2018 f150, amsoil into 10r80 trans and rear differential, 29000 miles

good suggestions. admittedly, the dealer did that 3 years ago and it didn’t improve the botched shifts. In fact, they may have reflashed it because it started holding higher rpm’s like it was staying in warmup mode, longer. I don’t mind giving it an another go with forscan though. Have the software, the cable and the license. Even have the laptop that runs windows 7, preserved just for forscan. I’ll read up on it, though if history repeats, it likely won’t change it.

@ctechbob - have you done the procedure?
 
4. Why does GM not have these issues with the same trans? Maybe I should try switching to, or swapping out a quart with Dexron HP, to see if that improves?
My guess would be the difference is in the software, not so much the fluid.
 
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good suggestions. admittedly, the dealer did that 3 years ago and it didn’t improve the botched shifts. In fact, they may have reflashed it because it started holding higher rpm’s like it was staying in warmup mode, longer. I don’t mind giving it an another go with forscan though. Have the software, the cable and the license. Even have the laptop that runs windows 7, preserved just for forscan. I’ll read up on it, though if history repeats, it likely won’t change it.

@ctechbob - have you done the procedure?
I have not. Mine's never done anything that made me want to. It does its 'dumb 10R80' only very rarely and I know when it does it, so I guess I've trained myself not to do it, like fast stops, which really have to be quicker than you need to be driving a truck anyways.

I did up my charging percentage to 95% on the Ranger and 90% on the Maverick with Forscan tonight though now that you mention it. Still hate pushing the 'write' button....
 
4. Why does GM not have these issues with the same trans? Maybe I should try switching to, or swapping out a quart with Dexron HP, to see if that improves?

-m
The GM version of the transmission uses Dexron ULV.

I have the 10 speed in my 2019 Yukon Denali. I fully expected to dislike the transmission, but have been very happy with it, so far. I only have 17K miles on it.
 
The GM version of the transmission uses Dexron ULV.

I have the 10 speed in my 2019 Yukon Denali. I fully expected to dislike the transmission, but have been very happy with it, so far. I only have 17K miles on it.
Dexron ULV = Mercon ULV

All the GM/Ford 10 speeds (and a handfull of other units) use it.

@meep tried a D&F with some thicker Amsoil stuff, it didn't like that at all. The 10 speeds seem to be pretty sensitive to viscosity. I know mine is, not clunky, but definitely more, I'll say 'edgy' when cold until it warms up. That's probably at least part of the reason why they suck so much engine heat out of them to heat the trans quickly on warmup (Main reason being economy gains). Ford seemed to go to pretty good lengths to get the trans up to temp and keep it there.
 
I still hold an opinion that they should have just used the ZF8 like everyone else on the planet. As much as my 10R80 is working well, I still think the ZF8 is a better, more developed, gear changer.
 
One day into the partial redose of lubeguard red, it’s shifting flawlessly. It’s not over-revving, hanging in gear or missing 2nd. And that includes cold start. I'm not going to reset it. I’m increasingly convinced there is a sticking accumulator or other VB part which doesn’t wake up under low pressures. Gonna drive it.
 
Update. The bad shifting returned. Based on advice above, I reset the transmission adaptives and went through the relearn. this is so wild. it shifted better, didnt bang around nearly as much, and definitely decelerated with downshifts better. heres the odd thing… over the 60+ miles i drove it today, it used 2nd gear only one time. back when I paid attention, it used to use 2nd in most shifts unless i was accelerating hard. today the only time it used 2nd was during a hard launch, the rest of the day it skipped 2nd going both up and down. to be fair, i dont know if this just started today or if it’s been going on for a bit, because i usually dont drive with the gear display up. thanks for the advice above. maybe this will help - it certainly is interesting.
 
Update. The bad shifting returned. Based on advice above, I reset the transmission adaptives and went through the relearn. this is so wild. it shifted better, didnt bang around nearly as much, and definitely decelerated with downshifts better. heres the odd thing… over the 60+ miles i drove it today, it used 2nd gear only one time. back when I paid attention, it used to use 2nd in most shifts unless i was accelerating hard. today the only time it used 2nd was during a hard launch, the rest of the day it skipped 2nd going both up and down. to be fair, i dont know if this just started today or if it’s been going on for a bit, because i usually dont drive with the gear display up. thanks for the advice above. maybe this will help - it certainly is interesting.

Unless I'm really on the throttle (or in tow mode), mine will always skip either 2nd or 3rd. Very light throttle will get me a 1/3/4 shift, and a little heavier will result in a 1/2/4 shift. I've also seen it skip some of the middle gears on the way up as well, but I haven't paid close enough attention to it to notice a pattern with that or the skipping going down the box.

I'm sure there are different programmings for the different motors it's used with as well, so maybe the bigger motors only ever skip 2. Kinda wish someone would leak all the technical programming stuff for these boxes, if nothing else, it would be an amusing read for those of us that like that sort of thing.
 
