Ford has had to recall more than 750,000 F-150 pickups, Explorers, Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators and Aviators over a “transmission issue” that’s interesting because it’s the sort of issue that literally never happened in the Before Time because it could not have happened in the Before Time.
The issue?
While driving, the transmission shifts itself into Park. The recall soft-voices this, saying it “could increase the risk of a crash or injury.” Never mind what it does to the transmission when it shifts itself into Park while the vehicle is being driven. “Impacted vehicles may experience temporary engagement of their transmission parking pawl while the vehicle is in motion when certain shifts are commanded by the transmission, potentially damaging park system components.”
Potentially damaging? More like destroying.
It gets better.
“NHTSA said that Ford is aware of 24 allegations of property damage and nine alleged injuries, with two of those being allegations of emotional injuries, related to the issue.”
Italics added. I suppose people might be emotionally injured – traumatized – by the experience of their vehicle’s transmission shifting itself from Drive into Park while they’re driving down the road. The italics to drive home the important point about what’s happening now that could not have happened before the advent of electronically controlled automatic transmissions. Well, it could not have happened without the driver actually moving the gear selector from Drive to Park while the vehicle was in motion. How come why not? Well, because it was not physically possible – because in the Before Time – the gear selector operated a cable that went down to the transmission; when you moved the gear selector from Park to Drive (or from Drive to Park) that cable physically connected your right hand to the transmission. A mechanical lever would move from position to position, in correspondence with the PRNDL detents on the gear selector inside the car’s cabin. It was not physically possible for the transmission to shift itself into Park. The driver could of course do that – if he wanted to destroy the transmission or perhaps inflict some emotional injury on his passengers – but in that case, he’d be the responsible party and (the relevant point) he’d know he was the one who moved the gear selector from Drive to Park.
Then along came drive-by-wire gear selection and electronically controlled transmissions.
Drive-by-wire eliminated physical control over gear selection. The gear selector is still there, of course. Sometimes, there is even a lever that appears to move back and forth through the PRNDL pattern, though increasingly there are just buttons to push or a stalk you rotate to select the range. Regardless, it is the computer that controls the transmission that is telling the transmission which range to be in. When you move the lever or push the button or rotate the stalk, all you’re doing is sending an electronic signal that causes an actuator to actuate. The problem arises when the actuator actuates itself, which appears to be what’s happening (or might happen) to those three-quarters-of-a-million Ford and Lincoln vehicles. A glitch results in the transmission being commanded to go into Park while the vehicle is moving. Resulting in emotional injuries as well actual physical damage and injuries.
“Vehicle owners will be notified by mail and told to take their vehicle to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to have their vehicle’s Powertrain Control Module updated to the latest level software. Dealers will also inspect the vehicle’s transmission for park system damage and replace damaged transmission components as needed. There will be no charge for the service.”
Well, that’s nice of them. But it doesn’t really address the underlying problem, does it?
Drive-by-cable (as in the Before Time) was never even potentially dangerous. The worst that might and sometimes did happen was that the cable would snap or work loose and when that happened, you could no longer get the transmission’s gear selector to get the transmission into Drive or Park. It would be in Drive or Park or whichever of the other positions it was in when the cable snapped or worked itself loose. Maybe that meant you couldn’t drive the car – if the cable snapped when the transmission was in Park (because the car won’t move when the transmission is in Park. Or maybe you couldn’t engage Park when the time came to park because the cable snapped while you were in Drive (and still driving). In which case you could use the emergency brake – which was a separate, mechanical failsafe before that got electronically controlled.
You weren’t necessarily stuck, either – because if you were willing and able, you could crawl underneath the car and work the lever arm on the side of the transmission to get the transmission out of Park and into Drive manually; you could also just replace the snapped cable. This is not possible when an electronically controlled automatic glitches because you can’t get your hands on a glitch. It is something that has to be sussed out by a diagnostic computer.
