Automatic shifting really harshly in Sport mode

[SlowWhite]

I typically do all of my own oil changes but due to the common issue of the trans fluid level being low from brand new, think I’ll bring it in to have the oil changed and the level checked. When mine is in Sport mode.. the 4-5 shift can be really harsh. It hasn’t done it every time but most of the time it does it. Also it does it more predictably after it’s been driven and warmed up. Seems to be the only gear change that it does it with. The rest are firm in sport but not like the 4-5 shift. I have about 10,500 miles on my 21 GT..

Other than that the only real complaint is how the average MPG is about 2mpg off from checking it the old fashioned way. In normal mode it does seem to lug down the motor a bit from being in too tall of a gear….

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[wynand32]

I typically do all of my own oil changes but due to the common issue of the trans fluid level being low from brand new, think I’ll bring it in to have the oil changed and the level checked. When mine is in Sport mode.. the 4-5 shift can be really harsh. It hasn’t done it every time but most of the time it does it. Also it does it more predictably after it’s been driven and warmed up. Seems to be the only gear change that it does it with. The rest are firm in sport but not like the 4-5 shift. I have about 10,500 miles on my 22 GT..

Other than that the only real complaint is how the average MPG is about 2mpg off from checking it the old fashioned way. In normal mode it does seem to lug down the motor a bit from being in too tall of a gear….

Yes, even with everything great I've said about my transmission, mine does lug once it jumps into 10th gear. It's worse in Normal mode, naturally. So I can't really say I have no complaints about the transmission.

 

[Rodpwnz]

Yes, even with everything great I've said about my transmission, mine does lug once it jumps into 10th gear. It's worse in Normal mode, naturally. So I can't really say I have no complaints about the transmission.

Glad to hear that most of your issues are resolved! All they did was reset the trans? Your fluid levels looked OK?

My situation seems more dire - skip to last 2 paragraphs for the outcome.

I took the car in this Monday, explained my qualms/issues and had the transmission tech ride along with me to observe the trans behavior while in D and warmed up. Lucky me, the trans was not shifting as rough as usual, nor clunking as reliably as it does when I'm driving it by myself. Regardless, the tech still did notice the roughness, the jerkiness, the clunk noises whenever it would randomly happen. He confirmed with me that it should be much smoother, and that this was abnormal trans behavior. I was just happy that after multiple dealer visits to other dealers, this dealer had finally acknowledged the issues instead of brushing my concerns off as "normal".

The Tech told me he would check it out further, and if parts need replacing, they would replace them now or order them if backordered. Waited for the call while they had the car and after a few hours they said that they need to replace some parts, but that they are backordered until Feb. I picked up the car that same day and it still drives the same afterwards with rough shifts, weird throttle behavior, etc.

The tech report stated: That they found and applied TSB 21-2357 - found that "E Clutch shift valve" was badly worn to one side, and that they cannot overhaul the main control due to the damaged valve, and will need to replace it. They also found that there was excessive metal flakes in the trans pan + filter. They removed and disassembled the transmission pump, found that the pump bore was scored/damaged from the metal contamination. They opted to also replace the transmission pump as well. They did an air check on all the clutch circuits and found that they all held pressure properly. Verbally, I believe they told me they will be replacing the pump and valve body.

I'm trying to do my research on 10r80s, and if there is more damage that they should be looking deeper into. If anyone has any insight or guidance, I would greatly appreciate it. My warranty is out in March, so once they replace parts in February, I have less than a month to confirm if issues are truly resolved. Thanks in advance.

 

[Teezlr]

That sounds really weird. I love my '21 Mach 1 10R80! In D it's fluent and not noticable at all, in S it's nicely fast and has nice sport behaviour, not overly harsh to me, but any fast shifting will be noticable in any car (in the manuals too) and you expect that in Sport mode. It's either a different personal tolerance to it, some fault, stepping on it hard when it's still cold, or some difference from car to car. Perhaps try in other cars too to see the difference (dealers, car & coffee etc).

I always drive at least 10 miles before switching to Sport mode, to warm everything up. Takes longer in the cold winter too.

