Common Ford F150 transmission problems

The Ford F150 is the best-selling car in the US for quite a while now which means that the F150 is literally part of the US culture. The F150 is a truck designed to cater to both working purposes, leisure, and long-distance driving which makes the F150 a really good truck overall. The F150 comes with a trusty 10-speed automatic gearbox which emphasizes comfort, efficiency, utility, and dependability.

However, this transmission is not perfect as is the case with virtually all transmissions out there. There are some issues here and there, some of them worse, some of them not as much. In this article, we are going to discuss the most common Ford F150 transmission issues, tell you how you can fix them, and how do they fit in the rest of the segment.

The most common Ford F150 transmission issue is associated with transmission warmer issues, the TTC valve, erratic and rough shifting, gear position indicator light problems, and pump drive gear transmission failure. These are the most common issues which means that this is something you ought to consider if you are interested in buying a Ford F150.

All in all, this transmission is really good and it should be able to last quite a long time. However, you need to take proper care of it, don’t abuse it too much, and you should be more than good to live with it for quite some time.

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Ford F150 transmission – Transmission warmer issues

The Ford F150 transmission warmer is mounted directly onto the transmission housing making it vulnerable to coolant leaks if they occur. These issues are most prevalent in post-2018 models. It’s worth mentioning that all generations of the F150 come with a transmission warmer, but older models don’t have it in the same place as post-2018 models do.

The issue here is that after the car goes out on a long drive and sits unused, the coolant can find its way into the warmer and cause a bunch of issues. If you happen to come across any leaks, be sure to take the car to a dealer, especially if you experience rough shifts and jittery accelerations.

Ford F150 transmission – TTC Regulator valve issues

The Ford F150 comes with a so-called 10R80 10-speed automatic gearbox that was designed in conjunction with General Motors. These transmissions can also be found in many other Ford products such as the Mustang, the Expedition, and the Explorer and all of these models experience the same issues associated with the TTC.

The TTC can become erratic due to it sticking which somewhat limits the system’s ability to operate. This can cause a whole host of issues with the transmission, especially if you don’t take care of it early enough. Moreover, if you come across any debris and dirt in the transmission fluid, chances are that your torque converter is also faulty.

Ford F150 transmission – Erratic and rough shifting

If your F150 sometimes experiences a rougher shift, you shouldn’t worry all that much because all automatic transmissions sometimes do that. However, if you experience these a few times during a single drive, chances are that something is wrong. Ford usually says that rough shifts are normal and they are when they happen rarely. When they happen often, they are far from normal.

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These issues can be fixed in two different ways. The first one is to reprogram/recalibrate the software side of things by updating the system. The other method is to replace the valve assembly. Be sure to act quickly as you don’t want to suffer from more similar issues down the line.

Ford F150 transmission – Gear position indicator light problems

The Ford F150 is equipped with a few different systems to tell you which gear you are in. The most common one is shown on the dashboard where it shows you which gear you are in at all times. When the car changes gear, it shows it to you on the car’s dashboard. However, some owners have complained about the gear position indicator light not wanting to stay on.

Some tried to fix this by reprogramming the system, but it seems like that fix didn’t solve the issue completely. Others say that replacing the system does not also solve the issue every time. It is likely an electric glitch that Ford should soon fix.

Ford F150 transmission – Drive gear pump failure

According to a few sources online, the 10R 10-speed found in the F150 is prone to experiencing whining noises while driving normally. These whining noises are directly linked with the drive gear pump which seems to be enduring some stress. Ford says that this is not a big issue, but some owners said that their drive gear pumps have failed shortly after hearing those whining noises.

FAQ Section

Is the Ford F150 transmission good?

Ford’s 10-speed automatic gearbox is good when it functions as intended. Ford was even hit by a large class-action lawsuit due to reoccurring problems with the 10-speed. This did taint the image of the 10-speed gearbox quite a bit, but many Ford owners still deem the 10-speed to be more than adequate.

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Ford is aware of how special the F150 is to the US market which means that they will only offer it with a really good transmission.

Which Ford F150 engine is the best?

There are quite a few great Ford F150 engines, but the best one out of them all is likely the 5.0L TI-VCT V8 because it is a great value prospect with enough power and torque for easy towing. The 3.5L EcoBoost, the 3.3L EcoBoost, and the 3.0L Power Stroke Turbo Diesel are all great F150 engines

How reliable is the Ford F150?

The Ford F150 is praised for many things, but reliability isn’t one of those things. That is not to say that the F150 is not reliable, it’s just that it is so popular and that comes with its own caveat. Whenever an issue occurs that would be relatively anonymous with a car not as popular as the F150, for an F150 it means a huge press coverage.

All cars are unreliable one way or the other, but if you maintain and take care of your F150, it is going to serve you for decades. It is a two-way street as you simply can’t expect something as complex as a motor vehicle to be dependable if you don’t take proper care of it.

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Marko Mikulic

Why do you love writing about cars? I love writing about cars as cars are a huge personal interest of mine. I was raised in a car enthusiast community and ever since I was young, I always wanted to do car-related work.

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