2017 Ford F-150: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Oct 9, 2026 · MN

During light deceleration or light acceleration in the 10 speed gear ranges of 3 to 5, my transmission gives a sudden CLUNK noise and jerk. I have about 85K miles of light in town and highway use. The last date of occurrence is documented in additional details.

Filed Sep 2, 2026 · Transmission · WA

The 4-5-6 drum ring in my transmission went out on my truck that has 70, 318 miles on it. Vehicle was missing shift points and would not always shift properly causing power to not be available when expected - especially dangerous when trying to merge onto a highway. Vehicle was inspected by a Ford dealership and by ABC transmissions of Tacoma WA. I paid ABC Transmissions $9,693.98 to fix the problem. The transmissions would clunk badly and was very obviously missing shift points. They first appeared 30k miles ago but Ford lied to me saying it was a "software problem".

Filed Aug 25, 2026 · Transmission · MI

I am filing a formal complaint regarding improper service practices, breach of safety recall protocols, and severe resulting vehicle damage committed by Fox Grand Traverse Ford. On April 23, 2026, independent facility Kinney’s Complete Auto Repair replaced the lead frame connector on my vehicle. During service, the transmission pan was dropped and inspected. The transmission was certified clean, free of metal shavings, and operating normally. On August 3, 2026, a mobile service technician from Fox Grand Traverse Ford performed Safety Recall 26S28 (PCM Software Update) at my workplace parking lot. Ford Motor Company’s official support guidelines explicitly state: "Ford Mobile Service is unavailable for Recall 26S28." Servicing requires in-dealership PCM reprogramming and post-flash adaptive calibration. Because the service was performed in a parking lot, the technician omitted the mandatory post-flash adaptive learning drive cycle. The vehicle immediately suffered harsh shifting, hydraulic pressure spikes, and forward rolling while in Reverse. Fox Ford now demands $7,883.73 for a complete transmission replacement, falsely claiming there metal shavings in the gear box and that the damage was a "pre-existing condition," despite the recent clean pan inspection from April 2026.

Filed Aug 23, 2026 · Transmission · FL

My 2017 Ford F-150 equipped with the 10R80 10-speed automatic transmission experiences repeated harsh and unpredictable shifting. The transmission will hesitate or delay during shifts and then engage very hard, sometimes producing a severe bang or jolt through the truck. It also experiences abnormal gear hunting and inconsistent shifting behavior. These symptoms can occur during normal driving and create a safety concern because the transmission does not always respond predictably to driver input. Ford has issued technical service bulletins addressing harsh engagement, delayed engagement, harsh shifting, and delayed shifting on 2017-2020 F-150 vehicles equipped with the 10R80 transmission. My vehicle is experiencing these same types of symptoms. I am reporting this because I believe the 10R80 transmission in affected 2017 F-150 vehicles should be investigated for a potential safety defect.

Filed Aug 20, 2026 · Transmission · 155,062 miles · TX

The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that after receiving notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 26V237000 (POWER TRAIN), the dealer was contacted, and a mechanic was sent to the residence to perform a software update on the vehicle. After the software update was performed, the vehicle experienced hard shifting, and the gear became stuck in 5th gear and 3rd gear on occasion, with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who diagnosed that the transmission leadframe was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The failure mileage was 155,062.

Filed Aug 10, 2026 · Transmission · 95,782 miles · PA

The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that after taking the vehicle to be serviced under the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 26V237000 (Power Train); the vehicle started making a loud clunking sound while shifting from reverse or drive. The dealer was not made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 95,782.

Filed Jul 27, 2026 · Transmission · FL

Our 2017 Ford F150 Raptor is having issues with hard shifting. It does a clunking and jerking noise while changing into certain gears, 3rd and 4th. It sounds like the transmission is about to fall out. Ford has had to do a software diagnostic on it. It will work for a while then will hard shift again. It has been doing this on and off again since 2021. This issue is not remedy by a software update for it. We (my husband and family with us) have been driving on the interstate picking up speed to change lanes and it shift so hard it scares myself and my adult children. I am scared to drive it on the interstate because one day I am afraid it is going to do it so bad and cause us to have an accident! This is dangerous. It will even do it now at low speed in the city! I want to know why the F150's and the F150 Raptors have not been recalled for this! Even our Ford service advisor mention we may want to make a complaint to the federal safety agency.