The high-altitude view of this situation is something like the situation faced by the astronauts in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The computer that controlled everything in the spaceship ended up trying to kill the astronauts. It glitched. Maybe things were better when things like gear selection were not controlled by computers – because they were incapable of glitching. Also, it’s not as if there’s some great advantage to be had by all this drive-wire/electronically controlled stuff. Ask anyone who has driven a car made before – roughly – the early-mid 2000s – when cars still have cables to control the throttle as well as engage Park and Drive and Reverse. Was it difficult to engage Park or Drive or Reverse in a circa 2000 or so model year vehicle? Was it less reliable?
To ask these questions is to answer them.
And also to beg some other questions!
. . .
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Ford has had to recall more than 750,000 F-150 pickups, Explorers, Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators and Aviators.
Financial analysts estimate the cost could range from $50 million to over $150 million depending on how many vehicles require mechanical component replacement
I think this is a low estimate because if all 750,000 trucks require just a $200 software update at the dealership, that alone would be $150 million
For most Ford dealerships, a transmission software update (TCM reflash) typically falls in the $150–$300 range. I’m being conservative at $200, and assuming no parts have to be replaced.
Ford’s 2025 warranty and recall costs are estimated to have reached around $5 billion, driven by a record number of recalls, high repair costs, and regulatory fines. Ford Motor sales revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, was $187.3 billion, with net earnings (GAAP) a loss of $8.182 billion
Indeed, Richard –
There’s also another cost, arguably more costly. It is the cost of the damage done to Ford’s reputation. This is the sort of thing that understandably causes people to shy away from a given brand.
Also, the plain old door key worked 100% of the time. 100% Of the time. This key fob thing doesn’t. And the old radio never glitched this way. Every single time I play a song from my phone it skips a beat somewhere in the song. Every. Single. Time. And sometimes for whatever reason the bluetooth can’t ‘find’ my phone, so no music at all.
I’d rather just turn on the radio or pop in a CD than have this. It is clear that authorities view an ICE car with no electronics the same way they do a pistol with no serial numbers. Now why is that? F anybody celebrating the 4th.
Older mechanical systems are romanticized for their simplicity, but they had their own chronic wear items. Over time, metal cables stretch, plastic grommets crack from engine heat, and winter road salt corrodes the lower pivot linkages under the chassis. This causes a sloppy shifter feel, misaligned gear indicators, or an absolute failure to drop into “Park” or “Reverse.”
Mechanically, modern cars are vastly superior and routinely pass 200,000 miles, but they suffer from unprecedented software glitches and complex repair hurdles. Automakers are struggling to stabilize the complex code running modern vehicles. Record glitch rates: The 2026 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study reported a record-high 204 problems per 100 vehicles, primarily driven by electronics. Vehicles from 20 years ago were infinitely easier for everyday drivers to fix
Yes, Richard – the older mechanical systems “had their chronic wear items.” The thing is, they were generally easy and inexpensive to fix. Replacing a frayed/snapped cable (as for the shifter in an automatic equipped car) is almost as basic as changing oil. The cable itself typically costs about $50, too. Also, you can deal with a snapped cable by the side of the road. When a glitch occurs all you can do is call for a tow truck – and then pay the shop a fortune to replace the failed electronic part.
Also: Reliability/durability are trending in the less-reliable/durable direction. Cars made from roughly the late ’90s through the early-mid 2000s are indeed very long lived and reliable. The latest stuff not so much.
Electrical and electronic problems are hard to diagnose and some mechanics can’t fix them. Two times I had to set up phone calls between Ford dealer mechanics and Ford engineers to solve what seemed to be simple electronic problems. Getting these electrical problems fixed was so frustrating that when i retired from Ford in 2005, i started buying Toyotas. i have done various repair jobs on my own cars since age 16 but i stay away from electrical work. The only electrical work i ever did was to install a DIY 15 inch subwoofer and amplifier in the trunk of my car. The next year I bought a new car & the subwoofer wouldn’t fit in the trunk. It’s been sitting in my garage for 21 years. i hear about this from the wife about once a year.
Hey Richard: I think the thing with new cars is that, “they work until they don’t”. And that’s how digital stuff is, as I’m sure that you know. (and may appreciate that about the digital aspect of cars) Eric now calls cars “devices” due to their over-the-top tech, and “appliances” due to just taking us here to there. Cars lost their soul, as I’m sure you know.
