Transmission Leaks & Vibration Under Acceleration

[0x1F41D]

Hey all! Mostly posting here to try and get a sense of the problems other people have seen.

For background, my fiancee and I pre-ordered a 2022 Hybrid Lariat Lux in July '21 and picked it up March '22. So far, we've put 64,100 miles on her. Compared to what little I've seen other people talk about, it definitely feels like we've put more miles than average on her. I was driving for work for a good six months (had the rare case where I would have to travel to a satellite facility that was 100 miles round trip), and have made repeated trips to Atlanta (just under 300 miles round trip) and my parents' (~600 miles round trip). Not to mention the odd road trip to other major metro areas a few hours out.

In December '23, I had a hard acceleration to merge into traffic. When I let up off the accelerator, she revved real high, the check engine light turned on, and I got a warning on the dash to stop when safe. We pulled into a parking lot when we could (~¼mi. down the road), turned her off, popped the hood, and got out to check. There was definitely a warm smell, but we couldn't see anything visually wrong with her and couldn't get anything on our OBDII scanner. Took her another mile down the road to an auto parts store. They tried on both our scanner and their store scanner and couldn't get any codes, either. The check engine light persisted that evening, but was cleared by the next morning. We noticed that our average mileage dropped a good bit, a few miles per gallon, over the next few weeks. I took her to the dealership that we got her from, and they were able to find a transmission error code through I believe the FordPass stuff. They were supposed to order parts for both the repair and the battery recall. Months later, parts still weren't in, so I took her to another dealership. They were able to find the transmission leak and get the parts for both service and recalls within a few weeks. We were closing in on 60,000 miles (when the powertrain warranty would expire), so we opted to leave her for two weeks for them to perform repairs and all available recalls. After they fixed the transmission leak, mileage was back up where it should be.

Fast forward a couple months and about 5,000 miles later, and she develops a shake when accelerating. It's mostly over 40% power at highway speeds (mid 50's to high 60's), but I've had it as low as 30% power in the high 30's. I also had a nasty shake once when accelerating from a stop headed up a steep incline. I took her back to the dealership and asked them to do a balance & rotation (it needed done anyways, I missed it on my previous oil change) and diagnose the shake. They performed the balance and rotation, but their guy (I forget the specifics - hybrid? powertrain?) was out. I needed it back for the weekend, so we took it back for a week. I returned her to them yesterday, and called to check in today.

As of this morning, they had not gotten to fully diagnosing, but their main diagnosing mechanic (who doesn't perform repairs, just diagnoses and recommends repairs) and their suspension specialist both replicated the issue and both agreed that it was not balance/rotation and was definitely suspension. They were going to get to her today and get back with me. I called back this evening and they want to replace "the axles". I assume they mean the CV axles (from multiple people researching), but you know what they say about assuming. They also checked the torque on the suspension (it came back good), and found another transmission leak. And this is where everything starts to fall apart. It's going to be $1,150 to get her back. I don't know what work they've performed but considering the axles haven't been replaced, I entirely don't know what they've done that would add up to over $1,000. $150-300? Sure. Not $1,000. Beyond that, they claim the transmission leak is "in a different location" than the first one, so it's no longer covered under the powertrain warranty now that we're over 60,000 miles. They need to crack open the transmission to fully diagnose the leak, which is 12 hours of work. If the leak is in the seals, it's $2,100 in labor alone since the powertrain warranty is out and the seals are warrantied to 3yr/36,000mi. If the leak is in the pump, it's covered 100% under the 100,000mi. transmission warranty.

I'm kind of stuck in a hard place because I barely have the $1,150 to get her back, much less the roughly $3,500 total if it's the transmission seals. Right now my main sticking point is why wasn't this leak caught ahead of time? Why was the axle not caught during the transmission service as part of the drivetrain? How did they not spot it or any warning signs when they cracked the transmission open last time? They're trying to say it's not covered because it's a new leak in a new location, but we're not convinced they can fully prove that without having cracked it open.

My fiancee and both of our parents have been doing some research and it seems like the CV axles going out seems to be a fairly common issues with the Maverick (with both my father, and my mother-in-law finding posts from this forum!). How screwed am I on that front? It seems suspiciously soon after the powertrain warranty expires for this to happen.

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[skyhawk]

If it were my truck, I would swap the CV axles myself - starting with only the driver side and see if that fixed the shaking, and only do the passenger side if it still persists... then sell that truck asap. Unless the trans is leaking big time, no way I am cracking it open to go on a fishing expedition unless it is actually causing a problem.

Without a warranty, you are in no man's land with a vehicle that has TWO power systems - the Hybrid and the ICE. And you are on the hook for the bills that are surely coming to keep them both running.

And as you have found, not many mechanics around to work on the Hybrid specific stuff - so they can name their price. There probably aren't many people familiar with troubleshooting on the Atkinson cycle ICE engine either.

And forget finding anyone outside a few people spread around the dealers, who know how these two systems are supposed to work in conjunction with each other and the special transmission that mates them.

Get out of it. Never buy one of these without an extended warranty. Never keep one past the mfg warranty. They are just too new and experimental, and that is not just the Hybrid Mav but all Hybrids. Maybe the Prius is the exception but that is a big maybe.

 

[Montana]

So just to confirm I read the timeline right, you started the claim while it was under warranty, right? Or was the first dealership you took it to that failed to receive parts still after the warranty was up?

