This thread has me curious as I too am having the same problem. My truck was built May 2011. I notice this issue more at lower speeds going up a hill in a lower gear and also at higher speed in 6th gear. It sounds like the Turbo's are kicking in and out "put-chew" "put-chew" but could be something else? Tourque converter maybe? Any fix yet for this issue? it's driving my banana's

 

Exactly!!!^^^^^ This is a very BIG issue with these trucks, it begins to show itself as more miles are put on! They will get a fix...we must be patient i guess!

 

I just called ford customer care and as far as they know there is not an issue. I called 2 of my local dealers and they said they have never heard of this issue. I will have to take a service advisor for a ride and make it happen so that he can take a mechanic for a ride and make it happen, after all of that they can try to diagnose a problem. While all of this is going on I will not have a vehicle, that is exactly why I bought a $40k truck.

 

You are correct, this seems to be happening more and more as I put miles on it. I am also seeing black soot on my tailpipe as others have been reporting. Ford better have an explanation soon. I didn't pay 40k to have a truck peform this bad.

 

how about the torque converter or the tranny pump? the tranny pump runs off the rpm of the motor, maybe the pump can't supply sufficient psi at low rpm to keep the torque converter completely locked up under a load?

 

Is this an physical stall you are talking about or an aeronomical (sic)? I find I hard to believe that a turbine wheel spin at the speed the do can temporary stop without exploding itself........

 

Just picked up my truck from the dealer. No fix though. They checked all the grounds, ran all the diagnostic tests and reports, all came back fine from the paperwork they gave me. The shop foreman drove it and agreed that there is definitely a surge or miss. As for now its a waiting game I guess but I'm getting tired of waiting. I have waited for over 6 months hoping a fix would be released from Ford. I guess my hands are tied. I do have about 3 pages of technicians notes and apparently they have some sort of computer program that allows them to control the transmission while driving the truck and the notes say that when they manually unlock the torque converter the problem goes away and when they lock it back up it comes back. I would think that this is changing engine rpm and loading so it makes the problem go away rather than it being a torque converter problem.

 

BING! I mentioned this earlier. When locking TCs engage too soon or disengage too late you get lugging surge. Of course, there's also the light throttle 1-3 and late 3-1 shifts stopping that happen that I will admit are happening less frequently with miles on mine. Perhaps the tranny is actually "learning" not to forget 2nd gear.

 

i have a may 2011 built 5.0 fx4 s/crew. mine has the 6th gear shudder also when going up a slight grade of 2 degrees. also i noticed in 6th gear and rpm about 1700 i tap and hold the gas pedal, dont let it downshift to 5th. rpms go up to 2000 but suddenly drop back to 1700 without letting off the gas. there also seems to be a bog in the motor at that time. the truck never goes out of 6th gear. it does this every time. i told the dealer and they said they could not replicate the problem. please try yours!!

 

Seems to be dealers favorite words "could not duplicate". Your wheel could fall off at 50mph 100% of the time and they'll simply bolt it back on and say they couldn't duplicate the problem.

I'm fairly certain they are trained to say this on issue that Ford knows about but refuse to fix. The only way Ford is going to fix the shudder problem, that has been on-going for over a year now, is if someone dies as a result of it. Their engineers are engaged in designing a new transmission. One that will be available as a 2012.5 or 2013 option. How do I know this? Simple. It's SOP of almost any company to ignore costly problems that aren't really breaking anything. They simply redesign a new product and ignore the old long enough that either A) people sell their old and buy the new, or B) people deal with the old and call it a day. Apple did this with the iPhone 3GS and the reception issues. They threw a little money at it with new cases until they decided it was no longer an issue even though they didn't fix a damn thing.

Sorry, I've been "holding out" for a fix since I bought my truck last May. It's not a software issue like they keep claiming it is. Otherwise every F150 would have this issue. They don't. Software is software. It will run the same on any PCM. It's the hardware that differentiates us with problems from those without. Obviously there were some loose tolerances, poor QC or a long run of bad parts that have causes these issues. Otherwise it wouldn't be Joe with a fine transmission and John with a crap transmission. I say transmission since that's is the common denominator between all motors experiencing this issue. It most certainly is a transmission issue, and Ford knows this. A TSB here, a reflash and clear KAM there, smooth out someones transmission just long enough to bide them some time to come up with another cheap fix that fixes nothing.

I may come off as a bit harsh here, but these are the facts we are dealing with. I'll lay $100 down that this issue is not fixed before a new transmission design is presented and this gets swept under the rug. Just long enough that most of our warranties are out and we either deal with it or buy a new truck.