For me, it’s interesting to see how the increased technology in the cars has actually *decreased* their reliability. I’ll speak for most of the readers of this site in that we lament the passing of maintainabilty as a portion of the overall reliability experience. ‘Frinstance, I have a pretty old riding lawnmower (mid 90’s vintage) that has little stuff breaking on it all the time. But, through my long period of ownership, and the fact that it was designed with serviceability in mind, I can fix damn near *any* problem with it. That has been a very satisfactory aspect of my ownerhip experience. To the point that if it were to die, I would *expressly* find another 1990’s or early 2000’s vintage replacement from the same brand.
Hello, Tom, out of curiosity, I went to the dealership where I bought my 2021 vehicle. I was curious as to how much the stupid, touch screen cost. For I figure that it will wear out one day. It is a whopping, $5,000 bucks! Thankfully, the heater/ air conditioner controls are below the touch screen, and hopefully (?) not a part of the “Infotainment” system? When my original stereo died in the ’07 WRX, I replaced it with a simple CD stereo system from in town. It had great sound, and was simple. For the five CD stereo system (way back nearly 20 years ago) even back then was nearly $1,000 to fix. Some may think technology is great. Until it is not.
The more code there is, and the more complex it is, the more difficult it is to track down 7 fix bugs, and the more likely it is that any bug fix may create other additional problems somewhere else.
These automakers are DELIBERATELY making driving IC cars as frustrating and UNSAFE as possible, in order to make EVs more attractive. The latter are only meant to be a stopgap, until the “15-minute city” infrastructure is complete. Finally, EVs will be declared “wasteful” (because frequent “fast” charging and lithium mining) and “unsafe” (because battery fires, glitches, etc.), so no more manual driving for us.
Modern electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles experience roughly 80% more issues than standard gas cars due to new battery and charging tech.
Consumer Reports data
Ca. 1905, electric vehicles were found to be more reliable than gasoline-powered ones; a lot of the problem had to do with the state of metallurgy and machining in keeping piston rings and valves sealing and not experiencing sudden failure. About ten years later, most of those problems, along with manufacturing costs, had been solved to the point where gasoline-powered vehicles were both considerably cheaper and more reliable than electrics. Steam, like the famous Stanley, had a performance edge (for years, a modified Stanley held the land speed record at Daytona), but steam cars were extremely expensive as compared to either gas or electric and took a great deal of specialized training to maintain.
Not only did the “Flivver” effectively wipe out electrics and steam cars, for awhile, it so dominated the auto industry that rival makers turned to effectively making Ford “clones”, which they could hypothetically do with impunity after the 1915 Selden case. However, by then, Ford’s Rouge plant had the Model T process so thoroughly shaken down that it was bragged that a “Flivver” went from raw materials to a finished car in only 33 hours! By the mid-1920s, Model Ts, which had actually undergone significant changes during its long run, were retailing for less than $400 (equal to about $10K in today’s money, think on THAT!). The irony of it was that the overall increase in USA living standards, of which Ford had played a role, caused the Model T to finally fall out of favor, as its cheapness and simplicity weren’t enough; i.e., most car buyers simply could afford something better and were willing to pay more.
But the “T’s” characteristics had effects which way outlived it. For example, following the “War to end all Wars”, aka (at the time), the “Great War”, three Jewish young fellows from Philadelphia established a partnership for an auto parts store. They managed to gain exclusive rights with a maker of a valve grinding compound called “Pep” as they expanded to more stores. The Model T’s engine, being a simple flathead four-banger, lent itself to a “valve job” that a “shade tree mechanic” could readily perform, using the magic valve grinding compound to “lap” the valve seats and facings by hand with a spindle! Legend has it that the compound was superior enough that customers sought it out, so the “word-of-mouth” was “go see those (Jewish) boys at “Pep”, so by the mid-1920s, with a change in partnership to the well-known “Manny, Moe, and Jack”, the chain became known as “Pep Boys”!
Indeed, selfdo59!
Material well-being is a function (to a great extent) of frugal living. Being able to buy an inexpensive vehicle – and pay for it at the time of purchase or within a few years – is one way to achieve material well being, via the saving of money. Becoming a debt slave to a $40,000 car is not the way to achieve material well-being.
