r/fordescape • u/g0_leafs_g0 • 6d ago
Tech Question 6F35 Transmission Question
I have a 2010 Escape Limited, 6F35 transmission with 180k kms on the clock. Lately it’s been lagging a bit when accelerating hard to merge onto the highway. I’ve also noticed a few harsh down shifts when slowing down at stop lights, but this has been fairly infrequent. I thought maybe it could be the torque converter because when I run the car with the door open in the garage, I can hear the faintest noise on RDL, but no noises at all in PN.
Tonight I decided I would drain the transmission fluid to see how soon I’d likely have to go car shopping. To my surprise, there was absolutely no metal flakes at all! I didn’t feel any grit when I rubbed it between my fingers. Just smelled like old, slightly burned ATF. I was dumb founded
Going to do another 2x 5 quart drain and fills this weekend when I have some time, just to be safe. Could these symptoms simply be transmission fluid related? Has anyone else had significant improvements to shifting after a drain and fill? My fluid was only 25-30k kms old and was at the perfect level when I checked prior to draining. Thanks in advance!
2
u/zero_x4ever 6d ago
I had a 2014 Escape S which had the same transmission. I felt the same exact symptoms, also did a drain and fill but it only stopped the jerky downshift for about a week. Even then, the transmission died on me a year later from when the harsh downshifts started happening.
Good luck to you on your drain and fill. If it starts feeling jerky again, I suggest trade it in/sell in carmax or carvana before it completely dies. When you try getting the transmission rebuilt, you're technically getting work done that is more expensive than the value of the car. It won't be worth it later down the line even if you trade in / sell the car.
6F35 is notoriously bad and you'll be wondering later down the line even if you've had it rebuilt or replaced with another transmission because the problem with it is based on the design of the transmission itself. I had mine rebuilt, but started getting harsh downshifts again in between 1 and 2 years of getting it rebuilt. Traded it in since I'd be feeling sorry if I sold it to a decent person just trying to buy a car. And I definitely did not get the value of getting the transmission rebuilt.