Another Transit Connect bites the dust

Why has it still been in the shop since July?

What led you to purchase so many Transit Connects?
Exactly whom remanufactured this transmission?
Are you sure that you actually got a remanufactured transmission or they charged you for a reman and gave you a used or did a repair?

It was a Ford reman with a 3 year/100k warranty the fleet company shipped to an independent shop last November. The shop didn't update the firmware in the TCM when they completed the repair, so Ford voided the warranty. The delay in repair starting in July was from finger pointing between the fleet company, the shop that did the original repair and Ford. In the end, the fleet company covered the transmission and clawed back the labor from the independent shop.

Purchased the Connects because we had a negotiated deal with Ford and they met the needs for the business. Expected them to have decent reliability.
 
Have you driven a Ford lately? :sneaky:

Too bad you didn't get any NV vans when they still made them. They're probably the most reliable/best of the big vans.

so yeah, I missed the fact that OP has a transit Connect (the minivan). I missed the "Connect" every time I've gone through this thread :oops:

oops

In that case, the Nissan NV200 would've been better. The Jatco CVT is good as long as you change the fluid regularly, which you probably would being a fleet.
 
I made the mistake of ordering 10-12 (would need to look up the exact number) Transit Connects between 2019-2022 for the fleet at work. So far none have made it to 100k without major powertrain failure.

Transmissions seem to be the weakest point regularly failing between 80-90k. I've already sent 2 off to auction for bad transmissions before 100k, a third for a bad head gasket that the dealer would only put a complete engine in claiming from experience the head and/or block were warped. All 3 had quotes for repair at $9k.

The fourth I actually authorized transmission replacement for at 90k (didn't have a spare truck at the time) just to have it fail again at 101k, it's been in the shop since July.

The fifth died this morning, my driver took it to a national transmission shop that was very responsive and provided a quote in line with the others. Spoke with the service manager on the phone and was impressed with his knowledge and honesty. However, this Connect will be going to the auction, it's just not worth investing $9k into.

I have a 2019 I'm storing at my house with only 51k on it, shifts like crap but it's good for Home Depot runs! A real shame, they are nicely equipped and drive decent which is what sucked me in...along with being $5k less than a full size Transit. BTW, the full size Transits have held up much better, but I had to send one off to auction early for an odd problem where it would die in the rain and multiple trips to multiple dealers couldn't solve the issue. I did one transmission in a full size Transit but it was at 130k - have several others at 200k with no powertrain issues.

We have since switched to GM and my last purchase was four 2025 Canyons, I am confident they'll hold up better.
What did your transmission service interval look like? I'm changing the ULV every 20k miles to hopefully avoid issues. I've posted the used oil analysis and thus far they look good.
 
The biggest issue with the full size transits is they WILL NOT move in the snow. Doesn't matter if it's the AWD model and you have snow tires on it. They just get stuck.

Meanwhile a 2wd express or Econoline has no issue driving through snow up to the headlights.
We had econolines in the school district up north they were pretty awful in snowy conditions
 
I too like the low profile but tall roof on these. Seem like great European utility vehicles. Glad yours worked out.

Do these have the dreaded power shift transmissions?
No it was not a power shift transmission. Google search says it had a 4-speed 4F27E automatic transmission and it was shared with Mazda.
 
I see it's a front wheel drive transmission, 8F35. I know that the front wheel drive transmission 6F35 for 2016 through 2019 model year were prone to early failure due to Ford "improving" them. I have a 2017 Explorer with a well cared for 6F35 that failed anyway. I wonder whether the 8F35 suffers the same fate as the 6F35. I had my transmission rebuilt by a local transmission shop rather than wait months for a reman from the Ford dealer, which was more expensive anyway. Ironically he's rebuilding lots of the reman transmissions that the Ford Dealer sold and installed.
 
What did your transmission service interval look like? I'm changing the ULV every 20k miles to hopefully avoid issues. I've posted the used oil analysis and thus far they look good.

Factory fill, I am going to request ATF changes on the remaining ones, see if that makes a difference.
 
Factory fill, I am going to request ATF changes on the remaining ones, see if that makes a difference.
I can tell you right now being part of an agency that utilizes 50+ vehicles with ULV transmission fluid....it DOES NOT last and needs to be serviced regularly. The 8f35 is not a bad transmission in normal service, and typically lasts a long time in the Escape and Maverick. However I have heard multiple stories of them failing under fleet use in the Transit Connect. I would be doing a drain and fill on the transmissions every 25k miles. There is a convenient drain plug on the 8f35, and it drops about 5qts through a simple drain (there is no transmission pan). The fill port is on the drivers side wheel well, fill till it drains out, cap it off.
 
Here is the procedure for getting the proper level after draining/filling.

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The trick is to get the non ecoboost, 2.5L NA with the 6F35. Change fluid every 30k and they will runs forever.

The ecoboost and 8 spd are a deadly combo. Trash actually.
 
I have a 2019 with 52k at my house that was shifting terribly. I took it to the local Ford dealer and had them change the fluid and shifting has really improved. I am having the rest of these left in the fleet sent to the dealer for transmission fluid changes. Surprised they still have Mercury on the watermark.

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I know this is a slightly dated thread, but doing one drain and fill only gets half the fluid. My wife’s Transit Connect started doing the torque converter shudder around 53K mi and I did three drain and fills and added some Lubegard. I’m going to do another round in a couple of months hoping this fluid will clean out more debris over some time. You might want to ensure exactly what your fluid change entailed. I don’t think just a single drain and fill is sufficient. I really wish I knew about these transmissions as I would have done this much sooner.
 
2018 ford edge

ford no longer tears into engines to fix they only replace, has been my experience. No warranty equals $9,000
This is not new. Back around 2009 I took my 2002 Grand Marquis to the dealer for a diagnostic to confirm what I already thought was the problem - a burnt valve on one cylinder. They did confirm such and suggested new engine for $5500. Remember this is 20 years ago. $5500 would be about $8500 today.

Engine had to come out, you can't get the head off in the car - the back head bolts too close to the firewall. I found a guy that did side jobs and had the one head done.
 
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