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Ford Freestyle Transmission Failure

240 messages,  Last post on May 16, 2013 at 4:47 PM

You are in the Ford Freestyle Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Freestyle, Transmission, SUV

    

Messages Page 16 of 24

#151 of 240 Re: Class Action Law Suit [rusty60] by precastpat

Mar 26, 2010 (4:03 pm)

Replying to: rusty60 (Feb 26, 2010 10:35 pm)
Rusty60,
 
     I am interested to know if you have discovered any pending legal action. It is obvious to me from reading a slew of posts on several websites and from the fact that Ford discontinued the use of this transmission, that there is an inherent problem. Our 2006 Freestyle started acting up last fall. The wrench light would come on and the rpms would shoot up (I was told by a non Ford mechanic that at the sign of problems the transmission would go into second gear to prevent any catastrophic incident). When you turned off the vehicle and then restarted it it would drive fine. We eventually determined that the instigating factor was the resume function in cruise control. It would drive fine until you needed to brake and then as soon as you hit resume the problem would reoccur. The dealer we bought it from told us we would need a new transmission (about $ 6,000) and we would be responsible for paying it. I took the vehicle to our normal mechanic, who was not able to duplicate the problem but did get an error message from the computer indicating a problem in the transmission. We decided that no more harm (than replacing the transmission) could be done by continuing to drive the vehicle (without using the cruise control), until the problem reoccurred. My son drove the vehicle without incident for about six months. Then over the weekend the problem reappeared, this time without using the cruise control. And because it happened several times in one day, we took it to our mechanic. Our mechanic came to the determination this time that it was the engine computer causing the problem (not the transmission), but that is a repair only Ford can perform. I am not interested in going back to Ford, because they acted like this was an isolated incident, where all of these posts would indicate otherwise (not exactly making me trust them). I would appreciate any suggestions as to who to go to and how to deal with this issue.

#152 of 240 Re: Class Action Law Suit [precastpat] by bobw3

Apr 09, 2010 (8:29 am)

Replying to: precastpat (Mar 26, 2010 4:03 pm)
"It is obvious to me from reading a slew of posts on several websites and from the fact that Ford discontinued the use of this transmission, that there is an inherent problem."
 
Ford discontinued the transmission due to cost...the 6spd was cheaper. Reliability of the CVT is average or above average according to JD Power and Consumer Reports, so it's hard to imagine a class action lawsuit. If there were, then you'd think every car with poor and below average reliability stats would also have class action lawsuits against them.
 
It's not that the CVT is unreliable, but when there are problems they seem harder & more costly to repair.

#153 of 240 Re: CVT Problems [kdib] by baldridgesb

May 05, 2010 (10:48 am)

Replying to: kdib (Mar 23, 2010 1:26 pm)
My freestlye is an 06 and going down the road went up to almost 4 rpms i could only drive 35 mph and then lost power and it was smoking. Now it is perfectly fine the repair shop says they can't find anything wrong is this what yours did?

#154 of 240 Freestyle CVT Transmission Failure by sc1t3ach3r

May 05, 2010 (8:22 pm)

We bought our car new in 2005. We have had it serviced by the dealer when it was time for each scheduled maintance. Oct. 2009, we had to replace the alternator in the car. Now the A/C compressor has failed, and we're told the transmission is also failing. Yes, I have even experience jumping from the car just as I come to a complete stop. It feels at times like someone has rear-ended us. Yes, we have 90,000 miles on it. Prior to the 36,000 mile warranty, the car was at the dealers to have the interior door panels replaced 3 times due to bubbling, and rear brakes replaced twice during this time. Yes, they finally told us about the recall on the brakes after the 2nd replacement. I have even complained how the fabric stains easily with rain. I have even steamed cleaned the car several times to remove rain stains & condensation stains from water bottles. We had to get fabric since we have several pets. The stains came before the pets were allowed in the car. We have owned several Ford products, but have never seen anything quiet like this. Needless to say, we're disappointed. Ran great when it was working properly and even good gas mileage, we travel a lot with a family. We keep autos in this family more than 5 years, still have a car that works, runs, driveable, good transmission from 1983, it only seats 2. I have contacted the Ford dealer in the area again, for repairs, but cost of repairs vs. car value do not compute. Now, just unhappy with vehicle.

