2018 Ford Expedition Power Train
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the gear shifter was shifted into drive; however, the vehicle failed to respond as intended. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle jerked, and the transmission shifted hard. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure occurred while driving on a busy highway. The contact and five minor children were inside the vehicle during the failure. The contact feared for her and her families safety. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with CDF drum failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be rebuilt or replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
I cash purchased a 2018 Ford Expedition on [XXX] - I have a 90 day warranty and purchased an extended 2 year warranty. I've taken the vehicle back twice to Auto Nation in Denver Co for transmission issues. The transmissions slips and makes a horrible nose when it shift. I can't drive it due to it being unsafe to drive. I do not feel safe driving the vehicle. Auto Nation continues to declining to repair the vehicle. I've owned the vehicle for 2months and maybe drove it for only 100 miles due to the unsafety. Ford has know issues with these 10speed transmissions. I was never informed by the dealer of these know issues therefore was sold a lemon. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The transmission suddenly and violently knocked from drive into neutral while driving. I had the vehicle towed home, and have been driving it until the suspect part finally breaks for good.
Transmission issue: Vehicle will sometimes not go into gear. When I pull out into traffic sometimes vehicle will not go into gear. Mostly occurs with 2nd and 4th gear but has happened with other gears as well. Also when shifting g into gear sometimes it takes a while and sometimes he vehicle jerks during shifting.
I bought the vehicle used with 108,xxx miles on it in May of 2024. In July I had in the repair shop for one issue and noticed there was an issue with the Auto Start/Stop. When the Auto Start/Stop is engaged and the brake is depressed it jams into first gear like a standard vehicle when the clutch is released to early. Transmission fluid was checked to be low so it was refilled. I was told to change my driving habits, which is what I did. I no longer use it because it still has the issue. Move forward to December 2024. I was driving and realized it was skipping 2nd, 4th, and sometimes 6th gears. Upon further research I found that it was normal to happen. When I was driving it home on February 20 I lost 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear. I was close enough home where I was able to get home. When I got home I restarted and still had no lower gears. I let it sit for a couple of hours and drove it again and I had the normal gear shift. I called the dealership and had an appointment scheduled. I was told from that appointment a brand new transmission was needed or a transmission overhaul was needed to fix the issue. I was told to contact Ford Customer Support to find out if there were any options about the warranties that may be out there or recalls about the 10-speed transmission. When I called Ford about the possibility of my 10-speed transmission being under the recall for the transmission I was told that because the VIN did not need to recalled. Upon further research I have found multiple people with this issue in this vehicle. Ford would not cover anything as the vehicle is out of warranty and over 100,000 miles. I was told to file a claim with NHTSA because of the risk it may cause others, but at this time there was nothing more that could be done.
The 10R80 transmission does not work. This is a know problem with Ford, would be nice for them to actually take action and fix the problem they know they have. They have replacement part that fixes the problem, would be nice for them to stand behind their car.
The contact owns 2018 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving uphill at 35 MPH, the transmission struggled to shift into gear, and upon depressing the accelerator pedal the RPM became elevated, until the transmission shifted into gear allowing to vehicle to continue driving. The contact stated that the message "See Owner’s Manual" was displayed. The contact drove the vehicle to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the transmission control module had failed and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 122,000.
Transmission delays or goes into neutral when accelerating. I have had a couple close calls when making left hand turns across 2 way roads. Another close call during a merge where the vehicle seemed like it just decided not to go. I research the issue and found TSB23-2250. This should be a safety recall and not just a service bulletin. Ford knows they installed faulty products on the roads and could leave to very serious accidents. This TSB is not a wear and tear item, this is due to faulty programming and parts. GM uses the same transmissions on their products with out nearly as many issues as ford.