Richard – our resident contrarian – does not grasp this. Being affluent, he does not need – or want – a $10,000 new car because he can afford something larger/more powerful and “nicer.” That’s fine. No one says a person who wants to spend more on something ought to be shamed on account of it. The shameful thing is the denial (by the state) of inexpensive alternatives.
My wife and I both retired at age 51 thanks to frugal living.
We paid off a 30 year mortgage in 11 years.
The last car we bought was a 2016 Toyota Camry and we paid cash. I no longer light my cigars with $20 bills & almost everyone we know is more affluent than us, yet many of them are still working in their seventies. They do a lot more traveling than us, often to exotic places, but they don’t seem any happier.
“Richard – our resident contrarian” EP
Nicest thing you ever said about me
You make my point, Richard!
You are retired, debt-free and own your house. You no longer have to work and have retirement/investment income to live comfortably on. Congratulations. But how many 20-year-olds are similarly situated? How many of them might like to be able to afford a brand-new car? How many people who want to live frugally would like to be able to buy a $10k new car that wouldn’t chain them to an $800 monthly payment for the next six years? So that they could save money/pay down their mortgage faster?
If these $10k new cars were available, there would soon by a ready supply of $5k used examples that were only a few years old and had low miles and years of reliable service left. It would beat Hell out of spending $5k on a ten-year-old/high-miles/worn-out piece of shit.
a 71 year old friend who still works needed a car for work and asked me for advice on what she could get for $16,000
The most reliable car I could find for her was a 2017 Lexus ES with 95,000 miles for $17,000
I told her this is the only car i could find in her price range that I thought would go 200,000 miles without falling apart. Low-mileage used car prices have skyrocketed based on what I saw when I was shopping for her earlier this year.
americans need a used car for $10,000 that has less than 100,000 miles on it. You’ be lucky to find a 15 year old Toyota Corolla at that price.
Hi Richard,
Since that ES is basically a Toyota Avalon and has the excellent 3.5 V6, it ought to last another 100,000 miles. The main worry I’d have is that since it is a Lexus, it has “luxury” (read: complicated and expensive to fix) secondary features. Still, overall, it is a good bet.
If Americans could buy brand-new cars for $10K such as the Fiat I wrote about, within just a few years, there would be low-miles/excellent condition used examples available for thousands less.
“ By the mid-1920s, Model Ts, which had actually undergone significant changes during its long run, were retailing for less than $400 (equal to about $10K in today’s money, think on THAT!)”
This is why we can’t have nice things. Not one man in 100,000 understands inflation.
When Model T’s roamed the earth we were on a gold standard. $20 = 1 oz of gold.
So a $400 car cost 20oz of gold.
Gold is at $4000/oz give or take as of July 2026.
So a model T cost $80,000 in equivalent dollars.
My grandfather collect every bit of pre 1965 silver he could pull out of circulation. My boomer parents mocked him. Today 1 90% silver quarter is worth about $12. So let’s call $1 of pre 1965 silver coinage is now worth $48 at current silver price.
We could talk about wages not keeping up with inflation etc but it’s hopeless when so many can’t even do the math to understand what inflation really is rather than relying on bogus government statistics.
It’s hilarious to me that Eric seems to have no understanding of why these transmissions now have electronic controls. Wondering if he is pretending or is just willfully ignorant.
Likewise there seems to be a refusal to acknowledge that automotive journalists (though not necessarily himself) contributed to how we arrived here.
You would think that as part of writing about cars Eric would have significant industry contacts that he could use to help enlighten others on the how and why thing are the way they are.
But I guess it probably generates more clicks to bitch, moan, and speculate.
Hi “Dilbert” (your latest fake name) –
Of course I know why. The OEMs have to play the compliance game and electronic controls help with compliance. They also help with profitability, as they are cheaper to install – and more expensive to repair when they fail.
“Of course I know why. The OEMs have to play the compliance game and electronic controls help with compliance.”
Wrong. The electronic shift controls have nothing to do with compliance. Electronically controlled transmissions (and their compliance effect) has nothing to do with the evolution to shift by wire electronic shifting controls. Said differently you can still have an electronically controlled transmission but without shift by wire. This was the case from 1990s through 2010 or so.
