Ford Ranger hesitation problems

Filed Oct 7, 2026 · Engine · CA

I have a 2024 Ford Ranger Lariat. Approximately once a month, the vehicle intermittently loses throttle response while making a turn, most often a right-hand turn but sometimes a left-hand turn. The problem generally occurs after I let off the accelerator and coast into or through an intersection. When I complete the turn and press the accelerator, there is no response from the pedal for approximately 1–2 seconds. The vehicle simply coasts with no acceleration. Then the power suddenly returns. The vehicle hesitates, makes a noise, and then accelerates. This creates a serious safety concern because it can leave me without acceleration while turning through an intersection or entering traffic, with other vehicles approaching around me. The problem is intermittent and may occur only about once a month, making it difficult to reproduce on demand. I am reporting it because the temporary loss of propulsion could potentially cause a collision.

Filed Aug 28, 2026 · Transmission · NC

While driving my 2020 Ford Ranger, the transmission has repeatedly exhibited unexpected and unintended gear changes, including sudden downshifts or gear changes without driver input, hesitation, and abrupt loss of power during acceleration. These problems have occurred during highway merging, pulling into traffic, and city driving. On 08/14/2026, while accelerating to pull into traffic, the vehicle suddenly lost power, creating a hazardous situation as vehicles approached from behind. I have also experienced instances in which the transmission unexpectedly shifted or hesitated without warning, causing the vehicle to lurch or slow unpredictably in traffic. This condition creates a serious safety hazard because an unexpected loss of power or unintended gear change can prevent the vehicle from accelerating when needed, such as when merging, passing, pulling into traffic, or avoiding a collision. The unpredictable behavior increases the risk of a crash and endangers both the driver and surrounding motorists. The vehicle was taken to Crossroads Ford of Indian Trail on 08/14/2026, where it was diagnosed with a failed or failing 10R80 automatic transmission. At the time, the vehicle had approximately 57,500 miles and was approximately 5 years and 7 months old, which is 7 months beyond the manufacturer's bumper-to-bumper warranty. I have maintained the vehicle according to Ford's recommended service schedule throughout my ownership. I am aware that Ford has issued prior service bulletins and customer satisfaction programs related to 10R80 transmission issues, including TSB 18-2274, 20-2339, 22-2139, 23-2250, and 24-2254, although I have not confirmed whether any of them directly apply to this VIN. I am filing this complaint because the symptoms I experienced—unexpected gear changes, hesitation, lurching, and sudden loss of power—present an immediate safety risk to me, my passengers, and other drivers on the road.

Filed Aug 5, 2026 · Transmission · OH

Auto transmission is failing to shift when taking off from a stop or hesitating to shift to next year causing traffic behind me to get close to rear bumper.

Filed Aug 4, 2026 · Engine, Transmission · CA

I was exiting the freeway, and as I was turning off of the freeway onto a side street, at approximately 20mph, my vehicle did not respond to throttle input, and left me slowing to a stop in the middle of a busy intersection. I had to shift my vehicle into neutral and then back into drive, to get it to respond to throttle input. When I slow down at intersections, turn and then attempt to throttle my vehicle, it hesitates and struggles to output power until I throttle about halfway.

Filed Jul 29, 2026 · Acceleration, Transmission · NE

The 10R80 10-speed automatic transmission and the gear-shift linkage module are defective, and the truck remains available for inspection. Our safety is constantly put at risk because the transmission exhibits an extremely violent, highly intermittent powertrain lunging jolt during deceleration and stopping. The impact is so severe that it sounds and feels like a loud gunshot firing right next to the cabin occupants. Furthermore, the transmission simultaneously exhibits severe throttle hesitation and gear-skipping. This causes the vehicle to drop gears and completely fail to move when attempting to accelerate at busy stoplights, trapping us as a sitting duck in active traffic. Earlier in our timeline, the technician improperly reassembled the shift linkage, which caused the multi-ton vehicle to refuse to engage in Park and violently roll backward down a steep residential incline; an emergency parking brake deployment was required to prevent a catastrophic accident. The transmission defect was physically confirmed by [XXX] of Papillion, who verified scored, sticking fluid control valves inside the main control unit. Additionally, the hazard was officially confirmed by BBB AUTO LINE National Arbitrator Sharon Katt (Case XXX). The arbitrator officially signed a ruling certifying that our safety, use, and value concerns are completely valid, explicitly noting that the intermittent nature of this transmission failure does not minimize the extreme safety hazard. There were no warning lamps prior to the failure. The symptoms first appeared at ~49,000 miles. The dealer has since refused advanced diagnostics, executed an irrelevant radio reset instead, and willfully fabricated a fake service record on CARFAX on April 21, 2026, to force-close system safety alerts in their database. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jul 14, 2026 · Transmission · OR

I believe this is a transmission problem; however, not sure if it could be program related. The main safety issue is after taking off from a stop, the truck just stopped accelerating and hesitated, as if though it got "stuck" trying to change gears. This issue has happened a few times, once with my Wife in the truck, who looked at me like what the heck was I doing. This definitely creates a situation for a rear impact collision if the person behind you didn't hit the brakes soon enough. The transmission also seems to "clunk" real hard at times when coming to a stop, as if though it is switching gears from say 4th down to 1st, skipping 3rd and 2nd gears. I did report this to Kendall Ford of Eugene and they said it shifts just the same as all of the other Rangers with this same transmission. I received no warning lamps, symptoms, or messages.

Filed May 28, 2026 · Transmission · CO

truck hesitates to go into gear then slams into reverse unexpectedly with a lot of force backing up - almost ran over a family member. Same thing when cold and going from park to drive, almost drove off my driveway down a steep mountain. I believe it is related to TSB 24-2046 No warning lights or anything, dealer has not been able so far to reproduce because the weather warmed up

Filed May 15, 2026 · Fuel system · PA

When accelerating, occasionally there is a hesitation. This becomes dangerous when accelerating from a side street onto a 55mph road when there’s an occasional break in traffic that I need to jump into. There’s been times where I got concerned when it hesitated and there was oncoming traffic. The other day I was going under 10mph around a curve and it hesitated so much, I looked at my gas gauge, thinking I was running out of gas (but I had a half tank). I’ve seen complaints online about this problem. I’ve had it to two different dealers and they found nothing wrong. I’ve had this problem since I purchased it new and I now have 12K miles. Thank you! [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Apr 17, 2026 · Transmission · 951 miles · NC

The contact owns a 2019 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle hesitated, and the transmission was shifting hard. Additionally, the vehicle vibrated abnormally while shifting from 1st to 3rd gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the TCM was reprogrammed, and various fluids were replaced; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 951.

Filed Feb 21, 2026 · Engine, Fuel system · GA

My truck loses power at a stop, starting to accelerate is stalls in the middle of the road. It seems to be stuck in gear or not going in gear. It will finally start going and the hesitation starts a the rpm gage goes up to about 3000 rpm’s and then goes back down to 1500. This is extremely dangerous to lose power in the middle of the road. This needs to be addressed.