2013 Titanium - 2L EB Trans Under Load

[bluspikez]

I've been noticing some interesting behavior under certain conditions with the way the transmission will shift in my car and was wondering if anyone else has noticed the same.

 

The situation is always the same - to start the trans is in normal "D" mode, and you're cruising at, say, 35-50mph in 4,5,6 gear (normal suburban driving type situation). Then, you'll need to slow down, to say 15-20mph, for traffic backups or a corner or something. As you get back into the throttle (moderately, of course, if you hammer it it's less likely to happen) after clearing whatever it was, the trans will kick down to 2 or 3 as expected (but usually 3), but it almost acts like a CVT as you get up to speed, with short, sloppy shifts, keeping RPMs around 3000. This will happen for whichever in-between gears it decides on, until it finally drops into 5 or 6 when you're at 40-50mph again.

 

If you slow enough (to maybe 10mph or below), the trans will pick 2 and shifts will be normal. This strange CVT-like behavior only seems to happen when you're in that in-between speed range where (in my mind at least), it should really take 2, but ends up taking 3 and lugging things quite a bit.

 

I haven't tried this with the gear select in auto "S" mode, but instead I find myself driving in manual "S" mode using the paddles quite a bit to avoid this.

 

This is about the only situation I've found where the trans acts kinda funky for me - otherwise, it seems to do a pretty good job. I'm hesitant to reset anything to possibly get it to forget this weirdness, because it's finally learned how to shift crisply and I don't feel like waiting for it again.

[sarcastic6]

You know, I never really knew how to explain this, but mine does the same. There's one particular intersection where it happens every time -- it feels exactly like you described, like the car has a CVT or something -- the RPMs hold almost completely steady as you accelerate back up to speed!

[bluspikez]

Glad I'm not the only one sarcastic6!

 

Here's

to a quite crappy iPhone video I took on the way home today of this happening. This wasn't as bad as I've seen it sometimes as I came in a bit slow (just short of 30mph), but you can see that I'm in 3 going into the corner, it then kicks down into 2 and starts to do the weird CVT-like shifts into 3 and 4 (RPMs stay between 2500 and 3000), finally giving a normal shift into 5 as I lifted off the throttle.

[Bailey151]

Hard to say................I didn't hear any lugging & seeing the speedo it was moving along quite well. Given maximum torque is around 3,000 rpm the computer may just be making a judgement call. Could be the algorithm Ford programmed - unless you go past X point in throttle it will do it's best to stay in the range of peak torque for acceleration.......????

 

Speaking of torque..........I wish Ford had done something about the torque steer.

 

Thanks, I did get a chuckle from "auto" & "crisp"

[bluspikez]

Hard to say................I didn't hear any lugging & seeing the speedo it was moving along quite well. Given maximum torque is around 3,000 rpm the computer may just be making a judgement call. Could be the algorithm Ford programmed - unless you go past X point in throttle it will do it's best to stay in the range of peak torque for acceleration.......????

 

Speaking of torque..........I wish Ford had done something about the torque steer.

 

Thanks, I did get a chuckle from "auto" & "crisp"

 

Agreed - it doesn't seem like anything is wrong, persay, it's just different shift logic than what I would prefer.

 

I know our Fusions get torque vectoring (drags the inside brake to pull it back, for those who aren't aware) just like the Focus ST does, but this is really a cop-out in my opinion and not a true fix to the problem. It would be nice to have some sort of mechanical fix included, but so far the torque steer has been manageable for me so I don't have much to gripe about.

 

Of course crisp means one thing with a slushbox automatic, and that's completely different from crisp in other trannys...

[Bailey151]

Agreed - it doesn't seem like anything is wrong, persay, it's just different shift logic than what I would prefer.

 

I know our Fusions get torque vectoring (drags the inside brake to pull it back, for those who aren't aware) just like the Focus ST does, but this is really a cop-out in my opinion and not a true fix to the problem. It would be nice to have some sort of mechanical fix included, but so far the torque steer has been manageable for me so I don't have much to gripe about.

 

Of course crisp means one thing with a slushbox automatic, and that's completely different from crisp in other trannys...

Yeah, if only they'd let us customize such things - lol. My guess is it's just balancing fuel economy with performance..............someone made the decision & we gotta live with it.

Much like the torque steer, they made a call that helps a bit..............some of us would prefer better but it is what it is.

 

Given the overall performance/handling of the car we're all being kind of picky - lol.

[TurboTi]

I normally would go with a stick shift, but with this type of vehicle, an auto trans is the way to go, especially since it's the only way the "big" engine comes. I haven't noticed this particular cvt style phenomenom, and I actually think the trans works pretty good right out of the box. Sometimes in D mode, it is a little reluctant to downshift on hills, but that is for economy reasons. In S mode, it's much more likely to hold onto the gears longer.

So, BlueSpikz, I would try S mode, it should help you out. You don't have to use the paddles either.

[bluspikez]

I normally would go with a stick shift, but with this type of vehicle, an auto trans is the way to go, especially since it's the only way the "big" engine comes. I haven't noticed this particular cvt style phenomenom, and I actually think the trans works pretty good right out of the box. Sometimes in D mode, it is a little reluctant to downshift on hills, but that is for economy reasons. In S mode, it's much more likely to hold onto the gears longer.

So, BlueSpikz, I would try S mode, it should help you out. You don't have to use the paddles either.

 

Thanks for the suggestion TurboTi - I've since done the same route in "S" mode and it didn't make a difference. Seems to just be a decision that was made with fuel economy in mind. If I get frustrated enough I just use the paddles anyway, and I much prefer doing that over driving in full auto mode anyways.

[Camride]

I'm pretty sure it is from the torque converter locking up. The TC lockup will feel/sound just like a gear change but with a smaller drop in RPM. I've noticed the same thing in mine and I just mentally attributed it to that and never took much notice.

[bluspikez]

I'm pretty sure it is from the torque converter locking up. The TC lockup will feel/sound just like a gear change but with a smaller drop in RPM. I've noticed the same thing in mine and I just mentally attributed it to that and never took much notice.

 

I'm sure the torque converter is playing a part here, but I doubt it is the only player. It seems like shift logic combined with torque converter slip or lockup (depending on the timing) causes what I'm seeing. Doesn't really cause a problem, just makes me curious.