My wife was driving home from a sports class with my kids in the car. She went to make a left turn against oncoming traffic and the car completely lost power. Pressing the gas did not give any power to the car and the car felt like it was in neutral. if the car did not have enough power at the time of the turn to make it through the oncoming lane, it would have been hit by the oncoming car endangering the lives of the occupants of both vehicles. Our vehicle continued to exhibit the same behavior and I drove it to the dealer. While on the way to the dealer it had 2 powertrain failures before I got it there (30 miles away). The dealership ran diagnostics and said it would be best to get a new tranny as opposed to overhaul since the vehicle only has 90,000 miles and is less than 7 years old. We ended up getting it towed to a local transmission shop who confirmed the diagnostic. They said the seal on the CDF drum plate failed and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. The tranny was rebuilt with all new parts, half a dozen of them upgraded parts from Ford. Upon researching the symptoms, I found this vehicle exhibited a neutral out condition and Ford wrote a technical service bulletin because this issue is so common. I'm frustrated because my family could have been seriously injured or killed because of a known issue that Ford knows about yet chooses to not fix even though this issue puts passengers in life threatening situations. I would not have known about this issue prior to my car exhibiting the neutral out behavior. My local transmission shop has all the parts that were taken out of the transmission and they are available for inspection.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted without warning. The transmission also shifted hard, and the vehicle jerked while driving at various speeds. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle with transmission failure. The transmission was rebuilt. The following day while driving approximately 65 MPH, the transmission shifted hard, and the contact became aware that transmission fluid was leaking from the vehicle after exiting and inspecting the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle with transmission failure and replaced the transmission. The contact stated that the transmission still shifted hard while driving and the message that the engine was overheating was displayed. The vehicle was returned to the dealer who had rebuilt the new transmission. After having the third repair, the failure recurred. The vehicle was returned to the dealer but was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
The car will drop into neutral while on the highway. This happens mostly when trying to accelerate to merge into traffic, down shifting to pass someone etc. Once the car goes into neutral you lose all power. This presents a safety risk as you can be trying to pass someone or merge into traffic and your vehicle stops accelerating. This happened to me when trying to merge onto a busy freeway. I had to pull to the side to avoid getting into an accident. Then once on the side of the road i had to get the car back into gear and then work to merge from a dead stop. Apparently this is a known issue called a neutral out. Once this happened to me the transmission had to be rebuilt.
On [XXX] my wife was driving with my three children from Virginia to Michigan after my step-fathers sudden passing. While driving on the interstate in Ohio, the vehicle began shifting abruptly and violently. The wrench light also came on the dash along with a message recorded in the Ford App stating "Powertrain Malfunction." My wife pulled into a rest stop and called me hysterical, stating that the vehicle was jerking so bad upon acceleration that she was afraid to cause an accident. Since we purchased an extended warranty (third-party CarMax), we found a nearby auto shop in network and I drove down from Michigan to meet my wife and get the vehicle to the shop (Tuffy). After inspection, Tuffy stated that the entire transmission would need to be replaced, but that they were on back-order through the local Ford Dealership and could take up to 12 weeks. I also contacted Ford to see if there was any remaining manufacture warranty, but was told the the 3 year/ 36k mile warranty was expired. So I continued and had the vehicle repaired through Tuffy. After several weeks, the transmission was replaced, I flew up to Ohio and drove the vehicle back to Virginia. However, a couple of months later, I discovered that the vehicle, in fact, had a 7 year/ 100k extended powertrain warranty that Ford omitted when I originally contacted them. Ford was reluctant, but ultimately reimbursed me for the out-of-pocket expenses for the repair due to their mistake many months later. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
When oil in the transmission is still cold, even when engine has wormed up to operation temperature, the transmission is shifting hard, specifically it shifts the hardest from 4th gear into 5th. For a moment car has no acceleration, and then it slams into a 5th gear. I also noticed that the transmission shifts from 4th into 1st, then into 5th. It lasts about 30 seconds. It casing a safety issue when I merge onto a busy road, and try to get up to speed, car would not respond for those 30 seconds causing traffic to catch up and slam on their brakes to avoid rear ending my vehicle.
Transmission Issue: We have experienced clicking with our transmission for years and have expressed our concerns to our Ford service department. Their response has always been that it was normal. Now our vehicle has started to lose power when shifting between 2 and 4 gear. The vehicle will lose all power, for anywhere between 3 and 7 seconds, and then violently shift into gear and launch forward. The RPM's will stay around 3-4 thousand for 2 to 3 seconds and then the transmission will operate normally. It is very infrequent, but it has happened on very dangerous roads such as [XXX] and [XXX] in California. It is very scary when it happens, and I fear that I will be rear ended because of it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact stated that the vehicle was shaking and jerking. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle misfired. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a failed transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact that the repair was not covered under any unknown recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 117,836.
