Transmission failed. Pulling into traffic the transmission failed to shift from first gear into second, instead not going into any gear at all, putting my entire family at risk of being struck by oncoming traffic! Engine revved and truck would not move. Then suddenly shifts into third gear jerking violently. Currently in shop for transmission replacement. After a bit of research I found that this is a common issue with the transmission.
2020 Ford F-150 transmission complaints
Page 6 of 13: complaints 131 to 160 of 364, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The transmission has the potential to shift erratically most recently when crossing a divided highway, trying to get in them median, the truck switched gears, causing the truck to stop blocking oncoming traffic. It was only momentarily and shifted back to the correct gear. It has the potential to hard shift pretty consistently.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH on the interstate, while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle decelerated to 2 MPH. The messages to “Schedule Maintenance” and “Powertrain - Reduced Power” were displayed on the instrument panel and the Mobile App on the cellphone, and the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The contact pulled over to the right side of the road and researched the failure. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the dealer would be contacted, and then the contact would receive a callback. The approximate failure mileage was 46,000.
Once the vehicle is in Drive and starts shifting through the gears, the truck losses all acceleration for 3-5 seconds and then experiences a harsh shift into gear. This causes the vehicle to "stall" in intersections and other hazardous locations if it does not shift properly. The 2020 F150 3.5 ecoBoost has been serviced at local Ford dealerships since bought. Most recently, it was taken into a Ford dealership for routine oil change, transmission fluid change, spark plugs and coils, and 100K inspection due to the vehicle being at 94K miles. I advised the service technician of the concern for the shifting issue that started between the last oil change, which got significantly worse during day-to-day operation.
10rd80 Transmission CDF drum failure. A known design defect on 2020 F150 that Ford should issue a recall on. Ford finally fixed the design issue in August 2022. My truck is out of warranty so I will be out over $6000 that I do not have to fix. Extreme financial problem as I do not have the money to fix and this is my only vehicle
Transmission will not shift into gear. No recall on this and dealers option is for service and repair. Transmission was serviced and problem shifting still continues. I have received alerts from Ford Pass App indicating Powertrain Malfunction/ Reduced Power — What Is Happening? The transmission control module has detected a concern when trying to shift to 7th gear. A failsafe logic disables 7th gear for the remainder of this key cycle. What Should I Do? Have your vehicle checked by an authorized dealer as soon as possible. This loss of power is a huge safety issue as when I accelerate into traffic the lag in shifting causes the truck to not get up to speed and you’re basically a sitting duck. Transmission was serviced and this did not resolve the issues. Replacement is now scheduled and will cost a minimum of $9000.00. This is a KNOWN issue with the 10-speed transmissions and should be recalled for repair &/or replacement by FORD. This truck has only 116,000 miles!!
The transmission progressively became worse--skipping gears, lurching, clanking, hesitating and losing power. It became unsafe to drive. A complete rebuild of the transmission we required. There is a defect int he transmission that allows bushing/rings to move around.
Truck was traveling at 30 mph and slowing down for stop sign and shifted from 4 th gear to 3rd gear so hard the trucks engine turned off and had to come to a stop and shift into park to turn truck off and back on again. Truck was traveling at 30 mph and slowing down for stop sign
At around 61,000 miles my transmission started having a shuttering noise and had a harsh jerky shift from 3rd to 5th when vehicle was recently started up for the first time of the day. multiple TSB's on Ford's website for this issue including the latest TSB 25-2301. It appears that the interior drum has failed which has been a known issue. Dealer states $6219.87 to repair the transmission. CDF TSB, replace the valve body, and reprogram the PCM.
While driving on the interstate doing around 70 MPH I I Stanton drive up a fairly steep hill on the road . About half way up the truck down shifted from 10th gear too what it said was 7th. The gear did not engage and the truck revved up like it was in neutral. I pulled over immediately. Checked under the truck and no leaks. Got back in and truck ran like normal. Went to the dealer and was told that is a common issue with this particular transmission. I also have noticed when driving and coasting too a stop when the truck downshifts there is sometimes a loud clunking sound. Ford needs to be help responsible for putting trash transmissions in these vehicles. Please advise them to issue a recall and repair or replace them.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended and jolted. The contact stated that the failure occurred while driving between the second and the third gears. Additionally, the contact noticed that the vehicle made unusual sounds while shifting into gears. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was advised to contact the federal safety agency Hotline to report the safety failure. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000.