Update. The bad shifting returned. Based on advice above, I reset the transmission adaptives and went through the relearn. this is so wild. it shifted better, didnt bang around nearly as much, and definitely decelerated with downshifts better. heres the odd thing… over the 60+ miles i drove it today, it used 2nd gear only one time. back when I paid attention, it used to use 2nd in most shifts unless i was accelerating hard. today the only time it used 2nd was during a hard launch, the rest of the day it skipped 2nd going both up and down. to be fair, i dont know if this just started today or if it’s been going on for a bit, because i usually dont drive with the gear display up. thanks for the advice above. maybe this will help - it certainly is interesting.

This is normal for the 10 speeds. They skip shift, as seen in this video

 
Mine has the stumbles both hot and cold, yes. So the amsoil smooths it out some but it’s still there. It still seems to be improving, slowly, so for now I’m going to leave it as is. Frankly I’m not yet sold on it. The overall shift grabs quicker but completes just a hair slower, if I’m being totally @nal retentive, which makes sense as a slightly thicker fluid. Overall the effect is that it doesnt slap into gear at the end of the shift, which is a nice improvement. If I could do it again, I would have swapped 2 quarts, maybe 3, for the additive package and slight boost in viscosity and tried that ratio. I might actually swap 1-2 quarts of Mercon ULV back in just to back the viscosity down a touch. But, first, I’m going to just drive it.

there is a pdf on the web where one really enterprising dealer worked on one of these 3 times and eventually swapped out the valve body, fixing it. I can’t see mine doing that for free under what‘s left of the warranty, and don’t really want them to. So it makes me wonder if there’s a flaw in how the valve body wears in. Being that mine does seem to be improving a touch, slowly, I’ll give it some time.

that, and idk if it was the transmission or the rear axle, but doing both has resulted in a quieter ride and holding a higher gear better going up hills. the axle definitely needed it, based on jet black fluid.

as far as a full change to amsoil, as much as I’m a fan of their fluids, this one is too thick for a full dose of it. I assumed before putting it in that it truly was an accurate replacement, but after seeing the viscosity difference have been a little disappointed in them, for the first time. I would not recommend a full change to it, at least not yet. Maybe they’ll come out with a ULV version.

m
my 19 f150 I just picked up from dealer service 2 days ago- went in for both cam phaser knock at startup and sticky solenoids in tranny suspected cause of 3-5 second delayed engagement and erratic 3-4/3-5 first shift when cold at light throttle- was weird, felt like transbrake/freerev/then bang into gear, all very quickly... they replaced valve body and phasers, truck was so smooth and quiet, it felt like our new 22 when I picked it up- huge difference...truck had rolled over 58k on way to drop it off- very thankful it happened when it did, and dealer did a good job- easiest service ever too...took30 seconds to drop off, they said they'd need it all week, but called me at 4 days, it was done- I walked in, they handed me keys/paperwork with a smile and I was out of there in 30 seconds too... my oldest son and a coworker had both had 2019 engines destroyed weeks after phaser replacements at 2 different dealers- knew of one other dealer who replaced motor in son's and did a excellent job(cab off-no squeaks/rattles, and done quickly) so had them do mine- dealer techs make a difference for sure!
Anyways, as warranty is about up, I just stopped in here to see if any ULV detergents/additives/alternate oils were available to prevent spools from gumming up or wearing- but know tranny was designed for ULV... my gut tells me theres gotta be a way to prevent/remove varnish and reduce sticky valves, maybe amsoil is it? I keep cars 'forever' and dont want a repeat in 50k miles again :)
Tim
 
Different trans but my '11 6R140 has always had a harsh 2-3 upshift, particularly when cold. I finally started to wonder about a sticky solenoid and dumped in a bottle of Seafoam Trans Tune.

It definitely seems improved but I need more time with it as the problem was never consistent.

It was also previously dropping into limp mode when cold. There again Trans Tune decidedly cured that but I did a spill 'n fill (which I realize doesn't remove all of an additive) shortly after. This time I elected to leave it in much longer and it's shifting better.
 