I have a Mach 1 10 speed also, my transmission shifted smooth until... I took a buddy for a quick rip and didn't think about the transmission needing to warm up. (been driving manuals for years)

It now downshifts so hard on the 4-3 that it will break the tires loose(decelerating).

Not normal.

The upshifts are not fun in S anymore around town, there is a significant shift firmness difference from 3-4 than 1-2 or 2-3.

You can tell that certain gears shift harder or softer every time.

I also hear a slight clunk now on deceleration.

So, something got jacked up when the transmission fluid was cold.

That's what a warranty is for, won't do that again.

 

[wynand32]

Glad to hear that most of your issues are resolved! All they did was reset the trans? Your fluid levels looked OK?

My situation seems more dire - skip to last 2 paragraphs for the outcome.

I took the car in this Monday, explained my qualms/issues and had the transmission tech ride along with me to observe the trans behavior while in D and warmed up. Lucky me, the trans was not shifting as rough as usual, nor clunking as reliably as it does when I'm driving it by myself. Regardless, the tech still did notice the roughness, the jerkiness, the clunk noises whenever it would randomly happen. He confirmed with me that it should be much smoother, and that this was abnormal trans behavior. I was just happy that after multiple dealer visits to other dealers, this dealer had finally acknowledged the issues instead of brushing my concerns off as "normal".

The Tech told me he would check it out further, and if parts need replacing, they would replace them now or order them if backordered. Waited for the call while they had the car and after a few hours they said that they need to replace some parts, but that they are backordered until Feb. I picked up the car that same day and it still drives the same afterwards with rough shifts, weird throttle behavior, etc.

The tech report stated: That they found and applied TSB 21-2357 - found that "E Clutch shift valve" was badly worn to one side, and that they cannot overhaul the main control due to the damaged valve, and will need to replace it. They also found that there was excessive metal flakes in the trans pan + filter. They removed and disassembled the transmission pump, found that the pump bore was scored/damaged from the metal contamination. They opted to also replace the transmission pump as well. They did an air check on all the clutch circuits and found that they all held pressure properly. Verbally, I believe they told me they will be replacing the pump and valve body.

I'm trying to do my research on 10r80s, and if there is more damage that they should be looking deeper into. If anyone has any insight or guidance, I would greatly appreciate it. My warranty is out in March, so once they replace parts in February, I have less than a month to confirm if issues are truly resolved. Thanks in advance.

Sorry to hear that. Yes, mine was as simple as topping off the fluid then resetting the transmission.

Note that with yours, I'd check but once they start working on the transmission issues during warranty, they have to keep working to resolve them even after the warranty is over.

 

[Rodpwnz]

Sorry to hear that. Yes, mine was as simple as topping off the fluid then resetting the transmission.

Note that with yours, I'd check but once they start working on the transmission issues during warranty, they have to keep working to resolve them even after the warranty is over.

Yeah, I'm curious if they will keep the warranty claim open for a while so that I can test the transmission and confirm all good before closing it out and denying further related warranty work.

Anyways, a new development occurred tonight - the trans was not engaging gear and the car was not moving properly. This is exactly what happened to me before except this time I was in reverse gear. I would rev slightly but the car will barely move -as if it's in partially in neutral. I was giving it more throttle than normal and it was starting to catch more as I made more attempts. I was worried that the gear would finally catch mid 3K RPM and I would get launched in reverse into the cars parked behind me. I stopped the car, then I put it in Drive (D) and gave it gentle throttle, but the car continued to slowly roll backwards...and then stalled. I had to press the brakes so as to not hit the cars parked behind me. I put it in park, started it back up, and then put in D again and proceeded to drive forward. The gear shifts were very rough and jerky as I continued to pull into the garage.

Thankful that I had the wherewithal to record on a cold start this time - here is the video of the stalling event:

It reminded me of a video from @Flyhalf where a similar thing happened to him:

Here is the video I promised a few pages back of the "clunk" noises during certain downshifts:

I'm wondering now if my 10r80 was a defective unit from the beginning. It has always been rough shifting, but over time just got worse and worse to the point it's at now. I also can't believe how lucky I am that the critical failures like the stalling and erratic 1-5 shifts happened now instead of 3 months later when warranty is up! I'll continue doing my research on the different 10r80 components - not sure where the metal flakes in the tech report would have come from, and what else they may have damaged. I'll give my SA a call to discuss.

