Modifications and Transmission Failure out of no where

[TomD]

I wil start with whats done to my Maverick (22 Hybrid 41k miles). Sept. 2023 I installed Silvers Coilovers with Swift springs onto My Hybrid Maverick. Drove the vehicle to Tail of the dragon and all was fine drove back home to Maryland with no issues. Shortly after added 2" spacers. I also have 17" Volvo S40 oem wheels with factor tire sizes. I recently had a 30k Service and alignment (I wanted because my steering wheel was a little off center and tracking right) at my original Ford Dealership with nothing noted from that courtesy inspection and service.

Fast forward to 2 months back, one day I'm pulling out of my house and drive about 60 secs to dunkin donuts and turn into the parking lot when the horn came on and wouldn't turn off. This would be the last time my truck would drive/move. I tried to disable the horn and continue to drive but after pulling the fuse and trying to drive I had shift errors or something. I put the fuse back and then disconnected the horns. Horn was off but now the truck had a body code and shift faults.

Towed it to the dealership and told them the same things. At the time there was 3 Open Recalls one of which I had been waiting for parts for for over a month.

• 23S27 UNDER HOOD FIRE
• 24S27 BODY CONTROL MODULE BCM SOFTWARE UPDATE
• 24S33 POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE PCM SOFTWARE UPDATE

They had the vehicle for about 2 weeks and couldnt find anything initially, then once the tech got free again they called me and asked for consent to do a $1200 tear down. Here began the warranty vs modifications battle. I agreed, they tore the truck apart and eventually told me that the failure was due to my modifications.

Their findings below:
Verified concern, vehicle stuck in park. Recall present stuck in park concerns, vehicle heavily modified including but not limited to lowering adjustable strut and spring assemblies found unfastened and play present in strut, visually cambered from looseness, 4-inch wheel hub spacers, and offset aftermarket Volvo wheels, informed customer will attempt recall and perform testing and tear down authorized due to modifications to determine cause of failure. performed recall, stuck in park still present self-test P07E6, P0974 present, inspection found CV axle grease slung and performed pinpoint testing F, F1 y F2Y F3Y F4 Y F5Y F6Y F7y installed known good, parking lock actuator. Stuck in park and codes still present after verifying proper function and integrity of all parking actuator functions, mechanical failure present internal to trans, tear down inspection performed, found wear on differential bearings, wear on transfer shaft gear assembly bearings, found grind marks on planetary carrier support cover from the ring gear. excessive play and wear found on sun gear on start/generator rotor, planetary gears, and ring gears. rotor, with excessive play in sun gear and planetary, contacting stator assembly, and mechanically binding. This wear, caused from increased loading and imbalance on the rotating assemblies onto the planetary gear reduction set resulting in starter motor/generator to mechanically and electrically short the rotor to the stator. Replace and retest (edited)

They asked for the loaner back and the next thing i've done was speak to the Parts/Service director. I had also spoke to the Service manager who was no help. The parts and service director offered to have a Field Engineer come out and inspect the parts and present his findings if they were from modifications or something else. Its been about a week now so im waiting to hear back when the Field Tech comes out.

I've seen so many issues with CV axles and Transmissions that I wanted to note this here as i'd be using others issues to make my case if I have to escalate this higher. I already called customer relations who told me they defer to the dealership. They ask if the part can be covered under warranty, and if there are modifications. Simply put. The tech I dont agree with his findings since he didnt measure any play from my wheel or axle from the beginning. He stated I had 4in wheels spacers which is wrong, and only focused on my modifications not how the part actually failed. So now here I am having to fight them on this issue.

Every CVT vehicle that I have owned has had the transmission replaced under warranty. The first escort I owned had the transmission replaced twice. I had a friend that worked in Ford Quality Control. He knew I had ordered an escort and warned me to buy the extended warranty.

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[FischAutoTechGarten]

How hard was your autocrossing with the truck?

