Our bought new 2017 2.3 EB Explorer transmission failed due to overheating of the TC. Ford offered a Customer Service Program, 20B27 to reprogram the Power Control Module to help protect the torque converter from overheating. We had this done at 67,805 miles in March 2021. The transmission failed at 99,700 miles. No amount of good maintenance would have saved it it seems. I changed the ATF with Mercon LV at 10,000 miles, 22,425 & 32,717 miles. Then next I changed using Castrol synthetic Transmax, which was Ford licensed, at 49,888, 77,332 miles and it failed at 99,700 miles with 22,368 miles on the fluid. The failure occurred rapidly. The rebuilt transmission cost ~$5,000, ouch. It appears that 6F35 transmissions built between 2016 through 2019 were prone to failure on various SUV and truck models with 4 cylinder engines. We don't tow at all and it's not driven hard. It appears that even using synthetic ATF and frequent ATF changes didn't help. I'm now going to use Mercon LV at shorter change intervals. Thankfully it's super easy to change the ATF. We usually keep our vehicles into the 200,000 mile range. The re-builder said in all honesty Ford did not improve the quality of the replacement parts so we can have the same overheating of the TC again. If you own a 2016 through 2019 Ford SUV or truck with this transmission engine combo and all of a sudden you notice that the idle speed drops and it's running rough and shifting is not right you most likely are going to experience transmission failure. Hopefully you don't have this failure. To help the TC from overheating it was recommended to use Sport Mode for local driving in the under 50 mph range instead of Drive. Good luck!
Ford 6F35 Transmission Failure
- Thread starter Whimsey
- Start date
I wonder what was different about the 2016 through 2019 model years compared to earlier years? Cost cutting on some of the components in those years? Not that the 6F35 was ever a stellar transmission, but I thought reliability was ok as long as the fluid was changed at least every 30k miles. You certainly maintained your 6F35 well. A $5000 repair after good fluid maintenance would be frustrating.
I have a 2010 Fusion 6F35 paired to the 3.0, my Mom has a 2017 Escape 2.0 EB with the 6F35.
I have a 2010 Fusion 6F35 paired to the 3.0, my Mom has a 2017 Escape 2.0 EB with the 6F35.
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Also curious what changed from the older 6F35. We have one in my wife's 2013 Fusion 2.0 EB nearing 190k miles. It has a slightly slow 2-3 shift that's been there since 20k mi & no amount of service or reflashes ever cured it.
Curious if the older TC would work on the newer transmissions or if the stall speed is too different for the computer to compensate.
Curious if the older TC would work on the newer transmissions or if the stall speed is too different for the computer to compensate.
Sorry this happened to you Whimsey. We bought our 2016 Explorer 2.3 from my in-laws, and it also had this failure before we bought it. Vehicle was not driven hard and never used to tow either. I can’t remember if the recall update was done on it prior to it failing, but it did still fail around 44k miles.
The transmission actually still worked pretty well, but the torque converter wouldn’t lock up. The revs would bounce around at speed. It actually still idled smoothly too. The failure happened one year after the powertrain warranty expired, even though it was well under the 60k mileage. I complained to Ford customer care or whatever it’s called, and thankfully they covered about 60% of the expense to rebuild the tranny. Perhaps it was because I complained that our other car at the time, a 2011 Fusion with a 6F35, had its tranny rebuilt TWICE under warranty for other issues.
Our Explorer is now at 70k miles, with about 25k on the rebuild. Seems good so far, but the 6F35 is not particularly smooth always so you never know what’ll happen. Hopefully it lasts.
Prices must have gone up… our rebuild, if I would have paid full price, was under $4,000 in 2022. But maybe that was the Ford customer care price they deducted from.
The transmission actually still worked pretty well, but the torque converter wouldn’t lock up. The revs would bounce around at speed. It actually still idled smoothly too. The failure happened one year after the powertrain warranty expired, even though it was well under the 60k mileage. I complained to Ford customer care or whatever it’s called, and thankfully they covered about 60% of the expense to rebuild the tranny. Perhaps it was because I complained that our other car at the time, a 2011 Fusion with a 6F35, had its tranny rebuilt TWICE under warranty for other issues.
Our Explorer is now at 70k miles, with about 25k on the rebuild. Seems good so far, but the 6F35 is not particularly smooth always so you never know what’ll happen. Hopefully it lasts.
Prices must have gone up… our rebuild, if I would have paid full price, was under $4,000 in 2022. But maybe that was the Ford customer care price they deducted from.
