Any drivers of Ford Explorer with Ecoboost engine? (vehicle, 2013, SUV)
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We bought a 2013 explorer with the ecoboost engine at the end of November 2012. Besides kicking myself for picking the ecoboost over the V6, I've noticed an issue with the transmission. I'm wondering if this is how their transmissions work or if there is something actually wrong with it, as this is my first ford.
In the last couple months I noticed the car bucking, even when cruising along not pushing the gas and it is shifting really hard. I feel every shift it makes. I took it to the dealership and they ran an "update" to the transmission module. I would say its slightly better, but still has issues, so I will be taking it back in. The day after I got it back it actually froze for about 5 sec in between gears when shifting. It still shifts very hard, but no longer bucks. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? Or may know what's going on, as I'm not having much help from ford. I'm very upset that we are having so much trouble with a 4 month old car. I wish we could take it back
After googling shift flare this does seem close to what I'm experiencing. I also forgot to to mention that sometimes when I push the gas there is a lag time before it reacts. I was under the impression that it was the ecoboost engine, but now I see this could be related to the transmission as well. And yes luckily my state has lemon laws. Up to 18 months after the purchase of the vehicle, but I would assume it would be hard to win.
Ford's transmissions have a tendency to perform poorly without being defective. It's poor quality engineering. It's like they don't know which gear they want to be in at times and they can run the torque too thin. In other words, they are not refined, smooth, or graceful. There are times when practically no power is available in the gear you're in and you have to really push the accelerator to get the car to downshift, which doesn't happen gracefully at all. I try to defend Ford a bit in my head thinking it must be the government's regulations for emissions and gas mileage that plays a role in what appears to be sloppy engineering, but then I realize other manufacturers offer products that perform superbly. Ford just sucks at gearing their vehicles.
I just drove a 6 cyl 2013 Explorer 400 miles this weekend. The SUV was nice, got 23-24 mpg at 80 mph. Only complaint was the torque steer at low and mid range speeds. Stab the gas pedal and be ready for a hard right turn! Even as the torque builds at 3,000 rpm when rolling along at 30-40 mph it starts pulling to the right! I guess you would get used to it but it will catch a driver new to the vehicle off guard.....
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