Filed Jul 16, 2026 · Electrical, Transmission · CA

The vehicle experienced intermittent transmission-related drivability issues before the recall remedy was available. The vehicle had delayed/hard shifting, an intermittent wrench warning light, and a reduced power/limp mode condition where the transmission would not shift normally. The vehicle was inspected by an authorized Ford dealer on multiple occasions, including diagnostic visits on 10/09/2023, 05/12/2025, and 02/09/2026. Ford later issued recall 26S28 involving the powertrain control module/transmission control system, and the recall remedy was performed. After the recall repair was completed, the original drivability concern continued, including sluggish shifting and delayed engagement between gears. As a second attempted repair related to the wrench warning light and transmission concern, the dealer identified the possibility of a faulty transmission lead frame and reviewed replacement under the applicable coverage. However, the dealer refused to replace the lead frame because the related fault code was not currently present during their inspection. The intermittent nature of the failure causes the code to clear after the vehicle is restarted, making it difficult to capture during a dealer visit. I provided photographic proof showing the wrench warning light was present after picking up the vehicle on the same day the recall repair was supposedly completed. Despite this evidence and the continued symptoms, the lead frame replacement was not performed. The vehicle has not been involved in a crash, but the intermittent loss of normal transmission operation creates a safety concern, especially during acceleration, merging, or uphill driving. The issue has been reported to Ford and inspected by a Ford dealer. Repair documentation, photos, and service records are available.

Filed Jul 6, 2026 · Transmission · AZ

Transmission failure/malfunction (known issue), Harsh/Delayed Shifts, downshifting erratically, loss of power on the highway. I stopped driving the truck after having random loss of power going 75 mph, to having no acceleration and almost getting rear-ended twice. I took the truck in to Holmes Tuttle Ford in Tucson, Arizona to get the TCM reflashed. They confirmed the harsh/delayed shifting and told me it got worse after the reflash, but they were not able to reproduce the random loss of power. Whenever I experienced the truck going into "limp mode" there was a wrench warning lamp turning on. This is a known defect on the 10R80 transmissions, yet there is no safety recall on it. The truck has 100,242 miles on it.

Filed Jun 30, 2026 · Transmission · UT

I am submitting this complaint regarding the failure of the 10R80 automatic transmission in my 2017 Ford F-150. My truck developed progressively worsening transmission problems that were ultimately diagnosed as a failed CDF drum, requiring a complete transmission replacement at a cost exceeding $9,000. Before the transmission failed, the vehicle exhibited harsh shifting, delayed gear engagement, slipping, erratic shifting between gears, and unpredictable transmission behavior. The transmission would hesitate during acceleration, shift unexpectedly, and fail to respond normally to throttle input. These issues created dangerous driving conditions while merging onto highways, crossing intersections, and driving in traffic because I could no longer predict how the vehicle would respond. The repair facility confirmed that the root cause of the failure was the CDF drum within the 10R80 transmission. After researching this issue, I discovered that many other Ford owners have experienced the same failure. Ford has issued Technical Service Bulletins addressing CDF drum-related problems and has revised the CDF drum design, indicating that the original component had a known defect. This is not simply a reliability issue. The unpredictable shifting and loss of normal transmission operation present a serious safety concern that could increase the risk of a crash. I respectfully request that the federal safety agency continue investigating the Ford 10R80 transmission and the known CDF drum defect to determine whether a safety recall or other corrective action is warranted. Owners who have incurred substantial repair costs due to this apparent design defect should also be considered for reimbursement. I have retained repair invoices and documentation confirming the CDF drum failure and transmission replacement and can provide them upon request.

Filed Jun 24, 2026 · Transmission · AR

As of May 23, 2023 Ford issued a TSB 22-2428, TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN 10R60/10R80/10R80 MHT Automatic Transmission - Harsh/Delayed Engagement And/Or Harsh/Delayed Shift - Built On Or Before 23-Dec-2022 " Ford issued a TSB and not a recall since they knew the affected vehicles would be out of warranty and they could then charge the owners pay for repair cost of $8,000- $12,000 for a new transmission replacement. Ford refuses to replace these transmission at their expense, if you are out of warranty, which I am and most are unless you have a extend warranty. How it is even legal that they aren't required by law to replace these transmission at the full expense of Ford since they clearly sold us vehicles with known defective transmission from the beginning and refused to address when the vehicles were under warranty. My safety concern is the transmission will fail in open traffic from these harsh engagement, harsh & delayed shifts. I made multiple remarks to the Ford service departments about harsh transmission problems, once around 30,000 miles and again around 60,000 miles. Ford never admitted identifying operation flaws during their evaluations. They stated transmission was operating within normal specifications.

Filed Jun 19, 2026 · Transmission · SC

Ford f150 10 speed transmission failure, third replacement of defective oil pan, and replacement defective rear main seal. Transmission was taken for service/repair while still under warranty. Local dealer advised problem not found. Hard shifts and skipped shifts persisted until recently I had to pay for tranny rebuild and third replacement of defective oil pan. FORD should have to reimburse me for these repairs. It is a known fact that ford knew about this problem for years and has had thousands of complaints.