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Comments
Maybe not, at least on the transmission. If you had it power flushed (and maybe even "engine" flushed), gunk could have gotten stirred up.
I only do a simple drain and fill, and only rarely.
Good post about the issue:
amigo_john, "Isuzu Trooper" #8070, 30 Jun 2003 7:46 am
Another aside, seems like a lot of Nissan Murano owners have also had CVT problems. Caulk it up to newer technology?
ftr....I received a message Friday from an attorney that has a class action suit against Ford for another issue. He wants to discuss THIS transmission issue. I be calling him tomorrow and will post any information.
I would LOVE to see FORD be held accountable.
The surging was a frightening and dangerous event, and I am pretty unhappy about hearing others have had the same problem. If I had not been searching the net for info on how my xmission works, I would have never found out that this problem is not limited to my vehicle (except for anecdotal evidence from local mechanics), as I'm sure Ford will not willingly confess it.
I was scared to death, as I was crossing a busy intersection when my transmission started to go. The car stopped for no reason, and I pushed the gas pedal more and more....steering at oncoming traffic. NOTHING ! :confuse: I turned it off, I restarted the car, and it SURGED forward, with no control from me. The wrench light came on and the rest as they say...................is terrible customer service from FORD :lemon:
If you know anyone else that has had this problem, please let them know about the attornies. I wish I had time to go through this entire forum, but I can't right now.
Sinder
Let them hear from ALL of us !!
The more the attorney hears from us the better the chance they will add the transmissions issues to the suit. They are expensive to repair and parts makers are no...
Regards,
Sinder
You will be getting a remanned/rebuilt one. Isn't that some crap ???
My vehicle "lurches" when it is hot; and you go from 'park' to any drive gear. Even with the brake pedal depressed; it'll 'jump' or 'lurch' while the engine revs up. Then the wrench light comes on.
We had to have our transmission replaced at 78,000 miles, we had purchased the extended warranty, but it was only good until 75,000 miles. Ford was very unhelpful through this process, kept saying that his was an issue that they were shocked by, like we were the only ones experiencing this problem.
I did file a complaint with the NHTSA. Hoping they can do something regarding both issues.
We NEED to get as many people as we can to get this issue addressed. Email them and tell them what happened to you.
BTW, I need a top motor mount now. Unbelievable what I have gone through with this car. :mad:
Hope this helps, JaCarr
NHTSA Looking into Ford Freestyle Unintended Acceleration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 170,000 2005 through 2007 model year Ford Freestyle’s after 18 crashes caused by “lunging.” No injuries have been attributed to the abnormal vehicle behavior, however.
The Ford Freestyle abnormally lunges forward even when drivers didn’t have their feet on the gas pedal says the reports. Hitting the brakes will stop the lunging, however.
The unexpected lunging has been tied to having the steering wheel turned hard left or right, as well as an apparent increased occurrence if operating the vehicle’s air conditioning system. The lunging reportedly only occurs at low speeds in both reverse and forward gears.
The investigation will not include the refreshed Ford Taurus X that replaced the low selling Freestyle in 2008. The lunging only occurs with the Freestyle’s 3.0-liter V6, and not with the Taurus’ 3.5-liter V6.
Cindy, 2007 owner with replaced transmission and throttle body
We're not saying every Freestyle that came off the line has tranny problems and I'm glad yours has served you well.
However, more than "some" Freestyle owners, who have also "maintained" their vehicles, have experienced surges, replaced transmissions @ over &5K, & have almost been in or have been in an accident due to the transmission. Well, we see the Freestyle just a little differently than you.
Besides, if this was actually an "Excellent" design by Ford, they would not have discontinued them. We're not talking about just changing up the design.... No, Ford went three years and OUT on these.
