Ford F-150 Transmission Test Owners Can Do While Driving

Skip Shifting
Have you ever experienced your F-150 appearing to skip a gear or two shifting up or down while driving? You might have, and wondered if this was a sign or symptom of something wrong with your truck’s transmission. Fortunately, this is not always the case.

Related article: Ford F-150 Transmission Leak Warning

In fact, according to a recent FordTechMakuloco YouTube episode where the host discusses what some Ford F-150 owners are seeing in 2017 and younger models with the 10R80 10-speed transmission during episodes of skip-shifts, an Official Statement from Ford states that:

Upshift Gear Sequence: At times the 10-speed transmission may skip gears when the vehicle starts from a complete stop. This is normal and desired behavior. At part pedal when acceleration is brisk, single step upshifts would result in very frequent shift events (very short time in gear).

Double step upshifts results when a longer time is spent in gear. However, at light pedal or road load, single step upshifts will occur. The small 10-speed gear steps allow the engine speed to drop to lower values than it would in the 6-speed transmission—providing for the best fuel economy.

In contrast, when the 10-speed transmission is at heavy or max pedal, the small steps keep the engine closer to the horsepower peak for best performance.

Down shift Gear Sequence: At times the 10-speed transmission may skip gears when the vehicle down shifts to a complete stop. This is normal and desired behavior. The same skip shift strategy that is used for the upshift may be applied during down shift.

Do Your Own Self Test

Follow along with the host in the video below as he discusses and demonstrates when and why skip shifting occurs in the Ford 10-speed transmission and how that you can diagnose for yourself by running your truck through different drive modes as a check to see how your transmission responds and if this is a normal response engineered by Ford…or not.

Related article: Transmission Problem Diagnosis with This Simple Tool

2017+ Ford F-150 Ten Speed 10R80 Transmissions: Are Skip Shifts Normal?

And finally…

For additional articles related to transmissions, here are a few for your consideration:

• Six Vehicles with Fatal Engines or Transmissions to Avoid

• The Sealed Transmission White Lie

• Ford Mechanic Reminds Owners of Faulty Ford F-150 Transmission Problem

Timothy Boyer is a Torque News automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily new and used vehicle news.

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