 

[James K]

I wil start with whats done to my Maverick (22 Hybrid 41k miles). Sept. 2023 I installed Silvers Coilovers with Swift springs onto My Hybrid Maverick. Drove the vehicle to Tail of the dragon and all was fine drove back home to Maryland with no issues. Shortly after added 2" spacers. I also have 17" Volvo S40 oem wheels with factor tire sizes. I recently had a 30k Service and alignment (I wanted because my steering wheel was a little off center and tracking right) at my original Ford Dealership with nothing noted from that courtesy inspection and service.

Fast forward to 2 months back, one day I'm pulling out of my house and drive about 60 secs to dunkin donuts and turn into the parking lot when the horn came on and wouldn't turn off. This would be the last time my truck would drive/move. I tried to disable the horn and continue to drive but after pulling the fuse and trying to drive I had shift errors or something. I put the fuse back and then disconnected the horns. Horn was off but now the truck had a body code and shift faults.

Towed it to the dealership and told them the same things. At the time there was 3 Open Recalls one of which I had been waiting for parts for for over a month.

• 23S27 UNDER HOOD FIRE
• 24S27 BODY CONTROL MODULE BCM SOFTWARE UPDATE
• 24S33 POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE PCM SOFTWARE UPDATE

They had the vehicle for about 2 weeks and couldnt find anything initially, then once the tech got free again they called me and asked for consent to do a $1200 tear down. Here began the warranty vs modifications battle. I agreed, they tore the truck apart and eventually told me that the failure was due to my modifications.

Their findings below:
Verified concern, vehicle stuck in park. Recall present stuck in park concerns, vehicle heavily modified including but not limited to lowering adjustable strut and spring assemblies found unfastened and play present in strut, visually cambered from looseness, 4-inch wheel hub spacers, and offset aftermarket Volvo wheels, informed customer will attempt recall and perform testing and tear down authorized due to modifications to determine cause of failure. performed recall, stuck in park still present self-test P07E6, P0974 present, inspection found CV axle grease slung and performed pinpoint testing F, F1 y F2Y F3Y F4 Y F5Y F6Y F7y installed known good, parking lock actuator. Stuck in park and codes still present after verifying proper function and integrity of all parking actuator functions, mechanical failure present internal to trans, tear down inspection performed, found wear on differential bearings, wear on transfer shaft gear assembly bearings, found grind marks on planetary carrier support cover from the ring gear. excessive play and wear found on sun gear on start/generator rotor, planetary gears, and ring gears. rotor, with excessive play in sun gear and planetary, contacting stator assembly, and mechanically binding. This wear, caused from increased loading and imbalance on the rotating assemblies onto the planetary gear reduction set resulting in starter motor/generator to mechanically and electrically short the rotor to the stator. Replace and retest (edited)

They asked for the loaner back and the next thing i've done was speak to the Parts/Service director. I had also spoke to the Service manager who was no help. The parts and service director offered to have a Field Engineer come out and inspect the parts and present his findings if they were from modifications or something else. Its been about a week now so im waiting to hear back when the Field Tech comes out.

I've seen so many issues with CV axles and Transmissions that I wanted to note this here as i'd be using others issues to make my case if I have to escalate this higher. I already called customer relations who told me they defer to the dealership. They ask if the part can be covered under warranty, and if there are modifications. Simply put. The tech I dont agree with his findings since he didnt measure any play from my wheel or axle from the beginning. He stated I had 4in wheels spacers which is wrong, and only focused on my modifications not how the part actually failed. So now here I am having to fight them on this issue.

I'm not an engineer or even a professional mechanic but nothing in the report sounds really far fetched. 40 plus years ago I was on a pit crew (well more like a hang around) for a SCCA team and we made suspension tweaks that led to transmission failure later. The reason I bring this up is sometimes changing loads and frictions can cause failures that may not seem related. Wait for the field engineers report and if you're not happy with that, get an independent review. I am concerned that the dealer review is negative because they get reimbursed from Ford and probably would be happy to get the business. If the field engineer agrees with the dealership an independent may still completely disagree or even say a design weakness was in part to blame. Either way, you may gain a bit of leverage. Good luck with getting your truck made whole.

