The engine keep going into limp mode. The car stalls out while at lights an stop signs, power steering goes out on highway an other roads making it impossible to steer or steer out of others ways, limp mode causes car to not be able to keep up with traffic on highway and other roads. Engine jerks forward an shifts irractically an shifts an downshifts hard.
2005 Ford Five Hundred: stuck in gear or won't shift
6 of the 510 complaints about the 2005 Ford Five Hundred describe stuck in gear or won't shift.
- owner complaints
- 6
- of this car's complaints
- 1%
- typical mileage
- 80,000
- recalls
- 0
Stuck in gear or won't shift by model year
- 20072
- 20064
- 20056
What owners say
I own a 2005 ford five hundred CVT. 2 months ago the transmission began acting up. Driving along and the "wrench" lite comes on then the "skid" lite comes on. The car goes into a loss of power, like low gear. It moved but revs up and won't shifts up. I know its a constant velocity trans so it is at it's lower ratio. After hours of diagnostic it comes down to the trans control module, and still not sure. The obd codes say loss of communication, a u code. Every inch of harness has been checked the whole interior has been removed, dash disassembled. I'm into it over $2,000. I love the car, it rides great. Its has been well maintained. Ford I need help. Need to recall this issue or how about a p01 or z01 policy adjustment.
I purchased new in 2005 a ford five hundred limited from a dealership. I have driven it and have been more than satisfied with it. I have had to do some work to it that according to the dealerships are common problems such as sway bar ends and a cv joint.especially living in the northeast. The reason I'm filing this safety complaint is due to the throttle body on this model vehicle. Approx a month or two ago as while driving, my car engine would rev up slightly and momentarily. Shortly after that started the vehicle (6 speed automatic) would not shift properly. I would only shift up if I would let off the gas peddle, shortly after that, the check engine light came on and then shortly after that while driving at any given speed it would go into "fail safe" check engine mode. I brought it to a mechanic and they found codes that had to do with the vehicle fuel system running "rich" but could not tell me what it was exactly. I then started reading about my vehicle and similar problems and found that many owners have complained about the same problem and found that it was a throttle body problem that ford new about on several models (including mercury) ford did not do a recall on this problem but rather sent a letter to owners ( I never received) saying that they would clean the throttle body and reset the control computer. The letter came out in 2012. The letter said that the problem would be covered free on vehicles that had less than 150,000 and under ten years. I do not qualify for the mileage. I have had the dealership clean the plates of the throttle body as the letter said and paid for it but the problem persist and in fact is worse. I called ford customer service that said that there was nothing they do other than go to another ford dealership to see if they could help. A car stalling while in in traffic is very dangerous and ford should take responsibility.
Car was brought in for throttle recall 3/28/13. Upon the return, the car began experiencing erratic surges of RPM/speed. Gears did not shift right with intermittent acceleration until vehicle shut off while driving on highway, barely escaping accident. Vehicle would not start & had to be brought back to dealer. Dealer stated it was a pre-exiting condition despite vehicle not having any prior issues before recall service. Dealer diagnosed & agreed to replace fuel filter. Vehicle restarted, but still with intermittent acceleration and improper gear shift surges at any speed. On 4/6/13, while driving on highway vehicle experienced several engine failures, narrowly escaping accident again. Shortly after while completely stopped, vehicle lunged forward hitting another vehicle from behind, causing severe damage to both bumpers along with engine failure. Car was brought back to dealer once again, and dealer refused to take accountability and re-service, stating it was a pre-existing condition. Unserviced vehicle remains unusable and considered a hazard to drive. Vehicle sits in stadium ford quality auto mall, rutherford nj with no resolve from ford despite numerous complaints.
Driving from sj to la, calif. 200 miles into my journey with wife and 3 kids, pulled off highway for gas. Slowed down and noticed the wrench and check engine lights on and car would only go 10 to 15 miles per hour and revved at more than 3000 rpms. The car clunked hard when put into drive or reverse. Turned off the engine, several times and restarted. Sometimes fixed problem, other times did not. I had car towed to hanford, california, and then again to los angeles-another 198 miles to ford dealership. I had to rent a car and drive the rest of the way to la and drive back - 198 miles-to hanford-to return the rental car. I tested the car a few times in hanford and when it was at the ford dealer. From a cold start, the car worked fine. Drove and shifted well with no problems. But once the car warmed up, it went back into limp-mode, clunked hard when you shifted into drive or reverse, and would go only 10-15 MPH at 3000 or more rpms. The dealer test drove it and had the same result. The dealer got codes p0701, p0871, and p0961 and said that meant the transmission had internal problems. They said they called ford engineers who told them the likely problem was when the transmission fluid warms up, it is not properly circulating due to leaks in what they called two variators inside the transmission. They quoted the cost to replace the variators as $3600 for parts and labor of $1200 for a total of $4800 and that is more than the cost to replace the transmission for which they quoted $4500. So they replaced the transmission. After starting, they found a broken transmission mount so they replaced that for another $250 (part only - no labor charge). I test drove the new transmission yesterday. The car no longer goes into limp mode and drives nicely except after it warms up it clunks hard into drive and reverse and wines in reverse gear. Not taking car till fixed properly.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 ford five hundred. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the contact accelerated to switch lanes; however, the gears would not shift. He heard a loud, banging noise under the hood of the vehicle and it began to jerk. The contact was forced to remain at the speed he was traveling before attempting to accelerate. The same failure recurred three days later. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and they stated that there was downshifting failure, and recommended that the transmission be replaced. The contact would be responsible for the repair costs. The vehicle has not yet been repaired. The failure mileage was 40,100 and current mileage was 42,000.
Service bulletins that may apply
- Motorcraft® Continuously Variable Chain-Type Transmission Fluid (XT-7-QCFT in non-Canadian markets,...
- Transmission harsh shifting - no dtc's - mileage over 20,000 miles
- Transmission shifter binding / high effort bezel replacement
- Oil leak from power transfer unit
- Continuously variable transaxle (CVT) noise diagnosis
- Special field action 05L25
- Vehicles with a CVT transaxle, may exhibit a fluid leak from the transaxle oil pan area
- Harsh or erratic upshifts/downshifts - wrench lamp illuminated with diagnostic trouble code (DTC) P2544 -...
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2005 Ford Five Hundred won't shift
Is stuck in gear or won't shift a common problem on the 2005 Ford Five Hundred?
6 of 510 owner complaints about the 2005 Ford Five Hundred (1%) mention stuck in gear or won't shift. The model year with the most reports is 2005.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2005 Ford Five Hundred?
There are 0 recalls and 12 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2005 Ford Five Hundred
Stalling 56Check engine light 50Jerking 45Sudden acceleration 35Door locks 20Loss of power 19Grinding brakes 15Transmission failure 14Harsh shifting 12Hesitation 11Warning lights 11Headlights 9Slipping 9Airbag light 8Fuel gauge 8Won't start 8No deployment 7Ball joint 6CVT failure 6Adaptive cruise 5Engine failure 5Fire or smoke 5Water leak 5
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