2006 Ford Freestyle: CVT failure

Filed Aug 25, 2020 · Transmission · 123,000 miles · MI

I just bought a 2006 freestyle from a local dealer and had transmission issues on the way home on the 2nd day of ownership. Carcomplaints.com has many complaints listed from with the CVT transmission with exorbitant repairs costs well over $5000.00

Filed Jun 28, 2020 · Transmission · 10 miles · MI

When cruising in the city or highway, the CVT transmission slips and downshifts to a lower gear, it would rev but no power. The car would not go any faster. The wrench icon in the dash would light up. The only way to remedy it is to stop the car and turn the engine off, then it resets. It happened to me multiple times in a day.

Filed Aug 16, 2019 · Transmission · 145,000 miles · SC

The CVT transmission has caused intermittent problems over last three years. The vehicle suddenly loses power and the wrench light comes on. Have to pull over to turn off and have everything reset. This is an on going problem, definitely can not use cruise control either. Have seen numerous reports of identical problem, most recently had to have transmission first rebuilt then completely replaced because the module they were rebuilding first arrived damaged, then when new one was put in transmission sent up numerous other codes saying transmission had failed and needed to be replaced, which we did at a cost of over $7500 and it only gets a 100000 mile or 3 year warranty. This is a known problem by ford and should have been recalled and all work done under that recall.

Filed May 15, 2019 · Acceleration, Transmission · 8 miles · WA

Hello, I was driving 60 MPH on us highway 2, driving from snohomish, wa to monroe, wa, which is a 2 lane highway with no median (death highway) suddenly, the car seemed to lunge and I lost acceleration with the yellow service wrench dash light coming on. My speed significantly decreased and the car pulled at the same time. Rpm's jumped to 5000+ but I was dropping speed. I avoided the car coming up behind me and the oncoming traffic by quickly pulling into an area on the side of the highway. This was a very scary experience that could have turned out very badly if I would have been hit from behind and pushed into oncoming traffic. I sat on the side of the road, stunned for 5-10 minutes, not knowing what happened. It had also happened once earlier that day at much lower speeds and then seemed to reset itself. Again the wrench light reset and I was able to pull out onto the highway and drive to a transmission shop for diagnosis. As of now, I don't know exactly what the damage may be other than I'm being told it's a bad transmission and that I need a new one, with really no guarantee that the same thing won't happen again. Since this incident I have done a great deal of research on this car and specifically the 05-07 ford freestyle with this CVT. It is nothing but problems how can ford get away this and why hasn't this transmission been recalled and ford made to finally resolve the issue safely or made to reimburse all affected parties the purchase price of the severely unsafe vehicle. I am thankful that I had a place to turn off, rather than the potential of an accident on that highway!! No physical injury, but definitely an emotionally charged event!! Thank you. (xxxx) parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

Filed Jun 1, 2016 · Transmission · 126,000 miles · PA

While driving, vehicle goes into limp mode without warning. Happens in both city and highway driving. Wrench indicator and check engine indicators light on dash. Vehicle slows and can barely accelerate causing near-accident. Resetting code p0701 allows normal operation till cycle repeats in short and random time of driving. Engine shut down/restart clears wrench light till cycle repeats. Took car to 2 ford dealers and independent transmission specialist. All advised that the CVT transmission cannot be rebuilt or repaired and that replacement transmissions are generally not available. All advised not repairing the car because even if a new transmission were available, cost is $4500-$5500 for the unit plus over $1000 labor to remove/replace transmission. Research shows this is a common complaint about this car and it's similar models (ford 500) of all years (2005-2007).

Filed Apr 4, 2016 · Transmission · 124,000 miles · IL

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. While driving at any speed, there was a loud noise coming from the transmission. The faster the vehicle accelerated, the louder the noise sounded. In addition, when the gear shifter was in all gears except reverse, the noise became louder. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the CVT transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 124,000. Updated 06/15/16*lj the consumer has since sold the vehicle. Updated 06/29/16.

Filed Sep 30, 2015 · Transmission · 134,000 miles · CA

I purchased a 2006 ford freestyle in april 2014. It has been a great truck except for the following problem: when driving at highway speed, the transmission will suddenly drop into low gear. The transmission will not go into any other forward gear without shifting into 'park', shutting down the engine, waiting a minute, and re-starting the engine. This can be quite dangerous on a fast moving freeway! In normal city driving, the truck runs fine. On long road trips, the transmission may do this dozens of times before reaching my destination. It is especially a problem going up long grades. It can also occur when overtaking a slow-moving vehicle, decelerating, and then speeding back up to pass. I checked a forum for freestyle problems and there have been several instances of others having the same problem. Some paid hundreds of dollars to have their transmissions fixed, but the problem persists. I talked to a ford mechanic about the problem and he said that the freestyle (made only in 2006 and 2007) has been known to have problems with the CVT transmissions. He said there is a faulty temperature sensor in the housing of the transmission that sends a problem signal to the computer that 'locks the transmission into 'limp' mode so the driver can pull over'. To replace it requires buying the housing because the sensor is part of the housing. But, the company that made the part for ford went out of business in 2008. So no part has been available. I was told that ford had contracted another company to make the part in december 2014 and the part would be available in june 2015. In june, I checked, and now the part will not be available until the end of 2015. I complained on the ford website and they deny any problems with the transmissions so no recall has been issued. I can't use the cruise control because the transmission will go off and the high RPM can blow the engine.

