2020 GT500 Powertrain Fault

[V8Venom]

Hey guys, just looking to see if anyone has experienced this yet. So here's the back story. I own a 2020 GT500 (Base). Car has about 3,400 miles on it.

I was driving home from work (25 mile drive) doing about 80 in 7th gear. I slowed down a little and downshifted to 6th. I am now at about 75mph when the little orange wrench pops up on the dash and says "See Manual." At the same time I got an alert on my phone via the FordPass app. So I check the app and it gives me a message that says AWD/4WD powertrain fault. No other information. So I continue driving as I am about 3 miles from my exit and I upshift to 7th. On the upshift the car bucks really hard and sort of hesitates. So I figure thats odd, let me try and duplicate it. I downshift to 6th and then upshift to 7th and it does it again. Now by this time I am at my exit. I get off the exit and come to a complete stop. I go to accelerate and theres zero power. Car is revving to about 2k RPM but going about 1-2 mph. I am on a hill too so I crawl myself forward to get to flat ground. I go about 100 feet doing this and a CEL comes on. In the FordPass app the CEL says power train fault and I can smell some burning, I am assuming the clutch based on revving to 2k and not moving. I go about 100 feet like this and make it into a gas station. I plug my nGauge in to try and read the code and it shows no codes, although I can still see the CEL on the dash. I turn the car off and back on and the wrench and CEL are still on the dash. I wait about 5 minutes and turn the car back on and the wrench is gone, CEL still present, but now I can drive the car like nothing happened. I was about a mile and a half from a Ford dealer so I dropped it off there. They said there were no leaks, but they could not duplicate the issue, which I figured, and they also could not see the code. Has anybody had this happen to them or have any clue what the issue might be? Sorry that it was long winded but I just wanted to make sure I had all of the information in there. Any help is much obliged.

Mike R.

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[AMBJR]

Hey guys, just looking to see if anyone has experienced this yet. So here's the back story. I own a 2020 GT500 (Base). Car has about 3,400 miles on it.

I was driving home from work (25 mile drive) doing about 80 in 7th gear. I slowed down a little and downshifted to 6th. I am now at about 75mph when the little orange wrench pops up on the dash and says "See Manual." At the same time I got an alert on my phone via the FordPass app. So I check the app and it gives me a message that says AWD/4WD powertrain fault. No other information. So I continue driving as I am about 3 miles from my exit and I upshift to 7th. On the upshift the car bucks really hard and sort of hesitates. So I figure thats odd, let me try and duplicate it. I downshift to 6th and then upshift to 7th and it does it again. Now by this time I am at my exit. I get off the exit and come to a complete stop. I go to accelerate and theres zero power. Car is revving to about 2k RPM but going about 1-2 mph. I am on a hill too so I crawl myself forward to get to flat ground. I go about 100 feet doing this and a CEL comes on. In the FordPass app the CEL says power train fault and I can smell some burning, I am assuming the clutch based on revving to 2k and not moving. I go about 100 feet like this and make it into a gas station. I plug my nGauge in to try and read the code and it shows no codes, although I can still see the CEL on the dash. I turn the car off and back on and the wrench and CEL are still on the dash. I wait about 5 minutes and turn the car back on and the wrench is gone, CEL still present, but now I can drive the car like nothing happened. I was about a mile and a half from a Ford dealer so I dropped it off there. They said there were no leaks, but they could not duplicate the issue, which I figured, and they also could not see the code. Has anybody had this happen to them or have any clue what the issue might be? Sorry that it was long winded but I just wanted to make sure I had all of the information in there. Any help is much obliged.

Mike R.

I had a similar problem with my 2020 KFTP GT500; ONLY it was at LOW speed, on a cruise!!!
The engine started to run rough and the wrench light came on. I nursed it home and the next morning it was OK!!!

 

[Tomster]

It sounds like an overheated transmission. You said you were driving to/from work? Is this a daily driver? I'd have a look at the trans cooler and make sure the lines look good and there are no obstructions on the cooler itself (birds nest, squirrels, etc)

 

[Cgouzoulis]

Curious as to what mods are on the car?

 

[V8Venom]

It sounds like an overheated transmission. You said you were driving to/from work? Is this a daily driver? I'd have a look at the trans cooler and make sure the lines look good and there are no obstructions on the cooler itself (birds nest, squirrels, etc)

Not a daily driver. I’ll see if I can check the trans cooler for any obstructions. Mods are CAI, tune, exhaust. Pretty basic.

 

[JeremyPro5.0]

Just picked mine up Friday.
Saturday putting miles on it at about 200-250 miles I had a wrench with a check manual warning. I okd it a few times and the check manual warning went away but wrench stayed. I kept driving, it felt fine, and then wrench went away in a little more driving. No temps caught my attention.

?????

 

[V8Venom]

Just picked mine up Friday.
Saturday putting miles on it at about 200-250 miles I had a wrench with a check manual warning. I okd it a few times and the check manual warning went away but wrench stayed. I kept driving, it felt fine, and then wrench went away in a little more driving. No temps caught my attention.

?????

Was it a wrench that says see manual? I checked the manual and that’s a power train fault.

