Normal 10 speed automatic behavior (quirks)?

[Flimflamman]

I haven't messed with the paddle shifting a whole lot. But when I did I noticed there is still a slight delay and I don't like that. I'd prefer it to shift immediately (up or down), but that appears to be something Ford needs to perfect with this transmission. When I hit the twisty roads I will use them because I know the computers decisions won't be ideal for those conditions. That is one of the drawbacks to an AT. It lacks the control a manual provides.

I have not noticed any delays when shifting into D or R.

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[marks]

Hi friends! I've been driving my GT 10 speed for over half a year now. It's been great.

Sounds like it with the list of issues you've provided!

 

[hws52]

Seems mostly normal except the revving from stop according to my '18

 

[Pandajoshy]

Anyone experience aggressive engine breaking when it shifts from 4-3 when in S, S+, Track? To me it's almost too abrupt.

 

[Qcman17]

One thing I notice with Sport+ on mine is the trans shifts more aggressive with the shifter in S compared to Sport+ with D. I guess that shouldn't surprise me but it did. In Sport+ shifter in S some of the shifts are really abrupt or perhaps even jerky but in Sport+ shifter in D it is a lot smoother.

I had my car in to the dealer recently and brought up the shift issues and the trans guy basically told me that if you had only ever driven one A10 you might think something was off. But he said when you've driven 100 of them you realize its just kinda how they are. He also said if it becomes of more concern to me they can inquire to Ford if any updates are in the pipe for it. The other thing I notice is the shifts seem more harsh when I've been on the throttle hard then let off it quickly while it is accelerating.

My car has to go back for a new Sync 3 APIM or something due to radio issues so I'm going to ask again at that time about them asking Ford more on it.

 

[Flimflamman]

Anyone experience aggressive engine breaking when it shifts from 4-3 when in S, S+, Track? To me it's almost too abrupt.

I guess there would be some perspective here. To me... I suppose I could see where some folks find it abrupt. I think its just right... like mama's porridge.

 

[W.O.T. Stang]

This is transmission flare - if you Google it you will see most torque converters do it to some extent when cold intermittently. Don't panic when you read about it and there are tales of impending failure. Some designs do it more than others and it can be a completely normal characteristic.

My 5th gear will do this at times on the first shift (and only the first shift) when cold. It scared me at first, but now i realize its normal. It shifts perfectly any other time.

 

[Pandajoshy]

I just received the 2018+ Ford Performance Calibration Kit. I wonder how much it will change the shift behavior after the install

 

[Briebee72]

Hi, i read some of the replies and then skipped a bunch so if this has been said already sorry. But Mine was jerky and some of the same things you have said OP. I took to dealer and they reset the transmission tables. So basically these a10 transmissions go through a learning process when new to get use to how YOU shift and drive. If you bought the car used then in all likelihood the tables have never been reset and the cars driving like how ever the person before you owned it and it learned from. I was new to these cars and mine was a new car and my tables (learning process) was based off my getting use to the car so once I did then it drove sorta crappy. They reset the tables to start the learning process over and now it drives perfect.

I would say anyone with these a10 trans should reset their tables after the first few months so the learned driving that was learned while you were getting use to the car can be reset and it can no relearn based of your more confident driving of the car. I reset mine and it drive perfect now.

Side note (I may be wrong but) when people here are saying the dealer updated their car i think really they just reset the tables. Cause when I asked my dealer about others saying they had theirs updated, they checked and there was no updates. they just reset it and it was golden. Just make sure you ask to have transmission tales reset.

Also you will have people say just unhooking the battery will reset the tables but I dont find that to be true. I did unhook my battery overnight and it didn't change anything. Once ford reset it that's when i felt the difference. I now have forscan and just reset my own about twice a year or when I make any large change to the cars performance.

 

[Briebee72]

I just received the 2018+ Ford Performance Calibration Kit. I wonder how much it will change the shift behavior after the install

well that kit says it changs the shift tables and also now has support for 4.09 gears... so I would say maybe a lot.

 

[NeedForGreen]

I experience a lot of the same as the op. Yesterday I really got a chance to take the car out. Sport Plus was always rough at times shifting, but the down shifts yesterday were insane. My engine would rev crazy high when braking. The drive home, they were fine. Defiantly wonky. The car is unpredictable in sport plus. One minute shifts are smooth the next rough/jerky. Normal mode its always smooth for me.
Regular sport mode I cant even use. Even more rough than sport plus.
I was planning on giving the Ford Performance calibration pack a chance, but everyone is sold out until September. Seems it takes care of that problem.