Component/System Failure: The 10-speed automatic transmission failed prematurely at only 75,000 miles. The transmission is still in the vehicle and available for inspection upon request. The symptoms include harsh shifting between gears, particularly into lower gears, followed by significant lag and then abrupt jumping/engagement. This is consistent with numerous other complaints filed regarding the 10-speed transmission in this model year. Safety Risk: The unpredictable transmission behavior created dangerous driving conditions. The harsh shifting and lag followed by sudden acceleration made it impossible to safely merge into traffic, navigate intersections, or maintain consistent speed on highways. The erratic gear engagement put myself, my passengers, and other drivers at risk as the vehicle's response became completely unreliable. The truck is currently unsafe to drive. Professional Confirmation: Yes, the problem has been confirmed by Aamco Transmission on Sept 17, 2025. They diagnosed it as transmission failure requiring complete replacement. Manufacturer/Other Inspection: No inspection by Ford has occurred to date. Warning Indicators: No warning lights, check engine lights, or dashboard messages appeared prior to or during the failure. The only symptoms were the physical driving symptoms described above—harsh shifting, significant lag, and abrupt gear engagement—which began approximately gradually over the past month and progressively worsened until the vehicle became unsafe to operate.
I was driving eastbound on city streets at 30 mph with my three young children when the vehicle exhibited abnormal shifting behavior, searching for a gear. Despite being in 9th gear, traveling the speed limit, and lightly pressing the pedal, the vehicle experienced a rough downshift and lost power while going up a small incline over a freeway overpass. I turned on my hazards and attempted to move over to avoid an accident, which I successfully did. The vehicle regained power after restarting with rough shifts in the lower gears. I put the vehicle in manual mode to better control the shifting, though it remained incredibly rough. The kids were shaken and refuse to drive in the vehicle. Since then, I’ve only driven it to have it serviced at our local Ford dealer. They stated everything was fine after the transmission fluid exchange and battery replacement. However, the vehicle still exhibited rough shifting behavior on the short drive home. A friend pulled codes from the TCM/ECU and found P0734-00, P07F7-00, and P2535-00. He assisted, backed up the ECU/TCM, re-flashed the onboard ECU/TCM with the latest mappings, and reset the adaptive learning. He then drove the vehicle with diagnostics equipment connected and recorded the driving data, finding that the transmission was losing pressure and the shift behavior was slightly better but still rough shifts between 2-4 and 7-8 gear. Once the drive/test was completed, codes P0761 and P2702 appeared on the reader. He explained that the issues pointed to a CDF drum defect, which has several TSB’s published. He advised me to stop driving it and reach out to the dealer or local qualified shop. I was quoted between $7,677-$8,978 to replace trans with reman unit. Vehicle has been maintained with all records on file and is in nearly perfect condition with exception of the transmission due to the CDF defect. I would love to see action taken to prevent injury/death as I could see that occurring at some point.
Like a lot of f-150 owners, my 10speed transmission stopped working not allowing me to accelerate or shift into reverse. I was stuck in the intersection luckily I didn’t get into an accident. The truck was stuck in 7th gear! This is dangerous and happens far too commonly, please investigate, this is dangerous and expensive for the average consumer. Please help.
Like most people with the same model and year. My transmission stopped shifting, and stalled. I was fortunate since I was sitting in the intersection. You need to look into the 10speed transmission they are faulty and need to be investigated!
the transmission for this truck has on several occasions shifted very hard when accelerating, and on a couple occasions has down shifted without warning and without reason. the down shifting incidents were unexpected and could have caused an accident if I was in traffic.
The transmission failed. While driving, it shifts extremely hard and will suddenly downshift without warning. Autonation Ford of North Canton, Ohio, inspected the vehicle on August 13, 2025, and reported that the CDF drum clutches were likely worn. The truck is available for inspection upon request. The sudden downshifts cause the truck to jerk violently and lose speed abruptly. On multiple occasions, this has nearly caused me to lose control and creates a high risk of being rear-ended by other drivers who are not expecting the sudden slowdown. Yes. Autonation Ford of North Canton, Ohio, confirmed the issue on August 13, 2025. Yes. Autonation Ford of North Canton inspected the transmission and stated it was likely due to worn CDF drum clutches. There were no warning lamps or messages. The symptoms began before August 2025 when the transmission started slipping, shifting hard, and then downshifting unexpectedly. The issue occurred just one month after the warranty expired. The dealer quoted me approximately $7,000 to repair it. I have read that Ford has replaced the old pressed bushings in this part with welded ones to prevent this failure, which suggests this may be a known defect in the original design.
