Not sure about the noise. I would have to hear it to know more.

Darrin