2014 Ford Expedition

While driving on interstate at highway speeds (70mph), the transmission experienced sudden downshift, which increased the engine RPMs to redline and rapidly decelerated the vehicle. Occupant safety was put at risk while other drivers were forced to quickly avoid collision due to our much slower speed. Transmission would not select proper gear which made it difficult to proceed to a safe pull-off point. After restarting the vehicle, the situation repeated itself several times while attempting to drive home. Reoccurring problems include rapid deceleration and high engine revs when transmission suddenly shifts at high speeds, or stalling & lack of acceleration when transmission shifts improperly at low speeds (which makes moving the vehicle safely from the roadway difficult). Researching the problem, it appears to be an issue with the leadframe internal to the 6R80 transmission. Apparently there are safety recalls for other Ford SUVs and trucks with the same leadframe part all related to unexpected transmission shifts.

While driving the truck will shift into 1st gear. It will also shift back and forth between gears randomly. When this happens, the wheels may lock up or just skid. The service engine light will come on, the speedometer will drop to zero while still moving and the "miles to empty" will show at zero miles. Sometime the tire indicator will turn on as well. This may/may not reset when the vehicle turns off and back on. Other times the vehicle will stick in first gear when leaving from a stop. It will also stick in 3rd or 4th gear as well. There have been times where it seems to stick like it was on cruise control but will disengage when the brake it tapped. This all occurs anywhere between a stop position and 50 MPH. The problem has been confirmed by a shop as the "Molded lead Frame" in the 6r80 transmission.

My mother in law contacted me and stated her 2014 ford expedition’s transmission felt like it was failing. I drove same the next day. As I was test driving the vehicle at approximately 60mph down a U.S. highway, I hear a “clunk” noise and then immediately the RPMs went up and the vehicle downshifted into 1st gear causing the vehicles’s wheel to lock up. I went sliding down the highway and luckily didn’t not collide with another vehicle. I had the vehicle scanned and same displayed PO722 output speed sensor codes. After further research, I discovered that her transmission is the same model and design as the 6R80 transmissions that were installed from 2011-2017. The 6R80 transmission lead frames were recalled for years 2011-2013 for the exact same safety issue that I encountered. For some reason Ford has done nothing for the 2014 models. This is a huge safety concern. Myself as well as my child could have been seriously hurt or worse as well as the other innocent motorists that were driving around me. Now we are forced to pay $1500 to have a safety issue fixed that in my opinion should be covered due to the safety concern as well as the fact that Ford is already aware of this lead frame issue that occurs in the previous year model. I understand that things happen and parts break but there is no excuse for a vehicle to downshift into 1st gear while traveling 60 and 70mph down the highway and nothing be done to fix the issue from the manufacturer.

As I was driving on the freeway my transmission downshifted and my rear wheels locked up and I lost control of my vehicle with all 4 of my children in the car with me! After this happened the check engine light came on and I had the code read at my local auto parts store and the error code was P0720 for the output shaft sensor which is located on the lead frame inside my transmission. I called my Ford dealer to get a quote to fix my car and was told based on my VIN the part number for the faulty part is AL3Z7G276D. When I looked up this part number on the internet I found that this part was recalled for the same exact thing that happened to me except that the current recall didn’t include my model year and build. I’m confused as to why if the recalled part number is in my truck and I almost died along with all 4 of my children because of it that my car is not covered in this safety recall.