Acceleration without foot on gas pedal, erratic & harsh shifting, and slipping gears
* What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Transmission/powertrain; currently available for inspection at time of submission * How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? While stopped at stop sign/stop light, the vehicle would have long hesitation before advancing forward. I would initiate hazard lights to prevent driver behind me from crashing into the back of my vehicle. The vehicle would shift harshly and untimely as well as randomly downshift from 10th gear to 1st gear (x2 on 24Aug2025). I would have to pull vehicle off the road and when attempting to resume driving the vehicle would not move. The RPM’s would rev, however the vehicle would not move. I would turn off the vehicle and then restart it and the vehicle would move forward, resuming with harsh shifting. Loss of power, delayed and harsh shifting pose a safety hazard while the vehicle is in operation. * Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes; by independent service center * Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? No * Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? First check engine light illuminated on August 16, 2025. (Please note the check engine light disappears once the vehicle is turned off and then restarted). I took the vehicle to AutoZone on 25Aug2025. The tech placed the code reader on the vehicle. 2 codes, P0734-00 and P07F7-00, ‘gear 4 incorrect ratio’ and ‘gear 10 incorrect ratio’ respectively were displayed. Vehicle taken to independent service center on 25Aug2025 who also placed code reader on vehicle. I am not in possession of that information at time of writing. Monthly ‘my vehicle report’ has been clear with no issues whatsoever noted until report dated 25Aug2025 (attached)
transmission has on several occasions lurched when starting the vehicle. during driving, the transmission shifts hard and sometimes jumps in and out of gear as if it cant decide which gear to engage. this often happens at low speeds after first start, and between 5th and 6th gear.
December of 2020, I purchased 3 - 2020 Ford F150's with 5.0L engines and 10speed 10r80 transmissions for 2 of my companies as PERSONAL DRIVERS (non-commercial use). *Vehicle 1 - at 82,000 miles - was experiencing missed shifts, and harsh engagement. Within a couple of weeks of this happening, unfortunately the vehicle was totaled in an accident unrelated to shifting. *Vehicle 2 - began to experience the same problems, this vehicle would miss a shift and fall completely "out of gear" leaving no power or throttle response (roughly 78,000 miles) and had been service according to Ford specification and mileage with Motorcraft factory filter, gasket, and Ford ULV fluid. Unfortunately this was the only vehicle I purchased an extended warranty for due to long highway trips out of town where a breakdown would be difficult to deal with out of town. Determined as "transmission Failure" and replaced at Billy Howell Ford in Cumming Ga. (via extended warranty) *Vehicle 3 - VIN NUMBER IN QUESTION - at 74,000 miles vehicle is now missing shifts, jumps out of gear. 2 DANGEROUS scenarios this week. Crossing oncomming traffic to turn onto road - 1-2 or 1-3 shift missed and complete loss of power/movement barely avoiding being hit by oncoming cars. Second occurrence, slowing to a red light on wet road. Coasting/Braking as transmission began downshifting from 10th gear,.. when it got to 7/6 it downshifted to Gear 4 sliding/screeching the rear tires as the rear end SLID/DRIFTED sideways causing me to PANIC STOP with brake pedal fully depressed to avoid free sliding or losing control of the vehicle. -100% available for inspection FORD SHOULD ABSOLUTELY RECALL ALL OF THE EARLY 10R80 EQUIPPED VEHICLES. IT'S DANGEROUS!! Vehicle has been checked/duplicated and verified by ASE certified technician, local dealer admitted to problems, there are NO MIL's, and NO FAULT CODES STORED COMPUTER. Dealer wants almost $9000 to replace transmission. Ford DO BETTER! -- THIS IS DANGEROUS.
The first transmission I had in my truck i had. Harsh shifting, Slipping gears, Delayed engagement, Transmission overheating, Loss of power and transmission stuck in higher gear while stopped. They replaced the transmission (at my cost ) now i have over heating issues. There should be a mandatory recall on this transmission, give me my money back and fix the issues for free.