The Long-Term Quality Index that I co-developed actually highlights this issue in a lot of different Ford vehicles.
Ford never improved this transmission.
I no longer recommend any of their products, and I haven't bought a Ford for my car buying service for years now.
Quick Edit... I do recommend the Ford Transit but that's been pretty much it.
Ford never improved this transmission.
I no longer recommend any of their products, and I haven't bought a Ford for my car buying service for years now.
Quick Edit... I do recommend the Ford Transit but that's been pretty much it.
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This tranny seems pretty stout in the 2013 - 2019 poilce taurus. Called an FPIS funny enough.
Isn’t that one the 6F55?
Now im not sure......
Im an idiot. The ford taurus police FPIS, and explorer police FPIU, do indeed use the 6F55 and when I look over fords OASIS reports on all the ones we buy at auction, we see that whenever a PTU has a full destruct mode failure, normally the transmission is replaced at the same time. It normally breaks apart the case, which is a very stupid design when building the PTU. They should use a special casting that would prevent a destructive failure to the connecting transmission.
In any case, im sure failures do occur on those, but I have not seem the verbiage with my own eyes, and have not driven one yet that had a transmission failure.
Now this thread does make me nervous, as I have a 2014 Fusion with the naturally aspirated 2.5L mazda based engine with 180k, and its tranmission is perfect. I hope it stays that way!
In any case, im sure failures do occur on those, but I have not seem the verbiage with my own eyes, and have not driven one yet that had a transmission failure.
Now this thread does make me nervous, as I have a 2014 Fusion with the naturally aspirated 2.5L mazda based engine with 180k, and its tranmission is perfect. I hope it stays that way!
I take those rankings with a grain of salt, it has hummer, Mercedes-Benz, and infinity as above industry average. it also has Hyundai above Mazda. that tells you all about all you need to know about those rankings.
Don’t worry, I had 130K VERY HARD miles on the 6F35 in my Escape. They don’t always fail early! Although my 30K fluid changes might have helped.
that's not my opinion, that's the index rating on the website.
That is unfortunate.
I am starting to think that an extended warranty may be worthwhile for any vehicle platform with a known history of issues. In this situation you could have come out ahead, though not by as much as I thought.
I am starting to think that an extended warranty may be worthwhile for any vehicle platform with a known history of issues. In this situation you could have come out ahead, though not by as much as I thought.
We have nearly 190k on my wife’s 2013 Fusion with the 6F35. I’ve done a drain/fill every 15-20k on it & a full flush 3x in that timeframe with no issues other than the previously stated 2-3 shifts that have been there since 20k mi.
Some old neighbors had one fail at just under 100k but never serviced the transmission.
This fusion has been the most reliable vehicle we’ve owned, tied with her last fusion, an 07 3.0 V6 with the Aisin transmission. That one was totaled by an idiot running a stop sign at 145k mi unfortunately.
In short, if you really stay on top of service you’ll likely have minimal issues
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I have a 2014 Ford Fusion with the 2.0 EB that I recently picked up. It has a 2-3 "jerky shift" is how I would describe it. Really annoying. I've drained and filled the transmission with new ATF a 3 times---it probably had the original fluid in there, and it was black. So far no change.
Really not impressed with the 6F35. Not sure if anything can be done to improve the shifting. At least it is good to hear that you have 190K miles. My Fusion current has 118K miles.
The worst fluid I’ve used has been the Ford LV right from the dealer. Amsoil & Castrol both improved the 2-3 shift, slightly, and seem to last longer. The Mercon LV always started shifting poorly prior to the other two. Mainly use Amsoil in the transmission but it did get a flush with Castrol at my friends shop at around 150k. I didn’t do a drain/fill until 175k & it was fine. That wasn’t the case when it had a flush of Mercon LV after the transmission cooler thermostat went out at about 100-105k. Shifting was noticeably rougher after only 15k mi.
People will likely not like the comment about the Ford fluid but that was my experience. My friends shop also quite using it because they’ve had better results with Castrol in the fleet vehicles they service(they’re a Ford independent fleet shop & tend to use only factory parts/fluids).
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Yeah, it seems that the answer is that the Ford 6F35 will be a garbage transmission that jerks and and has terrible shifts during the life of the vehicle. Maybe add a different fluid, like you said. I've tried Ford Mercon LV and then Maxlife with the same results.
Ford should be ashamed for selling this to the public. I have really soured on Ford because of this. Other car I own is a Chrysler with the 9 Speed ZF, and it shifts very smoothly.