Thanks for making my point. Just keep on bitchin’.
And for the record – why would I use my real name and provide a valid e-mail address? For someone advocating for a complete & absolute freedom of speech you sure seem concerned with having the ability to track people. Who wants their real name tied to this comments section & the crazy stuff that gets posted here by complete whackos. Career ending stuff if the association were made that I actually visit this site.
Didn’t Benjamin Franklin write under various pen names? Hmm. Just something to think about.
“Said differently you can still have an electronically controlled transmission but without shift by wire. This was the case from 1990s through 2010 or so.”
So tell us, old wise one: why no more mechanical gear selectors on new cars? Why in the hell does EVERYTHING have to be electronic now?!
So why is it that so few like you are capable of doing any research in an age of AI?
How bout’ these as a few reasons:
Journalists and car buyers want the space on the console rather than a bulky PRNDL shift levers from the past. Sometimes just for styling, other times for more storage space, or larger cup holders. Sometimes is to be able to fit other modules into that space that has been freed up.
Journalists & customers are easily won over by new and novel. Usually they have no clue about risks or what is being given up along the way. Did you forget mechanical push button transmissions and why those never caught on? Sometimes people just like change to have something different than what their friends, family, neighbors have. Sad fact is that sells cars and impresses journalists.
Migrating to shift by wire supports driverless autonomy. The OEMs would much rather have the customer help offset development costs. So wow em’ with a cool shift knob that rises up out of the console & changes the gear as needed for various semi-autonomous features like park assist, trailer hitching, etc., that are being developed on the way to full autonomy.
Ability to shift by wire is needed to have vehicles with a kill switch and a safe harbor strategy to shutoff the car and safely park when itself once it has been determined that you are no longer fit to drive – for whatever reason.
Dilbert,
You write: “Ability to shift by wire is needed to have vehicles with a kill switch and a safe harbor strategy to shutoff the car and safely park when itself once it has been determined that you are no longer fit to drive – for whatever reason.”
Yes, exactly. I’ve been trying to warn people about this for years.
It’d be one thing if the motorist WANTED his car to have some “algorithm” that would put the contraption into a gentle “shut-down” mode. Be assured that few, if ANY car buyers want such a “Nanny” feature at all! Mine own 2020 Ford (con)Fusion has that annoying “reminder” that’ll crop up on long trips, like from Sacramento all the way to Mesa, AZ (well, duh, even with favorable traffic and the “coppers” being rather tolerant, it still takes at least twelve hours and that’s being fortunate to gas up and piss just ONCE at the Grapevine…), but at least I can just hit “OK” and ignore it. After more than half a century of driving, methinks I’m quite adequate to figure out mine own “fitness” to drive! Like many example of “Nanny State” tech, I’d take it in good humor as long as a “FUCK OFF!” button is also provided and operative. It should be obvious that such a feature, if MANDATED by sociopath control freaks like yourself, would be a temptation too great to ignore; i.e., you don’t like what someone posts on social media? You don’t even had to sic the “Diver(shitty) Police” on them, just simply have some “social credit” score algorithm turn their respective rides off, and, while you’re at it, cut off their Internet access and/or ability to transaction via EFT and/or ATMs, rendering them “non-persons” in a manner that’d have been a Gestapo or Stasi agent’s wet dream!
BTW, IF I need to make a “pit stop” right after crossing into “Arid-Zona” at Ehrenburg, normally my trusty Ruger is taken out, loaded, and on the mag-mount before I leave. Too bad I can’t just do that while tooling about Sacramento, but the People’s Republic of Calipornia refuses to recognize 2A. Yea, though I walk through the “Valley of the ‘Shadow of Death’,” I shall fear NO EVIL, for I am the onerniest ‘Sumbtich’ in the Valley! Never mind that I can also bring out and load a variety of carbines and/or rifles, for, y’know, “target practice”, though my ability to lurk behind a “blade of grass” in wait for the late Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and his Jap boys is kinda doubtful.