Transmission has been skipping gears, hard shifting, getting stuck in gears. While traveling in the truck going up an on ramp and then trying to merge into traffic, the transmission got stuck in 7th gear. Pressing the accelerator would not move the vehicle and I was left without the ability to move out of traffic. Vehicles were having to put on their brakes, swerve and go around me. Prior to this time I was having some slight shifting irregularities between gears 2-3 and 7-8. I notified the dealership of issues and they said I would have to drop the vehicle off and it would take 7-10 days before they could even look at it. The vehicle was purchased in December 2020 and currently has just under 75,000 miles. I was told that it was out of warranty. For the first 4 years of ownership the vehicle has always been serviced at a Ford dealership. I was never notified of any issues with the transmission. However they did notify me that a windshield wiper arm was recalled and that was changed. Early in the ownership of the truck, I experienced the vehicle moving backwards when on an incline and taking my foot off of the brake, before accelerating. Also, experienced clanking and jarring when accelerating and then having to take foot off of the accelerator. In 2023, when having the vehicle serviced for oil change, I asked the service technician about these issues and was told that there was nothing wrong and that it was just typical for that type of transmission.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while the vehicle was locked and parked on the street with the engine running and unoccupied, the transmission erroneously shifted into gear and the vehicle drove forward. The contact stated that the vehicle crashed into another parked vehicle and landscaping and missed crashing into another vehicle that was driving in the opposite direction. The contact expressed concerns because no one was present inside the vehicle during the failure. The contact stated that the Police Department was contacted but no officers showed up on scene. No injuries were reported. The cause of the failure was not determined. The dealer was contacted and informed the contact that the PCM needed to be reprogrammed; however, the vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 22,000.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds on several occasions, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly while depressing the brake pedal. The contact stated that the power train warning light was illuminated, and the message "Power Train Malfunction - Reduced Power" was displayed on the Mobile App. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving 60 MPH, the transmission downshifted unexpectedly while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the engine revved while the RPM was fluctuating. The vehicle was not repaired. No further information was available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the manufacturer could not issue recalls. The contact was referred to the federal safety agency Hotline to file report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormal rattling sound. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. No further information was available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 118,923.
This truck has the notorious 10 speed transmission. It has severely abrupt shifts, thuds, clunks. Sudden loss of power or surge of power when transmission shifts. the federal safety agency is my only hope of getting the transmission repaired and safe. Not just my truck my sons 2021 had the same issue. Bad cdf drums. Ford revised the sort for 2023 and eliminated it but everyone from 2017-2021 are stuck with an erratic, dangerous transmission that needs recalled.
My truck started to throw codes p0240 and p0430 when my truck hit 81000 miles. I am now at 141000 miles. I have since replaced both of my catalytic converters, all 4 of my O2 sensors and I still have the same p0240 and p0430 codes. I also took my truck into ford on Feb 26, 2025 for the recall on my PCM reprogramming. They claimed to have redone the programming but ever since they did that, I now have shifting problems, surging, clanking, hard shifting, random and sporadic shifting with no end in sight. This should be addressed by Ford TSB 24-2101 but again, they did nothing and claim there is nothing wrong with my truck. I have had a fluid replacement and filter replacement with no issues noted, no metal parts, no burnt smell or burnt fluid. Today I came across Ford TSB 24-2184 where they acknowledge that there is an issue with the calibration and controls sensitivity and that replacement of catalytic converters may be necessary. Ford never did any of this. The recall on my truck, which was reprogramming of my PCM also leads to dirty and fouling of the catalytic converter. I have spent over $3000 so far to fix Fords mistakes and not only in nothing fixed, I still have the exact same issues. When i take it to Ford, all the do is clear the codes and then the codes come back on before I get home. So Ford is aware of the issues, knows about the issue and yet will do nothing to fix it.
The rear differential exploded while driving without warning. immediate lose of power while traveling 70mph, the explosion blew some hot parts of the differential off the road and started a brush fire.
I was driving at normal highway speeds for probably around 45 minutes. When I tried to accelerate around a slower car, I lost all power to the gas pedal and then it slammed into 5th gear as I slowed down, I sped back up and it was sluggish and slow to accelerate and then violently shifted from 5th to 9th as if those were the only two gears I had. I was able to make it home, but it was a very dangerous situation.
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