 

[wynand32]

Just for kicks, while I was out on a drive with the wife today, I switched to Sports+ mode (she prefers a smoother ride most of the time) to see if she'd notice the difference. I drove the same, just light throttle around town, and she didn't notice that I'd switched modes.

Pretty amazing compared to how it was previously.

 

[Black Coyote21]

Who did the tuning on the car?

 

[wynand32]

Who did the tuning on the car?

If you're asking me, nobody did. It's stock. The transmission was terrible before I took it to the dealer for an oil change and had them check the tranny fluid. It was 1-2 quarts low, they topped it off and ran the accelerated break-in process (yes, that's really a thing) and since then it's been pretty much perfect.

 

[Robottrainer]

I posted this in the transmission forum as well, but I was hoping to highlight it a bit and get a quicker response. It's bugging me on this Thanksgiving Day (and a happy one to you!).

I just passed 1,000 miles and so thought I'd give Sports mode a try. While my transmission has been a little harsh in normal mode in downshifts when stopping and also at times around 45MPH, it's not been terrible.

However, in Sports mode, upshifts are brutal. They're harsh and clunky, to the point where the whole car shudders. My wife sitting in the passenger seat just said, "That's not right." I agree with her. The terrible shifts are 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, which is as far as I went before switching back to D.

What's everyone else's experience? I can't imaging this is normal, but then I'd expect to see more issues in Normal mode. The same happens when I keep the transmission in D and use to the switch to turn on Sports+ mode.

Edit: I suppose my specific question is, how harsh is too harsh?

Mine has the Roush tune that comes with the stage 2 setup. Mine actually shifted pretty good in sport mode. Its was harsh and snappy, but It felt like my old race built Chrysler 727 in my old Charger. Roush did a trans tune update. I dont like it as much. maybe it needs more time to settle, but now I'm noticing an intermittant slight 4th to 5th flair up in sport mode. Doesnt seem to do it in normal mode.

 

[Rodpwnz]

UPDATE:

SA and tech said that the metal flakes in trans filter were from the trans pump damage(Unknown cause), and the flakes/shavings found their way into the valve body, and that caused damage there which caused the irratic/rough shifting in my case. Dealer says that since Valvebody and pump are easy to access and seem to be the culprit, that is what they usually will replace first and see if it fixes the trans.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, the dealer replaced the transmission valvebody and pump, and that has solved a majority of the harsh shifting issues and problems I had been experiencing. Now, the transmission is only intermittently experiencing slightly rough/harsh downshifts while slowing the car down. I also still infrequently hear/feel a very faint "CLUNK" when coming down through 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd and 1st. The faint "CLUNK" noise is similar to the sound of a tennis ball getting hit. I can only hear it while going slow in quiet residential areas. It can even happen sometimes at the beginning of a gear too, usually at the start of first.

It is exactly the same as the Clunking sound video I posted earlier, but less easily repeatable and slightly quieter. I'm assuming it's the same issue but now with a newly replaced valve body to make it less obvious. I don't really know if it's a trans issue, but I'm hoping the tech has some insight.

I will be taking the car in for another tech ride along next week - I hope I can replicate what is happening(In a loud city middle of the day) or at the very least have them open the trans to check the clutches and trans internals for an eventual replacement.

 

[Rapid Red]

residual contamination, return for a full fluid flush?
I mean really if the dumb shits did not do that they are morons....
The times we are living in.

 

[Rodpwnz]

residual contamination, return for a full fluid flush?
I mean really if the dumb shits did not do that they are morons....
The times we are living in.

I believe they did change to fresh fluid - don't they have to change the fluid when replacing Valvebody and pump anyways?

I feel like I've been so used to a clunky and jerky 10r80 for so long that I really don't have a clean standard to compare it to - I only have experience with other autos like ZF8 or similar from the germans. I'm going to try to test drive another 10 speed mustang this weekend so that I can compare.

 

[Rapid Red]

You /I think so considering metal flakes were found. Do you have the service paperwork to check?

Cannot trust asking and getting an honest answer these days.

 

[scurfie]

The transmission filter should have caught metal flakes am I wrong?

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