2018 Ford F-150: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Nov 5, 2026 · Transmission · AZ

My 2018 Ford F-150 is a regular-cab, long-bed pickup with a 10-speed automatic transmission and approximately 115,000 miles. The transmission frequently delays or misses both upshifts and downshifts. At times, the truck feels as if it goes into neutral for two to three seconds before the next gear engages. At low speeds, around 5 to 15 mph under light acceleration, the engine RPM rises and gear engagement is delayed. This happens under load and during ordinary driving without a trailer. The symptoms have worsened over the past several weeks. AutoNation Ford North Scottsdale inspected the truck and reproduced the problem. The transmission software has been reprogrammed twice. The repair order states that after reprogramming and clearing the adaptive settings, the technician road-tested the truck and found that it would not shift into second gear. The technician recorded findings indicating an internal transmission failure and recommended transmission replacement or teardown for inspection. A service warning light also came on during service at the dealership. The truck still does not shift properly. The delay in gear engagement makes acceleration unpredictable. If the truck briefly loses drive while I am merging or crossing traffic, I may be unable to accelerate when needed, putting me and other road users at risk. I am asking the federal safety agency to investigate the delayed and missed shifts and the temporary loss of drive.

Filed Oct 6, 2026 · Transmission · FL

Premature transmission failure under 45k miles. While driving transmission will not shift gears causing the vehicle to stall and then suddenly engaging propulsing the vehicle forward unexpectedly. Multiple complaints online, Ford will not fix.

Filed Sep 27, 2026 · Transmission · IL

Transmission would go from 7th gear to 1st gear causing stalling in busy traffic. Also the truck would be stuck at 7th gear when coming to a stop light and when the light turned green would not shift down to one which caused a power loss. This is a known problem with ford transmission, the dealership diagnosed the issue as a hydraulic circuit leak, which is caused by the cdf cylinder sleeve. This can be found in Ford TSB 25-2126

Filed Sep 16, 2026 · Transmission · PA

The 10 speed transmission does not shift smoothly and will periodically shift hard when downshifting from 4 to 3 and 3 to 2. Ford is aware of bushing walking which they addressed in 2022. I am one year out of my warranty which Ford would not address when under warranty but issue was less of an issue. Now that it is routinely shifting rough, they will not stand behind their transmission they knew was problematic. I have on numerous occasions been almost rear ended because they hard shift mimics a hard braking without warning.

Filed Sep 7, 2026 · Transmission · MT

Loss of power while acceleration from a stop sign. Vehicle would not shift into gear and acted like it could only drive very slowly. Repair shop inspected it and stated that the transmission needed work and would cost 8200.00 to fix issue that has a TSB out meaning ford knows about the issue

Filed Aug 24, 2026 · Transmission · TX

Truck will not shift into 7th gear, will down shift to 1st gear once it reaches 6th gear around 40mph. Causing the vehicle back tires to brake and skid and lose control of vehicle.

Filed Aug 16, 2026 · Engine, Transmission · ND

Truck starting missing gears when pulling onto highway. Rpms jumped high and truck wouldnt shift. Thankfully we made it across before the oncoming traffic or we would have been hit. Finally got it to go but it was missing gears causing it to drive sluggish. No prior engine lights warning me. When the incident happed I got a notification of a power train malfunction/ reduced power.

Filed Aug 13, 2026 · Transmission · GA

10R80 transmission will jerk and hard shift randomly at times. Also appears to get stuck in gear and/or downshift at inappropriate times.

Filed Aug 8, 2026 · Transmission · PA

The transmission is failing. It is a known issue. 2018 Ford F150 Lariat. The transmission shifts very hard; it's slipping out of gear. It is getting stuck in gears and not shifting as it should. It is flaring when shifting gears. My safety is at risk because I never know when the vehicle is going to move if I am stopped. It could happen in the middle of an intersection; it could go out when I'm going at highway speeds. Yes, the problem has been confirmed by a Ford dealer. The component has not been inspected by anyone on my personal vehicle except by the Ford technician at a local dealership. There were no warning lamps or messages. At first, when you would pull out for the first time of the day, it would have a little trouble shifting through 3rd and 4th gear for the first few minutes, then it was fine the rest of the day. Now it is slipping out of gears, shifting hard, missing shifts, banging when shifting gears, flaring when shifting gears, getting stuck in gears. I did not know this was an issue before buying the vehicle. After it started occurring, I looked it up, and this is a VERY widely known issue with this Ford 10R80 transmission in multiple models of their vehicles, and they REFUSE to recall them. This is an incredible safety issue, as the vehicle can slip out of gear or randomly change to the wrong gear at any time and make the driver lose control of the vehicle.

Filed Jul 24, 2026 · Transmission · ID

On XXX at approximately 5pm my passenger and I were traveling west on the XXX from [XXX] to [XXX]. While driving at highway speeds with cruise control on at approximately 75/80 miles an hour, my 2018 F150 3.5ecoboost with the 10R80 10-speed automatic transmission suddenly without any input from myself, the transmission jerked out of gear causing the rear end to shudder violently. The vehicle briefly went into limp mode, after I pulled over and stopped, I turned the vehicle off and let it sit. When I turned it back on the limp mode went away but the transmission felt like it was slipping gears. My vehicle has only had light city and highway driving and never towed anything. With the known issues and on going class action lawsuits against Ford Motor Company regarding the 10R80 transmission, evidence shows my vehicle is also suffering from the known dangerous 10R80 10-speed transmission issues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jul 9, 2026 · Transmission · UT

Transmission slips, cdf drum must likely the culprit, clunks to the point that the adaptive learning isn’t able to compensate for the cdf failure. Recently while driving at freeway speed there was a failure in the cdf drum That caused the transmission to go into limp mode almost causing an accident. Luckily I didn’t and after shutting down the truck and restarted it I was able to make it home very slow. It’s been parked ever since.

Filed Jul 1, 2026 · Transmission · CO

I am submitting this complaint regarding a serious and ongoing transmission safety concern with my 2018 Ford F-150 3.0L diesel. The vehicle has repeatedly exhibited unsafe and unpredictable transmission behavior, including harsh downshifts at highway speeds, delayed gear engagement, slow transitions between gears, and abrupt jolting that can forcefully move occupants forward. These issues create a safety risk because the vehicle does not shift predictably during normal driving, including at highway speeds and during acceleration or deceleration. The vehicle was previously taken in for service due to these transmission concerns. At that time, the transmission fluid was found to be approximately 75% low. The dealer performed a software update; however, the transmission problems have continued and may have worsened since that repair attempt. Today, the vehicle displayed a transmission-related error stating: “The transmission control module has detected a concern when trying to shift to 4th gear. A failsafe logic disables 4th gear for the remainder of this key cycle.” This warning indicates that the vehicle’s transmission control module detected a fault during operation and disabled 4th gear as a protective measure. This is a significant escalation from rough or delayed shifting, as the vehicle is now entering a failsafe condition that removes a gear while the vehicle is being driven. The condition presents a safety concern because the transmission may downshift unexpectedly, hesitate, jolt, or fail to provide expected acceleration or power delivery. This could be especially dangerous while driving at highway speeds, merging into traffic, passing, towing, or navigating traffic where predictable power and gear engagement are necessary. The abrupt shifting and jolting are severe enough to physically move the driver and passengers forward, creating concern for loss of vehicle control or a crash. The prior service action did not resolve the problem.