Ford Freestyle CVT Transmissions

422 messages,  Last post on Jun 12, 2013 at 5:38 PM

You are in the Ford Freestyle Forum.

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

#353 of 422 transmission problems along with sudden acceleration by moniebolonie

Nov 26, 2011 (12:21 pm)

I bought my 2007 Freestlye in April 2009. I absloutely loved. This past spring (March 2011) it began randomly surging. Even with my foot on the brake it would lunge forward. There were many times it put me in the middle of an intersection or just millimeters away from the hitting the car infront of me. It was very unsafe for me to keep putting my two small children in. My husband (who knows his way around cars) took off the throttle body and cleaned it. That seemed to help until now. It started doing it again but the transmission has gone out. This car is a NIGHTMARE!!!!! I still owe 7100 on the piece of crap that needs a new (but not really new since they don't make them anymore) transmission. And its only worth about 6000 with a working transmission. I feel like Ford needs to step up and right their wrong! They knew the issues and failed to fix them.....well I guess they fixed it (in their book) by discontinuing the transmission but that leaves us owners SCREWED!!!!! IM BEYOND FRUSTRATED. I did contact the attorney (even though I'm in Georgia) back in April. I urge anyone having these issues to contact him as well. Something needs to be done.

#354 of 422 Re: Attorney for Class Action. [sinder] by truewv

Nov 27, 2011 (5:33 pm)

Replying to: sinder (Sep 29, 2011 6:56 am)
My husband replaced the top motor mount in my car a few months ago. He made it using another model cars something or other. Let me check with him. It was only an $8 fix.

#355 of 422 Re: Attorney for Class Action. [truewv] by sinder

Nov 30, 2011 (1:33 pm)

Replying to: truewv (Nov 27, 2011 5:33 pm)
YAY !!!
 
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.

#357 of 422 New unknown problem for me by cabhoney

Nov 30, 2011 (5:12 pm)

I discovered something about my Freestyle yesterday. When I got into the driver's side of the car, I noticed this thing hanging down on wires near where my knees would be. I looked at it, and it looked like some plastic thing with wires that needed to fit back onto the piece it was attached to. So, I recapped the dangling thing, and drove out of the parking lot. I hadn't gotten very far, when my car did not want to go. I thought Oh, dear, it's the transmission again. I pulled into another parking lot, and then uncapped whatever the dangling object was near my knees. The car drove just fine after that. Can anyone tell me what this object is? Thanks.
Cindy, 2007 owner with replaced transmission and throttle body

#358 of 422 Freestyle CVT and General Reliability by buddy70

Dec 04, 2011 (12:37 am)

I'm seeing that there are some upset Freestyle owners out there, and I feel sorry for your predicaments, however, you won't get that from me. I own a 2005 with 130,000 miles and have not had ANY problem with it. I suppose changing the oil every 3,000 miles helps. I also understand that ANY car is just another machine with moving parts, and thus will require maintenance and care to keep it running in top performance. Excellent job FORD! Another satisfied customer!

#359 of 422 Re: Freestyle CVT and General Reliability [buddy70] by sinder

Dec 04, 2011 (5:54 am)

Replying to: buddy70 (Dec 04, 2011 12:37 am)
buddy70,
 
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
Sinder

#360 of 422 TRANSMISSION & THROTTLE BODY PROBLEM BEGINS IN THE MAIN COMPUTER by pbay

Dec 05, 2011 (4:07 am)

FORD FREESTYLE THROTTLE BODY, TRANSMISSIONS ARE CAUSED BY MAIN COMPUTER
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

#361 of 422 Throttle Body, Lurching, Dishonest Dealership Techs by handc

Dec 06, 2011 (8:34 pm)

I just had the throttle body on my '05 Freestyle replaced (90k miles). I do understand that regular mechanical maintainence is required of all vehicles. That being said... I've spend hours now on the web researching this issue with Freestyles. After 5 days of waiting for the part, and $1000 later, I drove my car from the dealership where it was serviced and within 20 miles, the engine light came on. - found after calling several dealerships that I was given an answer almost recited verbatim about the throttle body issues. This makes me think that Ford, obviously fully aware of these existing issues, has given their dealerships and technicians a monologue about what to say to aggravated customers. I don't so much take issue with the cost of repairs, or even the fact that they need to happen. What I do take issue with is the fact that Ford representatives are so willing to "misrepresent" the truth in what is a major expense, and most importantly a major safety issue.

#362 of 422 Re: Throttle Body, Lurching, Dishonest Dealership Techs [handc] by dominicano51

Dec 06, 2011 (9:14 pm)

Replying to: handc (Dec 06, 2011 8:34 pm)
I am a mechanic and let me tell you, the best thing anyone that owns a freestyle from 05 to 07 is to get rid off that piece of junk. Ford knows the junk and mess they made but they are too big to shake so they don't care is cheaper to settle a suit than issuing a recall. The company that made the Transmission is closed and the throttle body is another junk. Good luck, mine is gone and that was the best day in 2010.
To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement