Weird Transmission Glitch

[michaelfriesen]

Hello folks,

 

I had something really weird happen to our 2008 Ford Edge AWD Limited yesterday. I’m wondering if anybody else out there may have experienced a similar issue.

 

Our Edge is in mint condition, only has 108,000 km on it. All scheduled maintenance performed by a Ford dealer as recommended by Ford. Oil changes done when needed, fluids, etc., etc. I take really good care of it and I have a tendency to drive like a little old lady in my old age.

 

We put a set of polished aluminum Ford factory custom wheels on it last year so I have a tendency to use the low gear (automatic transmission) a little more often now when I'm coming down a hill to keep the brake dust problem to a minimum. Yesterday I was driving down a hill while taking our cat to the vet, naturally, in a bit of a rush. A lady riding her bicycle on our right kept swaying back and forth into the middle of the road so I waited until there were no oncoming cars and booted it around her to get out of her way for a few blocks and then slowed back down (seldom do I ever drive the vehicle hard like this). Got down to the bottom of the hill and shifted into low gear, turned the corner and drove one block over to the vet clinic. As I was parking out front, I noticed that it suddenly felt like I had the clutch depressed on a manual transmission. Felt like it was in neutral when the vehicle was in drive, low gear or reverse, couldn’t go anywhere, it just “spun”.

 

First reaction was that something was wrong with the transmission. So I turned the vehicle off for a minute and turned it back on and everything was perfect again. Took our cat into the vet, came back out started it up and drove home. Perfect. Waited 4 hours for the vet to call, got back into the vehicle and drove back down to the vet. Perfect. Picked up our cat, got back in and drove back home. Perfect. Couldn't re-create the problem if I tried. Checked the transmission fluid, very clean and clear (the level did look a little high - above the recommended cross-hatch area  - but the transmission fluid was changed by a Ford technician 18 months ago and no problems until yesterday).

 

It seems like a computer glitch to me, stopping and starting the vehicle seems to have reset the computer. I don't really want to take it to the dealership unless I absolutely have to, creating more problems than there already may not be (if you know what I mean). Anyone out there ever have this happen? Is this just a one-off kind of thing? In all the years we've owned this vehicle, I honestly don't think we've ever had a single problem with it and we hardly drive it since Covid started. We walk everywhere (I’d be surprised if we put 2500 to 3000 km a year on it for the past two years). My gut feeling - I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's never done this before and chances are that it'll never do it again.

 

Thanks in advance for any guidance, experiences and help.

 

[enigma-2]

That definitely doesnt normal to me. Kind of sounds to me like you overheated the tranny and it started slipping. If you have access to a code reader, something like that should hsve set a code. If not, you should be able to have it read at Auto Zone or one of the other parts stores in your area.

 

I'd recommend checking the fluid to make certain its full (how steep was the hill?) and also check its color and smell. If either is off, I'd get a tranny fluid change.

 

(I'm picky about these things on my car. I get a tranny fluid change at every 30k. As well as the PTU.  Cheap insurance).

 

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by enigma-2

[michaelfriesen]

15 hours ago, enigma-2 said:

That definitely doesnt normal to me. Kind of sounds to me like you overheated the tranny and it started slipping. If you have access to a code reader, something like that should hsve set a code. If not, you should be able to have it read at Auto Zone or one of the other parts stores in your area.

 

I'd recommend checking the fluid to make certain its full (how steep was the hill?) and also check its color and smell. If either is off, I'd get a tranny fluid change.

 

(I'm picky about these things on my car. I get a tranny fluid change at every 30k. As well as the PTU.  Cheap insurance).

 

 

 

I did note in my post that I checked the fluid. Its fine, very clear and clean and the level is good. I mistakenly checked it the first time after the vehicle was turned off but then I realized that you need to check transmission fluid while a vehicle is running and has 20 km or so on it. The hill wasn't steep, we were going downhill. I've driven up and down that hill a million times. Very doubtful that the transmission overheated because the trip to the vet is less than 5 minutes, only 12 blocks away.

 

I'll take it into the transmission specialist here in town. They told me to bring it in so they can "scan" it.

 

I'm really picky too. We actually had our 120,000 km scheduled maintenance done at 108,000 km, our vehicle is so clean you could eat dinner on the hood ?

[enigma-2]

Be interested in hearing what they find. 

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

the feeling of neutral gear is usually the transmission range sensor going out.

 

more common issues are the tss and oss sensor, which in early stages can also be "cured" by restarting the engine.

 

if there is a jerk or a clunk when shifting into reverse, the solenoid body assembly could be the culprit.

 

of course there were hardware issues too for this generation if you look through the TSBs here

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/4/folders/1IKPvNZ8e9QHJYhw4C_kSDt0dsFXtM2oo

 

really isn't effective to use gearing to keep brake dust off the wheels. choose better brake pads instead. transmission issues are much more costly than brake issues to fix (unless ABS is involved lol).

[michaelfriesen]

On 3/2/2022 at 12:18 PM, enigma-2 said:

Be interested in hearing what they find. 

 

Working perfectly all week. Took it into the transmission shop this morning and they plugged it into their diagnostics. No problems found. We took it for a test drive, uphill, downhill, punched it out a few times, stopped, started. Did fwd/rev, fwd/rev/low gear while at a dead stop. Checked the fluid. Everything 100%. This shop has been around in our neighborhood for 56 years so I trust them. I kind of think this was just 'one of those things' or, it might be related to the fact that we just don't drive the vehicle much these days (covid and gas prices now at $2.10 per liter today). For this reason (lack of use), the technician said it could have just been a 'stuck solenoid' and the restart 'fixed' it. I'll keep an eye on it but I'm not overly worried. Thanks for the replies ?

[michaelfriesen]

On 3/4/2022 at 8:25 AM, WWWPerfA_ZN0W said:

the feeling of neutral gear is usually the transmission range sensor going out.

 

more common issues are the tss and oss sensor, which in early stages can also be "cured" by restarting the engine.

 

if there is a jerk or a clunk when shifting into reverse, the solenoid body assembly could be the culprit.

 

of course there were hardware issues too for this generation if you look through the TSBs here

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/4/folders/1IKPvNZ8e9QHJYhw4C_kSDt0dsFXtM2oo

 

really isn't effective to use gearing to keep brake dust off the wheels. choose better brake pads instead. transmission issues are much more costly than brake issues to fix (unless ABS is involved lol).

 

There always used to be a clunk when shifting into reverse but in 2018, I told the Ford dealership about this and they performed one of the TSB's and that (sort of) solved the problem. It's still there but on a much smaller scale, only does it maybe once out of every 30 to 40 shifts (if that) rather than almost every time.

 

I think you may be right about the solenoid.

 

Thanks for your reply and for the tip on brake dust. I think I'll forget about low gear from now on ?