My beloved 2014 Ford Escape 2.0 ecoboost with the glorious 6f35 transmission and associated torque converter is now doing a somewhat reproducible consistent stutter while in drive and going up a hill after starting and driving less than a mile and then going up a steep hill.

Apparently this is somewhat of a known issue with these transmissions or shall I say Drive trains.

Many transmission problems, many torque converter problems. Ford claims sealed for Life transmission. Being stupid and under warranty, they did not change the tranny fluid and actually boxed when I asked as if they knew it would cause more problems.

The issue is that it feels like either the torque converter is unlocking momentarily or a clutch in the transmission is slipping momentarily . There is a very slight rise in the RPMs when this occurs so I believe there is in fact summer type of decoupling between the engine output and the output to the wheels.

My question is how do I determine which one it is? Will locking it into gear using tap shift mode work? It seems as though doing this may isolate the issue to a single gear and therefore a single clutch pack, but this still does not rule out the torque converter which may be stuttering and unlocking due to the peak torque. RPMs are around 2800 and I believe it is in second gear though I am not sure.

Also also I have never understood torque converters with respect to when they lock up and why. Is it so that they are not trying to transfer full engine torque to the transmission while the vehicle is not moving?

 

Can you access transmission data on your scan tool? Some cars do not lockup until the fluid reaches a certain temperature. Ford temp sensors inside the transmission are a known problem. I keep them in stock at the shop for the F550s.

 

Thank you. I will investigate.

 

Sorry I can't speculate here, derf. I'm NOT a Ford man and never will be. Andy will be your best source of info here.