I was leaving a stop light this morning in heavy slow traffic and had my blinker on to change lanes. As I changed lanes, barely rolling, (I thought too slow for the 1-4 feature to engage) I attempted to shift into second. I was not able to enter second gear, could not feel the synchronizers engage, felt like the 1-4 feature activated. I thought I was moving too slow for 4th so I shifted up into 3rd to keep from rolling to a stop. I gained a little momentum and attempted to shift on up to 4th short of 2000 RPM and was locked out of 4th as well, felt exactly the same, like a physical barrier, no synchronizer engagement, no roughness, just a barrier where 4th should be, again I began to coast toward a stop (in heavy but slow bumper to bumper traffic) and had to shift back into 3rd, gave it a little more throttle, gained some momentum and was then able to shift up to 4th. This is my first issue with the transmission, otherwise it has been perfectly normal, (although, 2nd has been noisy since new).
As I drive pretty slow in traffic, the 1-4 pops up all the time and I’m used to seeing it on the display, usually pause and just shift on into second or shift up to third. In this instance I could not get into 2nd or 4th at all.
I read the sticky about the MT-82, but I don't think this issue is related to much of what I read there, re. grinding, notchiness, etc.
Has anyone else experienced anything similar to this?

 

Sounds more like you just missed the gate to 4th in the confusion.

Disconnect the skip shift solenoid at the top rear corner of the transmission and eliminate that issue for ever.

 

I don't think so, unless the gate is somehow translated left or right by the skip shift feature. The shifter is self centering and 4th is a straight pull from third, when I hit the obstruction, I let off and reapplied pressure at 4th before going back to 3rd. I would be skeptical of this account as well if I had not experienced it myself. I'd be really interested in hearing from someone familair with the mechanical system that actuates the skip shift.

 

Hello sc6507,

Welcome to the forum! My name is Deysha with Ford Service. I recommend you bring this up to your dealer’s attention and have them take a look. If you need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to PM me.

Deysha

 

Spoke to my dealership yesterday at length, they took the time to fully understand the issue as I related it to them and are researching the issue for me. Interestingly they didn't think the 1-4 skip shift feature was anything more than a message and didn't block any gears, and I believed that anytime you get the message that 2nd is being blocked. Turns out that neither of us is correct. I changed my dash display to blank so I could easily see the 1-4 message and discovered that with my car (3.31 gears) and my driving style that I get the message on nearly every 1-2 shift following a complete stop once the engine is warm, but it usually allows me to shift into second, although with varying degrees of additional resistance. I was totally unaware that I was triggering the feature this often. I found that it more commonly only seems to block 2nd when I stay in first up to the slightly higher speeds (around 20 mph), and even then it will usually allow 2nd if you pause for a moment. With this in mind I'm just going to wait and see if it acts up again. Shifting from 1-3 actually is a much smoother operation, due to increased effort going into 2nd when the message is being displayed so frequently.

 

This is the info I have always seen in numerous places....several stated it came from the Ford engineers.

Skip shift enablement criteria:

Warm engine (greater than 170 degrees F coolant)
Start from a dead stop (approx 1 to 2 secs to stabilize idle)
Vehicle speed between 15 and 19 mph
Throttle pedal less than 25% open (but not closed pedal)
Engine speed greater than 1200 rpm
1st gear validated

....and as I said before....I just unplugged it and no more issues. Been that way foe over 15,000 miles now. Not that I don't want to understand how it works.....just so many more important things in life.

 

in stop n go traffic, i just start in 2nd gear from a dead stop

 

not a good idea.

 

Why?

 

im sure the trans wasnt made to start out in 2nd

 

oh really? explain please. 2nd gear has enough torque to start for me.

 

but was it designed to operate in such a way?

 

well hopefully im not breaking the transmission or the laws of physics. so far i've been doing 2,4,6 or 1,3,5 shifts for fuel economy and to also baby the transmission because shifts feel smoother. i dont have to redline the **** thing during regular commutes.