 

[The Real Maverick]

Every CVT vehicle that I have owned has had the transmission replaced under warranty. The first escort I owned had the transmission replaced twice. I had a friend that worked in Ford Quality Control. He knew I had ordered an escort and warned me to buy the extended warranty.

except none of the Mavericks come
with a CVT so your past is moot

 

[Racerx410]

I'm not an engineer or even a professional mechanic but nothing in the report sounds really far fetched. 40 plus years ago I was on a pit crew (well more like a hang around) for a SCCA team and we made suspension tweaks that led to transmission failure later. The reason I bring this up is sometimes changing loads and frictions can cause failures that may not seem related. Wait for the field engineers report and if you're not happy with that, get an independent review. I am concerned that the dealer review is negative because they get reimbursed from Ford and probably would be happy to get the business. If the field engineer agrees with the dealership an independent may still completely disagree or even say a design weakness was in part to blame. Either way, you may gain a bit of leverage. Good luck with getting your truck made whole.

Thanks thats where im at with it, I understand that much of things as well and I do feel like they would want to take care of it under warranty if I had not had the mods on when I dropped it off. I wish I would've waited a few days but there was nothing that indicated my trans was done. The truck drove fine until it wouldnt shift out of park. But to your point of suspension changes, ive seen wheel bearings and axles pop out before making it to the transmission problems so it is a bit far fetched imo. I would've expected to see problems in my hub or axles 1st. They are closer to the wheel than the transmission.

 

[Racerx410]

How hard was your autocrossing with the truck?

5 laps at 57 seconds a piece and 2 events total so 10 laps. Top speed may have been in the 30's at best. I drive the truck harder on backroads lol.

 

[TedTX]

Yes, but they still lose in court with a lawyer that has his own experts.

Don't
get me wrong, I think owners have their right to modify things to their taste, this is America, freedom. But at the end of the day, ford and all the other mfg have themselves covered in the warranty, which basically says it stays factory. They have untold numbers of engineers, specialist, etc that they can send to court, siting design specs, tolerances etc along with untold lawyers to defend their stance. So it will end with which side has the dollars to pay the lawyers, courts for the longest period of time. It's all a risk we take when customizing.

 

[OleFordGuy]

Yes, but they still lose in court with a lawyer that has his own experts.

No doubt it's possible, but probably a real rarity. The $ involved throughout the whole process, appeals, court fees, lawyers expenses, expert expenses, etc will be much to high for the normal owner to withstand.

 

[Bwicka]

except none of the Mavericks come
with a CVT so your past is moot

Hybrid transmission in the maverick is a cvt .
Interesting choice vs. awd for autocross type use .
Have them prove the tolerance difference on the parts .
Guarantee the lower arm and deflection of said arm with real soft rear bushing caused undo trans output side loads from the axles if there was wear there!
If it was just sungear damage, without output / with case wear the internal clearances were wrong!
Honestly I would never trust a cat to last under high rpm abuse .all factory parts or not .
Never have trusted cvt’s, but apparently some are surviving up to 150k miles now !

 

[SFB]

Hybrid transmission in the maverick is a cvt .
Interesting choice vs. awd for autocross type use .
Have them prove the tolerance difference on the parts .
Guarantee the lower arm and deflection of said arm with real soft rear bushing caused undo trans output side loads from the axles if there was wear there!
If it was just sungear damage, without output / with case wear the internal clearances were wrong!
Honestly I would never trust a cat to last under high rpm abuse .all factory parts or not .
Never have trusted cvt’s, but apparently some are surviving up to 150k miles now !

It’s an eCVT, completely different from a CVT

 

[Sticks]

Hybrid transmission in the maverick is a cvt .

In name only-- It is called an eCVT. It does not function in any way like a traditional CVT.

This thing has a single planetary gearset that either sends power to the generator or to the wheels -- there are no belts or chains to break.

 

[TheSEARCH]

Interesting read. Lesson learned. Don't modify a vehicle that still has warranty left.Or at least don't expect any warranty repairs. If you like to modify don't buy a new vehicle by an old used vehicle and have at it.

 

[ABTremor]

It's unreasonable to expect the manufacturer to warranty the failure given that you've modified the suspension, thereby altering the stock steering, suspension and drivetrain geometry.

As for not having any issue on the wheel side of the assembly, any vibration or oscillation started and/or caused by the changes on that end will be exponentially amplified at the transmission side.

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