My car suddenly started doing some sporadic irregular shifts?

ISLAM AYMAN EMAM

MEMBER
2019 FORD ECOSPORT
1.0L
3 CYL
TURBO
2WD
AUTOMATIC
31,000 MILES

My car suddenly started doing some sporadic irregular shifts. All of a sudden you feel the car took a shift so hard without even loading the car or accelerating too fast, you feel a small bang. Then all of a sudden it starts shifting up and down for a while before kicking the gear. Our local authorized vendor tested the fluid, computer and everything but claims nothing from their side. Kind of confusing and could not do much feeling helpless like that

7 Replies

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,513 POSTS

So, what happens is the turbine speed sensor can be off a little and it won't trigger the check engine light or leave a code, it just keeps the computer guessing which causes the shifting problems. Here is the location of the sensor so you can check it out and replace it. Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know what happens.

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Thursday, August 11th, 2022 AT 5:26 PM

ISLAM AYMAN EMAM

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Hello Ken, I will look into that with a dealer I think I can trust. Also, when you say off, do you mean that it is not adjusted to its proper position? Is there any risk of me doing that personally?

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Friday, August 12th, 2022 AT 9:56 AM

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
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Yes, the value of the sensor can change but not enough to trigger a trouble code, but it will affect the transmission. I am wondering if there is a code though, we should do a CAN scan which is easy. you can get a CAN scanner from Amazon for about $30.00.

Here is a video to show you how:

https://youtu.be/u-4syLc-ifQ

Here is a scanner link:

https://amzn.to/3o41KcZ

Let me know.

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Friday, August 12th, 2022 AT 11:51 AM

ISLAM AYMAN EMAM

MEMBER
6 POSTS

Hello,

Helpful instructions. Sorry for replying late as my journey took some time to conclude. I tested the car with a FORD genuine OBD scanner (official licensed from Ford), and we tested the car extensively on the road, the problem lied within the PCM module, with the same analogy you mentioned of not getting an error and here is how:

- Irregular shift from 4th gear to 6th gear, and then vice versa but under no specific conditions (now sport mode is impossible).
- Reading of IN_GEAR showed false at the moment of this problem meaning it cannot see the 5th gear hence going straight to 6th.
- According to manual Battery check was done and was okay.
- According to manual Electrical Erasable Programming Read Only Memory flashing (EEPROM) which is basically resetting the PCM module.
- Retested the car, the problem became more frequent.
- According to the manual, this means replacement of the PCM module as a whole.
At this point I am trusting of my vendor but still exploring the options of getting the PCM module properly and cost effectively, knowing that it could surpass the 1000$ mark from the main Franchisee in Egypt.
If I can get any details, I will post it here.

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Monday, September 5th, 2022 AT 1:13 AM

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,513 POSTS

Here is how you can change the PCM out and find one by searching Google or Ebay. Check out the images below to see how. Thanks for getting back to me, let me know what happens.

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