 

[Qcman17]

I just received the 2018+ Ford Performance Calibration Kit. I wonder how much it will change the shift behavior after the install

I would be curious to hear what it does for the shifting i haven't read any mention of that in the thread about the tune.

 

[Alan2955]

Hi friends! I've been driving my GT 10 speed for over half a year now. It's been great. However, just want to confirm a few behaviors (quirks) of the automatic transmission, make sure it's not just my car that does these weird things.

Normal mode:
Everything is normal, although the car is pretty eager to shift to higher gears even at low speed. I've seen it shifting into 10th gear when going like 45 mph. Smooth shifts.

S, S+, Track mode:
2-3 shift very rough, almost feels like I got rear ended. 4-5 shift also pretty rough, but not as bad as 2-3. However, the rough shifts are not as noticeable if I'm press hard on the accelerator. If I floor the gas while shifting from 2 to 3, it's not rough at all. The shift is only rough when I do it while not giving it a lot of gas.

S, S+, Track mode (paddle shift):
Taking off in 1st gear, after pulling the upshift paddle, it takes forever (1-3 seconds) for the transmission to shift into 2nd. Even moderately pressing the gas paddle, the transmission won't shift from 1 to 2 until I'm almost at 5000 rpm. Pretty annoying.

Down shifting from 3 to 2 sometimes takes a while (1 second ish).

If I want to drop 4 gears at a time, I quickly pull the downshift paddle 4 times, but the transmission sometimes would issue two separate shift commands, like it would drop 2 gears and another 2 gears.

Drag mode:
Chirps the tires on every shift.

All modes:
Very occasionally I would take off from a stop in D, giving the car gas and the car would just sit there and rev, almost like it's in neutral for like a second. Then it engages drive and starts to go forward. Everything would be normal after that. This has only happened to me twice since I owned the car.

When the car is still cold, the idle rpm is kind of high. If I shift into D and just creep around parking lot, sometimes the car would increase throttle and speed up on its own for 1 to 2 seconds, then slow down. Not sure what's going on, almost like the transmission is shifting into another gear and shifting back.

It takes a couple of seconds to engage D from R. I scared myself the first time when I was backing up on a hill, trying to park in tight space. When I went from R to D and let go of the brake, the car started to slide backwards for a bit.

Do you guys agree with the behaviors I just described?

Final question: do you guys like to drive in paddle shift mode? Aside from the 1-2 slow shift from the start, the paddle mode has been quite fun. The shifts are mostly quick and responsive. When I first drove the car around mountains, I put it in auto mode, and the car would get pretty confused with what gear it wants to be in (the downshifts when I brake at corners make pretty sweet sounds tho). With so many gears, I feel like it's constantly shifting. I only use auto mode when I'm feeling lazy or around parking lots (the rough shifts scare me in parking lots!). Otherwise I use the paddles. What are your thoughts?

2 week owner of a used 2020 Ecoboost. Previously I had a 2014 V6. I MUCH prefer the drivetrain in my old car. The Ecoboost feels snapper at lower RPM but the V6 sounded sweeter and the 6 speed automatic was sooo much better mannered. This 10 speed is a mess. Sometimes jerky shifts, sometimes smooth. Slow to change from R to D. But worst of all is the occasional extremely rough engagement between P and R. It jolts the car like crazy with a big thud. It will go 5 days just fine, then act up a day, then ok again for a few days. Very annoying. I’ll be taking it in soon. An October build with 14,500 miles. No warranty repairs before I bought it. Not feeling very warm and fuzzy about the transmission issues. Any idea what’s causing this? Idle speed is the same when it acts up as when it’s smooth.

 

[speedup]

Low fluid levels can cause this, and it was common for 2018-2019 to come with low fluid levels from the factory. Not sure about 2020, but probably still happening

 

[Mustang5ohMan]

My car did a lot of the same things yours is doing OP, finally took it in, and described it to service writer. Also asked them to CHECK fluid level, ( mine was ok) then they did an update to the latest software, and all is good again!

yeah think I’m going to have them do that to mine as well.

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