Ford 6F35 6 speed auto transmission

[Whimsey]

I checked and my wife's 2017 2.3L ecoboost Explorer has that transmission. Looking on the internet I see it's been around for a while being used in Fusions and older Escapes/Mariners plus some Volvo's it looks like. I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling now knowing Ford put a mid size passenger car and small suv transmission in a new turbo DI injected mid size and heavier and MUCH more powerful suv

. I read that in the early and later models in the Fusion there were frequent problems with these transmissions which are a lot less powerful than the 2.3 ecoboost. I wonder if Ford has fixed it's short comings and strengthened it for the 2.3 ecoboost vehicles, especially the heavier Explorer. Though we have a 7 year 125,000 mile Ford extended warranty I plan on changing the factory fill ATF totally via fluid exchange at ~10,000 miles then do a drain and fill every 20,000-30,000 miles. We keep our vehicles for a LONG time, usually 15+ years which is tough in NJ

. I "inherited" my wife's 2005 Explorer and the transmission shifts like new at ~194,000 miles by doing the ATF changes as mentioned above. Transmissions are not cheap and in older otherwise well working vehicles a bad transmission can send it to the scrap heap early.

Whimsey

 

[L_Sludger]

It's a little too late to second guess yourself now, mate!

 

[meep]

I'm not sure I'd worry too much. Transmissions are shared often and are given different cooling, gearing, valving, programming to suit the application. A/W builds good transmissions. (I'm assuming they stayed with A/W...)

Volvos tend to be pretty torque-y and if plenty torque-y if it's a turbo - remember they start with 5 cylinders and go up from there, without or with a turbo. I wouldn't let the "sedan" comparison scare you in their case. Some of these are pushing 250hp / 250 ft/lbs torque. Our 5 spd is shared with other sedans and SUVs on both GM and Ford platforms.

Ford builds a good product in that explorer. I would be comfortable they did their math right.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
It's a little too late to second guess yourself now, mate!


Once you buy it, you own it. But there are millions of those trans on the road and we haven't heard of pre mature failures AFAIK.

 

[4wd]

Hmm ... my 3.5L has the 6F55 and there is not much difference in power.

 

[SirTanon]

The 6F35 trans has gone through a fair bit of tweaking during its life. The majority of problems from earlier revisions have been "massaged out" over time.

It's not a perfect trans, but it does seem to be a pretty reliable one, overall. Heck, I still have the original one in my 2010 Fusion, with over 232,000 miles on it.

 

[Ethan1]

Yeah, they get better over time. You were better off have a CD4E in a 2008 Escape towing a trailer than you were having one of the early ones in a little Probe.

 

[itguy08]

You sure it's not the 6f50? That's what they have put behind the regualr 3.5 in the Taurus/Explorer. The 6f55 goes behind the 3.5 Ecoboost.

 

[4wd]

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
You sure it's not the 6f50? That's what they have put behind the regualr 3.5 in the Taurus/Explorer. The 6f55 goes behind the 3.5 Ecoboost.


It's definitely the 6F35 according to the door frame sticker.

Whimsey

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: 4WD



It's code 6

Whimsey

 

[itguy08]

That is a surprise - you'd think they would standardize on 1 or 2 transmissions.

 

[4wd]

IMO - your ATF plan is the way to go - let's see: OM says 150k - but if you do a little this or that? - it says 30k ...
That kind of spread would suggest 150k is not grounded in reality. Seems by now they should be able to relate shorter OLM notifications to the need for more frequent changes of ATF, gear lubes etc.
They also post similar stuff on the PTU - here's a thought - why not make it humanly possible to change those few drops of lube?