And now the CV issue is another issue that is happening after the warranty has ran out?

Either way, sounds like a good case for a reason to buy the extended warranty from someone that isn't scalping them, like Granger. Labor alone already puts you over the cost of one for 8 years and 125k. Granted, yours will be more because you waited and now they'll need to inspect, but it's either that or pay the labor, DIY the work, or get rid of it.

FWIW and IMHO, this coming from someone who uses to speak out against extended warranties, I'd never buy a new vehicle without one again. Cheap insurance if you plan on racking up the years and/or miles. Again, I used to think otherwise until I spent thousands chasing timing and top end issues only to have a piston ring fail the next 15k after fixing those other issues and finding out a reman is cheaper than a rebuild and having the reman shown signs of the same top end issues 30k later etc etc... just too many issues that don't justify the cost of skipping a warranty now days especially on a new vehicle.

 

[burger_time]

Isn't the ecvt covered under the hybrid warranty to 8/100k?

 

[skyhawk]

Isn't the ecvt covered under the hybrid warranty to 8/100k?

You may be right, acording to this: https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/conten...id-Warranty-version-2_frdwa_EN-US_12_2020.pdf

Depending on your vehicle, electrical drivetrain system components covered by this warranty may include, and are not limited to: high-voltage battery, high-voltage battery connector, battery energy control module (BECM), on-board charger, inverter system controller (ISC), DC/DC converter, hybrid continuously variable transmission or electric driveline motor and transmission range sensor.

 

[Montana]

Isn't the ecvt covered under the hybrid warranty to 8/100k?

Yea that's what the post says that IF it's the tranny then it's covered, but if it's the CV's or something else, they are screwed.

 

[0x1F41D]

If it were my truck, I would swap the CV axles myself - starting with only the driver side and see if that fixed the shaking, and only do the passenger side if it still persists...

We've started looking into what that would take and if it's possible. We're both tech people more than car people, though we both want to be able to be handy enough to do our own maintenance and some more basic repairs on the truck.

then sell that truck asap.

We have no interest in selling the vehicle. Until now it's been wonderful and my issues are more with the dealership than the truck itself. On top of that, it's our only vehicle and we don't have the time nor money to get a new one.

So just to confirm I read the timeline right, you started the claim while it was under warranty, right? Or was the first dealership you took it to that failed to receive parts still after the warranty was up?

And now the CV issue is another issue that is happening after the warranty has ran out?

Correct. Up until the diagnostics last week, all repair work was performed under warranty.

Either way, sounds like a good case for a reason to buy the extended warranty from someone that isn't scalping them, like Granger. Labor alone already puts you over the cost of one for 8 years and 125k. Granted, yours will be more because you waited and now they'll need to inspect, but it's either that or pay the labor, DIY the work, or get rid of it.

FWIW and IMHO, this coming from someone who uses to speak out against extended warranties, I'd never buy a new vehicle without one again. Cheap insurance if you plan on racking up the years and/or miles. Again, I used to think otherwise until I spent thousands chasing timing and top end issues only to have a piston ring fail the next 15k after fixing those other issues and finding out a reman is cheaper than a rebuild and having the reman shown signs of the same top end issues 30k later etc etc... just too many issues that don't justify the cost of skipping a warranty now days especially on a new vehicle.

Live and learn, I guess. I'd received some mail (both email and snail mail) from the dealership about an extended warranty, but I don't think the person named in the letters actually works for the dealership.

Isn't the ecvt covered under the hybrid warranty to 8/100k?

According to the dealership.... The transmission is covered to 100,000 miles. However, the seals are only covered to 36,000.

Yea that's what the post says that IF it's the tranny then it's covered, but if it's the CV's or something else, they are screwed.

Unfortunately, these are two distinct issues. The CV axles need replaced and we have a transmission leak that the dealership is trying to get out of covering despite being so close to the under warranty leak repair and, y'know, not having been fully repaired.

 

[daddio211]

What ended up happening with this? Was it resolved by Ford?

 

[scotty]

So just to confirm I read the timeline right, you started the claim while it was under warranty, right? Or was the first dealership you took it to that failed to receive parts still after the warranty was up?

And now the CV issue is another issue that is happening after the warranty has ran out?

Either way, sounds like a good case for a reason to buy the extended warranty from someone that isn't scalping them, like Granger. Labor alone already puts you over the cost of one for 8 years and 125k. Granted, yours will be more because you waited and now they'll need to inspect, but it's either that or pay the labor, DIY the work, or get rid of it.

FWIW and IMHO, this coming from someone who uses to speak out against extended warranties, I'd never buy a new vehicle without one again. Cheap insurance if you plan on racking up the years and/or miles. Again, I used to think otherwise until I spent thousands chasing timing and top end issues only to have a piston ring fail the next 15k after fixing those other issues and finding out a reman is cheaper than a rebuild and having the reman shown signs of the same top end issues 30k later etc etc... just too many issues that don't justify the cost of skipping a warranty now days especially on a new vehicle.

thank you for your response.
What warranty company. What is a ford warranty? did you purchase from?
How much was it?
Is the product you bought going to covering everything in the tranny, seals, a/c (all parts of ac).
all those electronic modules.

I'm leery about those warranties but would like one, as long as the appraiser at service dept. ,may look at an eventful, and then say something like "yes we did say tranny or power steering but that doesn't mean all the attached parts that interact with that one part in question." How would that make the person who bought the warranty feel?

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