Go figure :sick:
Sinder
MALFUNCTION. I was extremely lucky that someone finally figured out WHY!!!! In my opinion is the reason why ford hasn't been slapped with a major, major!! recall. No one outside of the Ford dealerships can figure out were the problem actually begins. Most Shops don’t want anything to do with it. I found a very talented transmission shop that did! I had all the exact symptoms as everyone else. The acceleration when putting the car in reverse. No power, wrench light coming on, etc; I am field sales rep that puts a lot of miles on. After ford installed a new throttle body the first time within 7 months same symptoms accrued. Already out of warranty because of miles I was in no rush to get it repaired again for the same thing. Because of an extremely busy schedule I didn't have a lot of time to bring back to ford. So I continued to drive it the way it was. Every time it would act up, I would turn off the motor wait a minute restart and it would reset itself. drove my 2006 ford freestyle till transmission was totally gone. I brought it to ford they did a diagnostic and told me I needed a new Transmission, and it would cost around $6,000. So I started calling Transmission shops, No one would touch it, Except for one place. The owner Bill said he had a couple of the best transmission mechanics in the country and would be able to rebuild it for $3,500. So I brought it to him . $ 6,000 later and After 4 trips back his crackerjack transmission guys were having a difficult time figuring out why they couldn't get to run right. Bill was pissed off because he said my car was making them look bad was determined to find out why. much help from ford with parts or Info finally him and his guys figured out it was the main computer that tells the throttle body what to do and throttle body tells transmission what to do. He can explain it much better than I can. In any case If no one knows that main computer is the problem to begin with it would be very hard to get a recall on the throttle body or transmission. That’s my opinion. What do you think? I would like for Ford to pay me back the $7,500 + car rentals. Can anyone help me? Sincerely Pbay
Now that is running good is when you can get more for it.
You can find many references on the web. Yes, you do have to take the front left tire off, jack up the transmission, drain, remove the mount, remove the filter cover from behind the mount, remove old parts, add new rubber bands and filter and plastic tube, reinstall filter, reinstall mount, add fluid, etc...
The problem with a CVT is that it doesn't really buy you greater MPG. It will get over 30 MPG highway but only 14 mpg city where the infinite gearing is exercised, even keeping revs under 2000 rpm. It actually seems better when getting it up to speed quicker because it excels in slowing down very slowly which in city traffic normally means newer brakes sooner.
The problem with most people buying these cars used is they assume the dealer or whomever they bought it from has properly performed the services on the car without even asking. In most cases, a service person will drive the car, and if it drives good, they wash it and put a " for sale" sign on it. There are also those dealers that actually go through the process of doing a full diagnostic on the vehicle, and that's where problems are discovered and fixed. Dealers do " certify" used cars, at an additional cost, but in the long run, that cost may save you thousands of dollars. If any mechanic tells you the Freestyle is junk, I wouldn't go anywhere near that guy's business. That only means he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Freestyle owners are at a disadvantage, because the tramission was only manuafactured for 3 model years. The transmission however also appeared in the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego, which are both sedans. Any Ford dealer should be able to service the transmission or at least tell you who can service it. The CVT transmissions used in the Freestyle/Five Hunfdred/Montego were discontinued because of cost, and fact it would not be able to handle the increased horsepower from upcoming V6's.
The transmissions were a joint venture between ZF Transmission and Ford. The 2005-2007 Freestyle engine was a 3.0 liter V6, rated at 203HP/ 207ft lbs of torque. For the 2008 & 2009 model years Ford increased the V6 to 3.5 liters/ 249 ft lbs of torque. Ford also had it's Ecoboost motor coming, and the CVT would not be a good match for it. Ford had already decided after 2007 to go back to a conventional 6 speed tranny, as they were cheaper to produce than the CVT The 2008-2009 Taurus X got the 6 speed tranny and the 3.5 liter motor. The Flex replaced the Freestyle, however it is the same D3 platform. The new Explorer also rides on a stretched version of the D3. Take a look at the interiors of the Flex and Explorer, and you will see some similarities to the Freestyle. So in reality, the Freestyle never actually went away. It was continually upgraded, from Taurus X to Flex and Explorer.