Sorry, but not the Feds, or you, have any right to “decide” when I am “unfit” (by your standards) to drive period! I have a clean record, and no accidents to prove as such. Not easy in a place where everyone forgets how to drive on snowy, icy roads in the span of three months. I have enough of Big Brother in other areas of life. I grew up under it. The last thing I want is some freedom-hating company (or government) being able to kill the engine of my car in the middle of BFE.
Dilbert (or whatever your name is) –
An automatic transmission does not need electronic controls to be fully “modern.” A GM 2004R four speed overdrive has a single 12V hot wire for torque converter clutch and wire to the brake pedal to disconnect the lock-up function. The rest is just electronics for the sake of electronics. To mesh the transmission with the got-damned ECU for compliance purposes; to alter shift timing to maximize (fractionally) mileage and reduce (fractionally) “emissions.” This degree of fine electronic control is needed when you have eight or ten speeds rather than four.
As far as your fake names: Why not just stick with one? Using multiples can be seen as an attempt to make it appear you’re not just one guy (or girl).
“As far as your fake names: Why not just stick with one? Using multiples can be seen as an attempt to make it appear you’re not just one guy (or girl).”
Have you not seen how AI is capable of tracking usernames and summarizing their comments for anyone that cares to ask?
No thanks – I’ll stick with multiple usernames.
Hi Dilbert,
Yes, but why do you care? I’m no fan of AI, either. But what’s going to happen to me because I used my actual name to leave a comment (or an artile) here)? Unless you say something actionable, what’s the problem?
The “Problem” is that there’s a gaggle of asshole control freaks in the “Gubmint” and/or Tech Sectors that presume to bother.
The founder of mine own faith that admittedly I don’t strictly adhere to ALL aspects of personal conduct (I’m a bit more ribald in expression outside a typical LDS gathering than when at one) put it best in D&C 121:39..
“We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.”
I take it as a personal warning that given sufficient ability and/or authority, I’d do the same as well. Point taken.
Really? In 2026 you don’t know how doxxing works? Not aware of the endless stories of an employer firing someone for making posts on a public website?
No thanks I’ll err on the side of caution.
Hi “Dilbert” –
If you were Nick Fuentes or someone with a high profile and you were posting outrageous things, then what you say would make sense. I’ve taken issue with some of your comments here, but none that I am aware of are the sort of thing that would get you in trouble. “Doxxing” over them? That’s a bit much! I assume I have a more public profile than you do – yet I haven’t been “doxxed” and if anyone wants to, have at it. I will be ready with my firehose and Dobermans.
It’s not that I disagree with you completely. I’m not famous. But I do have a job to lose. I do have friends and family that wouldn’t approve of what some of the crazies here have to say. I’d rather keep separation between this comments section and any way to have it attached to my name or IP address.
You can’t really be doxxed as we all know who you are and you are self employed. Your name is your brand. But then you act surprised that you can’t build your brand because the algos are shadow banning you – essentially due to your digital profile. A bit of a catch 22 no?
Let’s flip this around. What is the benefit to me of keeping a single user name? I’ll answer that. None. Better safe than sorry. The reality is no matter who you are, a digital profile is being built about you.
Why do you suppose all these data centers are being built?
Go ask Chat GPT about Yukon Jack and see how flattering that profile is. I’d rather not have the same profile built for me for friends, family, or an employer to possibly find. I really should be using Tor but it’s not quite worth the trouble. . .yet.
As a member of a certain age bracket, your comment deserves the following reply:
OK, Boomer.
Most of we “Boomers” not only can still kick your ass, we’re also good shots.
Woe unto they that presume to fuck with me.
Yet too chickenshit to stick with one name, Dilbert
Oh the irony of a tough guy like you hiding behind your own BS username
Can’t make this shit up.
The most important reason car manufacturers moved from mechanical to electronically switched transmissions was to integrate advanced driver assistance and safety systems, enabling features like automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control
Automatic emergency braking: The transmission must downshift quickly to increase engine braking force to help stop the vehicle nodsauto.com.
Adaptive cruise control: Requires seamless gear changes to maintain set speed without driver input nodsauto.com.
