For our 2017 Explorer with the 6F35 transmission the Ford dealers around here would ONLY do BG "flushes", no drain and fills. The cost to do so was $225+. I've been doing drain and fills for ~$20 using 4 quarts of Mercon LV or synthetic Castrol with the Ford license. Since the Ford dealer does BG service I assume the transmission is still covered under Ford's warranty.
Deal flushed my transmission
- Thread starter monster1
- Start date
Only for the duration of the current dealership management. Once the dealer changes ownership, good luck.
Update: Took the vehicle in today to have them figure out what's going on. They said it would be 140 to check it out. I figured fine because I'd just pay my 100 warranty deductible for whatever work they perform.
They called me and said they drove it and can't find an issue. I told them the hard shift happens when the vehicle has been driven for longer periods of time and especially with our triple digit days. They said they let the engine idle and rev'd it before driving.
I call BS. It hits rather hard when crawling in a parking lot or pulling up in a drive thru giving it just enough gas to shift to 2nd. What can I tell them that the tech isn't going to just pat me on the head and tell me "that's normal." I've already looked at reasons these transmissions shift hard into second. One is dirty fluid and another is needing a software update.
Thoughts?
They called me and said they drove it and can't find an issue. I told them the hard shift happens when the vehicle has been driven for longer periods of time and especially with our triple digit days. They said they let the engine idle and rev'd it before driving.
I call BS. It hits rather hard when crawling in a parking lot or pulling up in a drive thru giving it just enough gas to shift to 2nd. What can I tell them that the tech isn't going to just pat me on the head and tell me "that's normal." I've already looked at reasons these transmissions shift hard into second. One is dirty fluid and another is needing a software update.
Thoughts?
I suppose you can ask them if there are any updated software calibrations available for the PCM or TCM, and ask if they would flash it. But that would usually incur an additional labor charge and many 3rd party warranties will not cover this.
In general, bringing in a vehicle for an "occasional hard shift" issue when there is no known TSB or active fault code tends to result in no problem found.
So basically even if i can show them the problem, nothing is going to happen until the vehicle starts spitting out codes?
"Hard shift" is subjective. Not really something can be demonstrated in a quantitative manner. At least with torque converter judder you can capture the judder in process using a scan tool.
So, unless there is fault code or a TSB describing this known issue, I think you're out of luck. The most they can do is verify fluid level/condition, verify software is up to date and maybe reset adaptives and perform a drive cycle.
You imply that it started shifting hard after the service they did. But viewing the OP states that it was doing this beforehand.
Good luck. Mazda wouldn’t ride with me for the past 25k miles I tried to get them to solve a front end rattle. They continued to tell me to come back when it’s worse. It continued to get worse, I came back every 3-6 months, complained, left it with a full tank and permission to drive it like their own, to lunch, home for the night, whatever it took. I got it back with no more than 10 miles on it at a time, no problem found, and refusal to come to exactly where (in the same county and zip code) I can make it make the noise every time. Mazda USA and the dealer told me they’d solve it one day under warranty or good will. As soon as I went out of 3/36 warranty, new management came into my dealer and Mazda USA won’t stand behind it anymore either.
So moral of the story, good luck! I worked at a dealer for 11-12 years as a tech. I understand some things suck to deal with when you’re flat rate, but it’s part of the job.
I don't remember 'implying' that it shifted hard after the service they did. Each time I posted, I noted how the vehicle was performing. It shifted better, then it shifted a little harder, then it shifted harder still sporadically. Kinda hard to pin point.
Yeah. Kind of afraid of that. What does the 140 diagnostic fee cover again? Rhetorical question. Yeah. I'm sensing they would rather replace engines and transmissions than to be bothered with fluid changes and soleniods.