my 19 f150 I just picked up from dealer service 2 days ago- went in for both cam phaser knock at startup and sticky solenoids in tranny suspected cause of 3-5 second delayed engagement and erratic 3-4/3-5 first shift when cold at light throttle- was weird, felt like transbrake/freerev/then bang into gear, all very quickly... they replaced valve body and phasers, truck was so smooth and quiet, it felt like our new 22 when I picked it up- huge difference...truck had rolled over 58k on way to drop it off- very thankful it happened when it did, and dealer did a good job- easiest service ever too...took30 seconds to drop off, they said they'd need it all week, but called me at 4 days, it was done- I walked in, they handed me keys/paperwork with a smile and I was out of there in 30 seconds too... my oldest son and a coworker had both had 2019 engines destroyed weeks after phaser replacements at 2 different dealers- knew of one other dealer who replaced motor in son's and did a excellent job(cab off-no squeaks/rattles, and done quickly) so had them do mine- dealer techs make a difference for sure!
Anyways, as warranty is about up, I just stopped in here to see if any ULV detergents/additives/alternate oils were available to prevent spools from gumming up or wearing- but know tranny was designed for ULV... my gut tells me theres gotta be a way to prevent/remove varnish and reduce sticky valves, maybe amsoil is it? I keep cars 'forever' and dont want a repeat in 50k miles again :)
Tim
I had the exact same theory based on “gut thinking” that the 3rd gear upshift is a sticking valve body issue, and that’s why I went with the lubegaurd. i think that’s the best solution in town for now. As mentioned in another post, a 1/10 dose treatment is all it took for me. It resurfaced 2 years later, and I added more LG and reset the adaptives based on advice here, and it’s back to being like new.

Amsoil doesn’t yet have a ULV. I tried it with their LV as they said it would work, and it was not the right fluid for the truck. It ran, but all the shifts became heavier and slightly slower - just “out of sync.”

I wonder if GM specs a different formulation for the same transmission - have considered trying whatever fluid GM puts in their variant of the transmission.
 
How is the transmission acting with the amsoil fluid? Did yours have the 3-4/3-5 stumble when cold? I have a 19 F150 and want to use amsoil in the transmission when I change the fluid at 30k.
Those who have changed the transmission fluid (granted not Amsoil) have stated there is basically no change in transmission behavior. That's what the truck boards have been reporting. There are software/solenoid issues at play which the transmission fluid change has little to no effect.
 
Update:

as a bitog purist i feel a little ashamed to admit this, but i caved and used an additive. Im not a fan of additives. BUT...

the f150 remained a bit better following the dealer reset the trans additives, but it still continued to have that lag and stumble/thunk getting up from 3rd. i remain suspicious of something not playing right in the VB.

this morning i poured just under 1/4 of a bottle (10 oz in the bottle, i was aiming for a 2 oz pour) of lubeguard red into the transmission. LG wants one ounce per quart. its a 12 qt transmission, so this is basically a 1/5 dose....

i took it for a drive and over 10-15 minutes it changed. By the end of 15 minutes i could not tell which gear it was shifting in and out of... the obvious nature of the upshift out of 3rd was not perceivable.

i dont like additives, but at least on day 1, this made a very good and significant difference.
You should have done a total ATF fluid exchange rather than a drain & fill. Did you send out the oild ATF for a UOA?

Seems a bit subjective.
 
You should have done a total ATF fluid exchange rather than a drain & fill. Did you send out the oild ATF for a UOA?

Seems a bit subjective.
Subjective, perhaps, but this was also done when nobody had any theories as to what was happening in these transmissions. I searched for the darkest corners of the internet and there were many complaints, no solutions, some dealers would replace the whole unit with a letter from an attorney, and one lone post on a mustang forum from a guy whose dealer swapped a 10r80 in a mustang which fixed it. So my goal was to discover what was going on first, then go from there. so, use my experience as a single data point. :)
 
Subjective, perhaps, but this was also done when nobody had any theories as to what was happening in these transmissions. I searched for the darkest corners of the internet and there were many complaints, no solutions, some dealers would replace the whole unit with a letter from an attorney, and one lone post on a mustang forum from a guy whose dealer swapped a 10r80 in a mustang which fixed it. So my goal was to discover what was going on first, then go from there. so, use my experience as a single data point. :)
Throw in a Magnefine filter if you really want to baby the transmission.
 
Throw in a Magnefine filter if you really want to baby the transmission.
Yessssssss! I did look. The cooler is mounted at the pan… they bring the coolant to the transmission instead of the transmission to the coolant. If I can find a way to plumb it in, I’d like that. Or a spin-on. I did a spin-on in my tundra and really liked that arrangement!
 
Yessssssss! I did look. The cooler is mounted at the pan… they bring the coolant to the transmission instead of the transmission to the coolant. If I can find a way to plumb it in, I’d like that. Or a spin-on. I did a spin-on in my tundra and really liked that arrangement!
You are likely to find the most in the magnet section of a Magnefine than the media section. An advantage over a spin on filter. At least that is what I have seen in the Magnefine filters I have taken apart.

A metallic paste basically. Reminded me of anti-seize.
 
You are likely to find the most in the magnet section of a Magnefine than the media section. An advantage over a spin on filter. At least that is what I have seen in the Magnefine filters I have taken apart.

A metallic paste basically. Reminded me of anti-seize.
Great to know - I never cut one open but ran them in p2 Volvos and saw transmission behavior improve over time. demonstrates that the magnet is the bigger deal. Thank you!
 
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