The Feds Are Investigating 1.3 Million Ford F-150 Trucks For Violent Skid-Inducing Downshifts

If there’s one thing that’s fairly certain when life gives you lemons, it’s that complaining to the right people can set stuff in motion. Drivers of 2015 to 2017 Ford F-150 trucks with 6R80 six-speed automatic transmissions have filed 138 consumer complaints for unexpected downshifts, and now NHTSA is launching a preliminary investigation into 1.3 million vehicles.

Now, you might be thinking that unexpected downshifts don’t sound so bad, and that you’ve experienced an automatic transmission that would downshift to second when fourth would’ve done the job. Well, this one’s a bit different. NHTSA claims that these unexpected downshifts can happen at highway speeds, and they can be severe enough to break traction. As per NHTSA:

Certain consumer complaints additionally allege that the vehicle’s rear wheels temporarily lock, seize, and/or skid during the downshift resulting in a loss of vehicle control increasing the risk for crash and injury.

Essentially, for a downshift into a lower gear ratio to happen smoothly, the engine speed has to rise to match the wheel speed of the vehicle. Modern cars with electronic throttle bodies and electronically controlled automatic transmissions should do this by automatically opening the throttle further while downshifting to get in that higher RPM window before engaging a lower gear, and drivers of stick-shift cars do this manually by blipping the throttle while the clutch is depressed and a lower gear is being selected.

However, when a lower gear is selected without matching engine speed to wheel speed, the drive wheels can slow dramatically, even causing the wheels to lock due to the speed difference – as the above YouTube video from user Jeff shows. Not only is this hard on drivetrain components, it can induce oversteer in a rear-wheel-drive vehicle, and any loss of traction can result in loss of control.

Weirdly, this isn’t the first time that the 6R80 transmission has been recalled for sudden unexpected downshifts. In 2019, Ford recalled 1.26 million 2011 to 2013 F-150s with the six-speed automatic transmission because, as per the recall acknowledgement letter, “The transmission may unexpectedly downshift into first gear, regardless of vehicle speed.” Sound familiar? In this case, the fix was an update to the powertrain control module firmware and revised calibration that might not have made it to newer F-Series models with the six-speed automatic transmission.

Indeed, owners have gone to NHTSA citing this prior recall in complaints about transmission issues in their 2015 to 2017 F-150. One owner wrote, “The vehicle will randomly shift into 1st or 2nd gear no matter what speed you are traveling,” which seems alarming, adding that “There is a safety recall on 2011-2013 Ford F150 models for the same issues I am having with my 2015 model.”

Given the recent troubles GM’s been having with its modified version of the Ford co-designed ten-speed automatic transmission, it’s interesting to see that transmission’s predecessor is under scrutiny. While the former recall covers a reasonable 90,000 vehicles, if NHTSA finds any issues worthy of a recall with this F-150 preliminary investigation, Ford might have to recall 1.3 million vehicles in America alone. That’s a huge number of trucks, and considering the F-150 is also popular in Canada and Mexico, many owners could be affected. Let’s see how this shakes out.

Top graphic image: Ford

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