#155 of 240 Re: Freestyle Transmission Failure [bohemia1] by dominicano51

May 11, 2010 (9:07 pm)

Replying to: bohemia1 (Jul 08, 2006 3:26 pm)
Hi,
 
I have a 2006 Frestyle FWD with 110200 miles. i purchased the vehicle used and it develop a loud noise on the trans. I took the vehicle to ford and they dignosed to be a main bearing or imput shaft but that it would take complete dissasmble of the trans to complete(about 900 dollars). for a soft rebuilt with no hard parts 2800.00 dollars and for a remanufactured one 5600 dollars, well i paid for the vehicle 6600.00 dollars hehehe. I went to a shop that i know since i am in the use car business and they charged for labor 900. plus parts and they show me what had gone bad on the trans, bearing and output shaft with the planetary. I purchased with a dealer discount the planetary 487.00 dollars, rebuilt kit with steels included 225.00, 10 qts of fluid and bang brand new transmission. $1700.00 dollars they even serviced my a/c for the price and detailed the car since one of their mechanics painted a bumper and got overspray on mine.
 
i have the part that went bad and also i have documents of parts that ford had to dispose in the past due to improper packaging and some of those parts ended in transmission, so maybe after all ford has made mistakes and we are paying for it.
 
if anyone wants their service to fix their transmission let me know. you can ship it to them and they will fix it and ship to you. also that upper torque mount that breaks on all the cars but just the rubber soon i am going to have an idependent manufacturer make just the bushing for a fraction of what the entire mount cost.
 
keep in touch.
 
Ed

#156 of 240 Re: Freestyle Transmission Failure [dominicano51] by lanbaba

May 13, 2010 (6:02 am)

Replying to: dominicano51 (May 11, 2010 9:07 pm)
I have a 05 AWD Limited with 65K miles on it. Last year the upper torque mount's rubber completely failed and I purchase some parts for the Volvo and did some modification and installed it myselft, and it cost much less than the whole mount (dealer want 2xx for the part, plus the labor). Google and you will find the instructions on how to do it, several different ways.
Unfortunately my wf crashed the car a few weeks back and it is still in the shop now (insurance won't total it, cost about 7K to repair, but, it's the other party's fault). I will sell the car and get some replacement. I want another Freestyle, but ford discontinued the taurus X, and I'm lost now.

#157 of 240 2006 Freestyle Transmission problem by engr76vt

May 13, 2010 (7:31 pm)

My daughter has a 2006 Freestyle and has recently experienced a problem similar to those listed...she has had it back to the dealership a couple of times....this last time they claimed they had found the problem and replaced a "mega-electronic" module according to the daughter. It failed again on the way home from the dealer.
In her case, she says after about 35-40 miles the transmission will suddenly
quit. If she turns the engine off and then back on....everything is fine for a while.
At least some of the times I know she said she was using the cruise. Does anyone have any ideas on the nature of the fix ????

#158 of 240 Re: 2006 Freestyle Transmission problem [engr76vt] by coldcranker

May 18, 2010 (4:43 pm)

Replying to: engr76vt (May 13, 2010 7:31 pm)
engr76vt, Not "mega-electronic". That should be "mechatronic", which means an actuator/sensor combination device.

#159 of 240 I've hit 90K by momf

Jul 08, 2010 (2:15 pm)

My 2006 Freestyle just hit 90K miles, and alas, the transmission is failing! The car would lurch when I put it in gear, even with my foot on the brake. Three days ago, it happened every time I put the car in gear. Then, both check engine and wrench indicator light went on. Car would not go over 25,even though RPM high. I urge all of you who have this problem to report it to the NHSTA. It is a safety issue; Ford needs to acknowledge it, and they need to give us help.

#160 of 240 Throttle body replacement by kieracm

Jul 13, 2010 (7:07 am)

I purchased a brand new 2007 ford freestyle and now after 72,000 miles and many other problems that I had to fix on my own because I didn't purchase the warranty, I had to take it today to the dealership because of the Throttle Body that needs to be replaced. This will cost me about $1,000.00. My car is accelerating on it's own, the wrench light comes on after the acceleration, and I loose power all together. I am forced to shut off the vehicle, wait a couple of minutes and start the car back on. Just imagine this situation on a busy highway...
  
The only way we can make sure the dealer fixes this problem is to call the Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at 1-888-327-4236 and file a complaint. After they review the complaint they have the authority to request that the Dealer issues a recall and fix the issues. I just did this myself and it took me about 20 minutes, however, a case number was sent to me immediately. If we all take 20 minutes of our time, we can have Ford fix these problems and who knows? maybe even save somebody's life...

Messages Page 16 of 24

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