Improved fuel efficiency: Electronic systems can optimize shift timing and ratios for lower parasitic losses and better economy n
Harkens back to 1991, Lauda Air 767 uncommanded thrust reverser deployed on one engine resulting total loss crash, no survivors.
A key takeaway comment: “had that Boeing 767 been of an earlier version of the type, fitted with engines that were controlled mechanically rather than electronically, then that accident could not have happened”
Wikipedia has a write up, look for Lauda Air Flight 004
Well, the old “software update” trick! Hope this is actually the problem, and not a bad ground, connector failing, sensor glitch, etc. Good luck Ford!
I’m always amazed the transmissions survived the “put it in Park” morons, yes including my female family members.
“Neutral, set the parking BRAKE, when it’s stable THEN put it in PARK”. “Got it”. Nope. Downhill slope, foot on the brake, slam it into park then hit the parking brake just after the entire weight of the car has rocked into the parking pawl in the tranny.
“Car was sure hard to get from Park to Reverse today!” “Did you follow my instructions especially when parking on a slope?” “Whuuut?” Poor old 71 Nova, That automatic Turbo 350 was a tough unit!
And they wonder why we die 7-8 years early.
Interesting. My method is press and hold the brake pedal, put the gear selector into park, apply the parking brake, and THEN let off the brake pedal. So far, so good.
It’s amazing what an “old school” Torqueflite or Turbo-Hydramatic could endure.
Hi Self,
Yup. Also the modern (OD) iterations, before the over-the-top electronic controls. Overdrive and lock-up converters are fine things. These came online in the late 1980s. I’d like someone – anyone? Bueller? – to explain to me how a modern eight-ten speed automatic is functionally superior (from the standpoint of the vehicle’s owner) to a four or five speed OD automatic without all the electronic stuff.
Having both in the family here’s the deal. Our 8 speed automatic V6 Grand Cherokee will easily out tow the 91 Silverado 4 speed automatic V8. The truck also has a 3.73 rear end which was done specifically for The Commander to tow her $@#&* horses around to horse shows.
The kids got a travel trailer 6 years ago, the truck would struggle pulling it up grades, same grade with the Jeep not a problem. Age isn’t an issue, when the truck was new the horse trailer pulling on long grades was 3rd gear pedal to the metal.
So those extra gears do come in handy for towing, but generally yeh, 4 or 5 speeds dandy for everyday travel.
In the early ’80s I was driving an old Buick LeSabre with a three-speed automatic. It had a console shifter which offered shifts between P N 1 2 3 R. I topped a hill, decided to coast down in Neutral (the thing sucked fuel), hit a bump, and accidentally slammed it into Park. Everything shut down instantly, including the engine.
After coasting to a halt, I restarted and drove off with everything working perfectly. No harm, no foul. I still don’t really understand what happened or how that all worked out with no damage.
I do appreciate mechanical things way more now-a-days due to the overall lousiness of electronics. Too bad it doesn’t really help stop mechanical things from being replaced by electronic things we didn’t need or ask for.
Unfortunately, history shows us it will likely be not possible to stop it. Remember decades back when things made of metal started to be replaced by cheap (and inferior) plastics that nobody asked for.
“ Remember decades back when things made of metal started to be replaced by cheap (and inferior) plastics that nobody asked for.”
You mean like back in the days of reel to reel tape? Before they were replaced by cassette decks? Before they were replaced by iPods? Maybe like before wall mounted land lines were replaced by smart phones.
Yeah I sure hate progress and having things become more portable. /s
Ask early Ford Taurus owners about the durability of plastic parts in their transmissions.
‘nine alleged injuries, with two of those being allegations of emotional injuries‘ — quoted by eric
If a Ford did that to me, definitely I would incur an emotional injury. It’s characterized in the DSM-5-TR [the shrink’s handbook], I believe, as ‘berserk with rage.’
A destroyed transmission would be merely the opening act of the passion play. Watch as Jim then methodically smashes every window and body panel with a 12-pound sledge, shoots out the tires with a 9 mm pistol, then squirts lighter fluid onto the seats, torches the sucker, and dances around the burning wreck clapping his flippers and going ‘ORK-ORK-ORK!!’