 

[V8Venom]

It sounds like an overheated transmission. You said you were driving to/from work? Is this a daily driver? I'd have a look at the trans cooler and make sure the lines look good and there are no obstructions on the cooler itself (birds nest, squirrels, etc)

So I took the car out for an hour this morning and it happened again. This time I drove for about 45 minutes on surface streets and then got on the interstate. I was going 80 and then accelerated to 85 and the indicator popped up, wrench symbol “see manual.” The manual says it’s a power train fault. Here’s a picture from my Ford Pass app.

the car reduced power and went into limp mode. I parked for 5 minutes and it came out of limp mode and went back to normal.

 

[Tomster]

So I took the car out for an hour this morning and it happened again. This time I drove for about 45 minutes on surface streets and then got on the interstate. I was going 80 and then accelerated to 85 and the indicator popped up, wrench symbol “see manual.” The manual says it’s a power train fault. Here’s a picture from my Ford Pass app.

the car reduced power and went into limp mode. I parked for 5 minutes and it came out of limp mode and went back to normal.

Did you reference the transmission temperature?

See attachment, item J

Also, why not hook up a scan tool to your OBD port and see if there are any pending codes. That sure would narrow this down. I still think your trans is overheating. Forscan is what I would use, but any OBD reader would do.

Before you go sailing into your dealership, you may want to reflash to stock tune. A tune pretty much voids your warranty. Heck, that may even solve your problem. Nobody knows what your tuner tweaked and the trans/engine are dependent on each other.

Edited to add:
Lund does a good tune. Still, if Ford finds out the car was tuned, they will most likely void your powertrain warranty. So, first things first, check your trans temp, try to get a pending code or something and then go from there.

Scan all your temps when this happens again.

 

[JeremyPro5.0]

Not sure attachment is correct.

 

[Tomster]

Not sure attachment is correct.

I saw that a bit ago and corrected it, thanks

 

[V8Venom]

Did you reference the transmission temperature?

See attachment, item J

Also, why not hook up a scan tool to your OBD port and see if there are any pending codes. That sure would narrow this down. I still think your trans is overheating. Forscan is what I would use, but any OBD reader would do.

Before you go sailing into your dealership, you may want to reflash to stock tune. A tune pretty much voids your warranty. Heck, that may even solve your problem. Nobody knows what your tuner tweaked and the trans/engine are dependent on each other.

Edited to add:
Lund does a good tune. Still, if Ford finds out the car was tuned, they will most likely void your powertrain warranty. So, first things first, check your trans temp, try to get a pending code or something and then go from there.

Scan all your temps when this happens again.

Lund didn’t touch the transmission but I know how Ford is. They’ll blame the tune regardless. So there are no codes and last time when there was a code my nGauge couldn’t read it and neither could the dealer. I have zero plans at this time to take it back to the dealer. I plan on data logging the next time I’m driving it to see if I can see what’s going on. I’ll check the temperature as well. All temps looked good to me but I’ll double check.

 

[Tomster]

Lund didn’t touch the transmission but I know how Ford is. They’ll blame the tune regardless. So there are no codes and last time when there was a code my nGauge couldn’t read it and neither could the dealer. I have zero plans at this time to take it back to the dealer. I plan on data logging the next time I’m driving it to see if I can see what’s going on. I’ll check the temperature as well. All temps looked good to me but I’ll double check.

The trans and engine are dependent on each other. The tuners still haven't cracked the trans yet. You mess with one, it will affect the other.

I haven't heard of this problem yet, so you probably have a bad sensor or its as simple as a cooler obstruction...... Whatever..... reproduce the problem and note all your temps. Go from there. I wouldn't take it into your dealership with a tune on it unless you happen to know the techs very well and you have an understanding.

My dealership techs told me that they could get a tune through unless Ford started asking for more information and documentation. Once you put a tune on a PCM, its hard to cover your tracks. They do all kinds of things like document key cycles and scrutinize under the hood for any tampering.

So I'd try to solve this one myself or use your own guy. Whoever did your tune would be my first phone call.

 

[V8Venom]

The trans and engine are dependent on each other. The tuners still haven't cracked the trans yet. You mess with one, it will affect the other.

I haven't heard of this problem yet, so you probably have a bad sensor or its as simple as a cooler obstruction...... Whatever..... reproduce the problem and note all your temps. Go from there. I wouldn't take it into your dealership with a tune on it unless you happen to know the techs very well and you have an understanding.

My dealership techs told me that they could get a tune through unless Ford started asking for more information and documentation. Once you put a tune on a PCM, its hard to cover your tracks. They do all kinds of things like document key cycles and scrutinize under the hood for any tampering.

So I'd try to solve this one myself or use your own guy. Whoever did your tune would be my first phone call.

yea I’ve owned many Mustangs so I know the drill. The trans cooler is the one lying flat under the radiator right? If so, I see zero obstructions. I put the trans oil temp on my dash now so I’ll monitor that. What sensor would be bad ?

 

[MaskedRacerX]

Reflash the stock tune and test? That's what I'd do, at least isolate one variable. Assuming the "race pipes" eliminate the cats, so I suppose that could throw a CEL on a stock tune[?] I realize they didn't tune the DCT, but tunes can introduce all sorts of odd behavior (I had an errant tune disable my active exhaust).

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