I just acquired a 2010 F150 XLT with the 4.6L engine and 6R80 Trans. The truck needs work, obviously, it belonged to a co-worker who said it was having trans problems and just didn't want to fix it because he had bought another truck so I took it. Anyway, the truck runs and drives albeit not well. I checked the original codes with had one for a misfire on bank 7 and another for 4-5 shift malfunction. Per my husbands usual methods, he cleared the codes and took the truck for a drive to essentially trigger them again and see if anything new or different popped up.... it did. Same codes for misfire (skipping the misfire because that's an easy fix) and 4-5 shift malfunction, but also for both 5th and 6th gear improper gear ratios. The truck is running extremely rough, as one would expect. It is having trouble shifting above 4th gear and shutters and loses power once you get to around 60mph or go up a hill. I assume the shutter and lose of power is due to the misfire. Google says the wrench issue could be many things, bad solenoids or valve body, fluid issues, etc. Fluid is to level and looks/smells fine so assuming its not that. If anyone has had this problem what was your ultimate fix? Not sure if we should swap solenoids, buy a whole new valve body or just swap out for an entirely different trans. Also, I've read mixed things about whether solenoids and such need to be reprogrammed in order to work properly so if anyone could give me insight on that, I would appreciate it. I have zero experience with Fords so this is all new territory for me. Thanks in advance.

 

either download forscan and buy the adapter from amazon or take it somewhere with a scanner that can read the other modules so you get actual codes. Otherwise you're just guessing and wasting time/money

 

Silly question, what's the difference between the 2 adapters? Besides the price point I mean. Should I chose one over the other? What makes this particular reader better than others.

 

There's a lot more than 2 ELM adapters. Like so many things, have to trust reviews. Wired is more consistent than wireless, in everything.

Would probably recommend a full valve body replacement if the issue is with the solenoids. Of course, you could have an issue in the actual gears, as well. Then rebuild vs "new" (assuming rebuilt at this point) is probably personal choice.

 

Forscan is very close to a dealer scan tool, there really isn't competition under $1000.

Some adapters have a manual switch to scan different networks, some don't need it.
I prefer OBDlink MX+ but there are plenty of other cheaper ones. Reviews are your friend.
OBDLINK also comes with a decent app. If you have other cars it is 100% worth the money.

 

Can you clarify if the new valve body needs to be programmed in order to work properly if I do end up going that route?

 

I believe if you get a new valve body there is a tag on it for the solenoid strategy which has to be entered into the pcm.

 

Is this programming something I would be able to do myself (with proper tools/software/etc) or would I need to get a dealership involved for that?

 

I think it can be done with the Forscan software.
I'd wait for another member to chime in for confirmation.