weiser

Has anybody experienced an issue when the vehicle is in a lower gear such as 4-6th and when going up hill and giving it some power that the turbo chargers kick in and out randomly? It feels to me like a missfire/staling but you can hear the tb's kick in and out with kind of like a "puh-chew, puh-chew" sound. It's more aparent in lower gear going up a hill at lower RPM. It's driving me nuts as the truck tends to stall somewhat when this happens. My dealer told me it's "normal" but I would have to disagree. Any others having the same problem?

kds083

Check the 55-60 mph studder thread. Thats where you'll find all the people looking for a fix, me included.

Dtm030

Doesn't sound normal to me but are you sure you are maintaining a steady foot and not letting on and off the gas? Lots of people do that without even realizing.

From what you are saying that it's happening at lower rpm's that telling me its the trans hunting for a gear. No problem with the turbos then.

weiser

This can happen at 35MPH too in 4th gear, not just 6th.

weiser

It happens when I am gradually applying power at the point where it is suppose to upshift but does not. It remains at a lower RPM/gear than I think it should be and at this point does it start to shutter/missfire, etc. It never happens when in tow/haul mode because it maintains a better gearing. If only I could program the computer to shift in tow/haul mode all the time, I'd be happy. This also happens in 6th gear going 55-60 up a slight hill and giving a gradual power increase, kind of what like kds083 is stating. It's more notiable when going up steep hills in a low gear/rpm.

kds083

Believe its the same issue at different speeds, I can feel mine past 60.

weiser

I just read the post about shuddering and it seems like the exact same issue I am having. So there is no fix at the moment? I'm going to call my dealer and get this in for them to look at. I'll run this post by them to see if this issue is a familar one at the shop and will post back what I find out. I do have black soot on the tailpipe so sounds like missfires.

weiser

I'm going to try and record this on my phone when it happens and upload for those who may be wondering about the same problem.

TJPlatinumEB

Black soot is characteristic and normal for a DI engine. It has nothing to do with your problem. The problem is not misfires, it is the torque converter.

If you read that thread, you will see plenty of people feeling that studder / misfire feeling. Several have logged their TC pressures and seen that they are all over the place when this happens. This causes the transmission to basically not be sure what to do and for some reason isn't smart enough to downshift at that point.

I feel it occassionally, but its rare. There is a certain slight hill on my way home from work everyday and I always have the cruise set at 52-54 on this hill. About 20% of the time, you will feel an ever so slight shudder and you can tell the truck is barely giving gas and then letting off over and over and over. This causes the internal blow off valves to release pressure multiple times (this is the noise you are hearing) and again just causes the transmission to be kind of unsure what to do.

It is a known issue that happens to some and some worse than others. Ford is aware of it and has no known fix just yet. Oh and FYI this is a TRANSMISSION issue therefore not an Ecoboost or turbo issue at all. There are plenty of 5.0L folks having this similar issue. It has NOTHING to do with the motor or chosen power plant in any of these trucks. This certainly seems to be a torque converter issue from all I've seen, driven, read, and heard.

Kenferg1

There are multiple explanations for this behavior. I have followed the issue closely and found that indeed there are misfires (recorded in Mode 6 in PCM analysis). There are also transmission issue that go back to before February. Turbos and their controls have also been brought up. I think it could be one or all. At this point Ford very aware of them.

I took my truck in today for service (just turned 4K miles). I have had the 55-60 mph issue as well. They flashed the transmission control, calibrated for the misfire, and sent me on my way. It was about 2 hours to complete. On the way home on hills that commonly reveal the problem I did not notice the problem.

I do agree that Ford is trying to get a lot out of the transmission/engine combo to mile MPG out of their trucks. Perhaps the shift points do need adjusting or the learning algorithm needs to be rewritten to prevent lugging of the engine and keep it at a minimum RPM for proper engine operation. I would hope that with all the Ph.D. engineers, gear heads, and trouble shooters they can work this out quickly.