Filed Jul 1, 2015 · Transmission · 103,000 miles · TX

Car jerked and hesitated trying to put in reverse. Engine light came one. Had more issues with transmission while driving with hesitation and jerking. 3 mechanics unable to identify codes issued caused by engine light or identify cause of problems. Took car back 2nd time to transmission shop and did an indepth inspection which found little metal shavings in the fluid in the transmission. The mechanic researched and found that was an inherent issue with the CVT transmission which is why they stopped making it. Difficult/expensive to repair due to parts not available. From 2nd mechanic that is a master ford mechanic, this car is not repairable. 1 of the mechanics said that these cars should not be sold and are, or should be, on a list of unsaleable cars by dealerships. We bought ours from a dealership just 9 months ago and not our money is down the drain. Did not check reliability before bought vehicle and found that this transmission has many complaints. If this was such a bad transmission that it is no longer made, why is it not recalled and the vehicles that have it. This is deceptive practices for dealers to sell these vehicles with such a known issue for a part that will eventually fail in all vehicles at some point. Especially when the transmissions are not able to make it to 100k miles. That is a bad transmission and these should be recalled before more consumers spend their money foolishly or someone is injured when the transmission causes issues while driving. We have been advised by the mechanics not to drive it on the freeway so as to prevent crashes due to the transmission failure.

Filed May 26, 2015 · Engine, Fuel system · 170,000 miles · FL

I was driving my car and the wrench indicator came on, my car would not accelerate. I've taken my car to the repair shop and was infromed there is a known issued with ford freestyle 2005-2006 and the CVT transmission. I reviewed and it appears ford knows this is an issue, but refuses to recall/repair it. I will be seeking legal action if ford does not pursue a recall on this vehicle and it's known issue with the CVT transmission.

Filed May 23, 2015 · Transmission · 102,000 miles · OH

The continuously variable transmission(CVT) found in my ford freestyle 2006 vehicle contains design and manufacturing defects that lead to powertrain failure.. Ford has known about this safety problem since 2005 and has issued technical service bulletins to dealers regarding the defect, but it has never informed me and other consumer(s). This vehicle(s) and their CVT transmissions fail, suddenly and unexpectedly, at any time and under any driving condition or speed, further, sudden loss of forward propulsion and delayed acceleration has had serious effects on handling, stability, acceleration and maintenance of speed. These conditions and risks can thereby contribute to traffic accidents, which can result in personal injury or death. Thank god this has not yet happened to my family. We have come close on multiple different occasions. Ford has chosen to actively conceal the defective CVT transmissions in the ford freestyles. This has put my family drivers' in danger and cost us over 3300 dollars in repairs. This was in june of 2012. Now, the kistler dealership has told me repairs would be over 7300 dollars to repair with 156k miles on the vehicle (approx 46k more since the first repair). As a reasonable consumer I would expect and assume that a vehicle's transmission is safe, will function in a manner that will not pose a safety hazard and is free from defects,. I do not expect ford to fail to disclose the CVT transmission defect to me or other consumers. Moreover, I do not expect ford and the kistler dealership to initially deny this defect, charge me thousands of dollars to repair it, then more than double the amount to repair again only 46k miles later. I am asking for ford to answer for this problem. Please get back with me for any questions.

Filed Nov 14, 2014 · Transmission · 110,000 miles · MA

Our 2006 ford freestyle (approx 110,000 miles) began making a loud knocking noise from under the hood. Our local mechanic isolated the noise to the transmission but feared the job would be too big for him to tackle. We had the vehicle towed to a highly-rated local shop specializing in transmission repairs. Their diagnosis was that the transmission would need to be replaced *if* they could find the parts, since this was a common problem with the ford CVT transmissions and that ford had stopped using this particular transmission. Their quote was approx. $5000, but since that's about what the book value is, we elected not to proceed with the work and had the car towed home. I've since done much research on-line and have found reports of hundreds of other owners who have the same issue, but nothing about a recall (or even a tsb)! In fact, there is a class action suit underway in california regarding this issue, but since I live in ma, I don't qualify for their class. How can this issue, which impacts hundreds if not thousands of owners, not be addressed by a total recall?

Filed Sep 23, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 55,383 miles · NY

This happened 3 times before they were able to do anything at the ford dealership because the lights would be off by the time I was able to reach the dealership, and their response was always technician was unable to duplicate symptom. While driving at 50mph on the interstate there was an intermittent idle surge while driving and then a loud "clunking" noise and then the transmission lost power and the vehicle crawled to a halt. There was no acceleration even though the engine revved up. The steering wheel became difficult to maneuver so I was unable to even get it into the emergency lane. I was stuck in the middle lane of the interstate with my child in the car. The check engine light, the wrench light for the CVT transmission, and the passenger air bag light also came on. I had to turn the car off, put it in park, and then restart the car, when I reached the dealership they were finally able to retrieve several fault codes. They performed an r&r transmission and overhaul. This happened 2 other times at (77004 miles, after shifting into park at 0 MPH. They replaced a faulty throttle body for this repair- and then at 77238 miles-they replaced the alternator for this repair). It's beginning to happen again. This was and still is a dangerous situation. I now have 3 kids. I thank god we weren't struck from behind while driving on the interstate. I am terrified to drive the vehicle to long distance locations or drive on any parkway, highway, or interstate because it took a while for the vehicle to start up long enough to get it to the dealership that was only 4 miles away.