A ‘software update’ is not going to ameliorate my condition. It will require years of therapy, physical comforting sessions with flocks of nubile concubines, and millions of dollars of restitution. Am I getting through to you, Jim Farley??
And besides that, your doggie can be re-classified from “pet” to “emotional support animal” and you will be able to take him on the airplane with you, rather than having to ship him as air cargo from the air cargo terminal.
You will, of course, have to buy a seat for him, but hat is much cheaper than air freight.
Benefitz. What a concept.
You’ve only made it clear how mentally unstable you are.
Perfectly reasonable reaction, Jim. Hopefully someone will be taking video if this should occur.
Since newer vehicles seem to slam on the brakes when you open the drivers door I suspect that going into park is connected with this issue.
Thanks GovCo.
Luckily my cars have cables or rods.
Cars didnt behave like nine year old ass kissers before 2012.
Now if you dont like it, “I will tell”.
True.
Landru, I have tried this on my newer, 2021 vehicle. I was in a parking lot, and decided to try it. I backed up into a parking space, tailgate in first. Rather than use the back-up camera, I opened up the driver’s side door, and looked behind me as I was backing up. No nanny shilling at me, no shutting off of the engine because the door was open. Now if only the stupid seat belt alarm would shut up simply because I want to drive on a back road in BFE without such a “saaafety” feature.
For the buzzer; just get one of those seat belt extensions and stick it in and your car will think you are buckled up.
The truck I was backing up was a buddy’s ’24 or ’25 Ram, apparently if you shift it into park then reverse again with the door open you can back up again.
Hmm, I wonder if Amazon sells them? Good or bad, it is the one place to buy stuff (way too much) that I cannot find in these parts…
seat belt buzzer- if I put a bag of groceries on the front passenger seat the buzzer goes off
2019 Dacia Sandero 3 banger-will cruise at 75, doesn’t like 80 for long
Hi Robert,
Yup. I have to deal with the passenger seat buzzer going off in press cars all the time – not because there’s a passenger sitting there unbuckled but because a bag of groceries is.
Hey Eric, since your groceries are in “need” of a seat belt, does that mean you qualify to ride in the HOV lane, or would a set of grocery bags in the back be appropriate? After all, if there is a system, someone will find a way around them.
“The transmission shifted itself into PARK”….hence the problem. Not only, on the classic C4/C6 Fords, as well as Mopar Torqueflites and GM Turbo-Hydros, did the driver have to perform that jack-assed stunt manually, it took EFFORT. Under ordinary circumstances, it was virtually impossible to do.
FWIW, my 2020 (con)Fusion can potentially do that, and where it’s frustrating is going through a “Quick Quack” car wash. Never mind that the idiot kids running those washes tend to space the cars too closely, and they get all “pissy” when you insist on some spacing with the car ahead of you; if you’re not careful with that “dial-shift”, to hit the “L” in the middle so it won’t try to “park”, it can, and that at minimum disrupts the ride through the wash. It can potentially cause the vehicle behind you to run into you through no fault of their own!
The driver could of course do that – if he wanted to destroy the transmission…
One of the work vehicles I was assigned was previously driven by someone who did just that, several times. Apparently he couldn’t get the rhythm of “pull in, stop, park” and managed to break a few teeth off the flywheel by jamming it into park whilst it was still in motion. Every so often I’d pull in on an incline, put it in park and the truck would drift backwards. Or the gaps in the hillbilly flywheel would line up with the starter and it would just spin until we could push it around a little. When I took it to the shop, fleet said it was a “won’t fix” item.
The best Ford transmissions have not been Fords at all, the Mazda M50D and the Getrag MTX-75.
And it takes three pedals to operate them.
Ford has a long history of automatic transmission issues…
Truth. GM and Chrysler did automatic transmissions better. So much better, that Rolls Royce used a Turbo Hydramatix 400.
Last year the cable on my ’06 F150 crapped out. (You haven’t lived until you’re laying on your back putting the trans in gear in a truck stop parking lot in Ripley, WV.) We continued on our trip and got a local shop to make the repair.
Now, with all the electronics, I await the headline:
“SELF-DRIVING CAR COMMITS SUICIDE”
“Two injured, One Wept”