The vehicle on multiple occasions has failed to shift up through the various 10 gears and in other occasions failed to properly accelerate as needed resulting in a muted and unsafe merge onto highway traffic. This has also led to the vehicle speed on highways to be limited to 40 MPH forcing us to pull over on a busy high speed highway and stop and restart the vehicle to have the transmission and power train respond properly. The 10 transmission appears to be the reason for the dangerous situation.
On July 6th, I was driving our vehicle with my wife and 3 children when it began jerking and shifting abruptly and the dash produced a wrench and check engine light. I reduced speed and exited the highway drove under 25 mph the remaining 10 minutes back to our home. The erratic jolting/ jerking of the vehicle could have caused a serious accident had we been in any traffic or higher rates of speed. Unfortunately, I reported a similar issue on August 19, 2023 (NHTSA ID Number 11539517). At that time, the vehicle was serviced at a local Ford Dealership and we were told that the auto shop that replaced the transmission did not clear out old computer codes which caused the jerking/ jolting shifting. Ford cleared the codes and stated that the vehicle was repaired. The vehicle operated safely again until this recent incident. The vehicle was towed and is currently at the Ford Dealership.
When we drive long distance or up in altitude a coolant temperature indicator comes up and says it is high, it hits about 132 degrees going up any sort of hill and then goes down after a few seconds, this doesn't seem to be normal. We took to a Ford dealership and tried to have them replicate the issue but they could not, we have replaced the coolant hose and it is still happening, there is no leak ANYWHERE. If Ford can't figure out this problem then who can? We have also had the transmission replaced around 120K miles which I feel is ridiculous, it was putting my family in danger when we were driving, we had NO CHOICE. My Ford app is also giving me a service engine soon warning, saying that my emissions and exhaust system are failing, why would all of this happen after shy of 6 years? This warning started happening 06/11/23. We feel like we received a lemon vehicle, we also cannot use the sunroof, my stepping boards do not want to work, my mirrors when locking and unlocking my vehicle just click I have to manually adjust them...I take very good care of my vehicle (regular oil changes/premium gas) and to receive ALL of these issues if highly disappointing....I can't trade it in with all the issues and I can't even get HALF of what we owe...
When driving, the transmission feels like it is slipping and doesn't transfer power to the wheels. The effect is that you have a loss of power, especially when accelerating to enter the highway or to pass someone. The power train on this vehicle has a 5 year warranty, and our vehicle is 6 years old. This vehicle has the 10 speed transmission (10R80) that shows many issues online both before and after this 5 year warranty period. This isn't just a warranty issue, as the loss of power when entering a highway or executing a pass is dangerous. I will indicate an issue date, but this has been a multiple recurring issue for many months.
When accelerating to pass on four lane highway at approximately 65 mph, transmission went into neutral as I pressed on the accelerator and had no power. This occurred twice where we almost got hit from behind. Almost got rear ended as the car would no go back into gear without shifting into neutral. There were no warnings or lamps. Took to dealer and they said it was normal but could rebuild it for 5,000 dollars. It’s not normal. My family’s life shouldn’t be in danger because of this defect. This happened dangerously twice at 62,000 miles and at 84,000 miles. Now transmissions is missing gears all the time at 95,000 miles. A transmission should not be sold that can’t last more than 64,000 miles and has these types of issues. There are hundreds of people online all reporting the same problems and lawsuits. Please recall these defective transmissions.
In looking up recalls for my vehicle I see several relating to transmission issues with the 2018 Ford Expedition. I contacted Ford they said there were not any recalls for my specific vehicle, however my transmission is experiencing problems I see in other recalls. Specifically when the car is put in park and it rolls forward or back depending on the angle. The other issue is the transmission did not engage when accelerating then it made a noise like something was loose in the transmission. I backed off the accelerator and the transmission engaged again. A warning light came on briefly when it made the noise then disappeared. Ford took down my information the case # is CAS47105525
Transmission will up shift when accelerating then all of a sudden go to first gear at highway speeds.
This car is a 2018 Ford Expedition with the 3.5L eco-boost and 10 speed transmission with 95,000mi. So it started as just some rough shifting from time to time but got worse after driving through some mountains, after about a week the transmission went from rough shifting to actually feeling like going into neutral and then jerk into gear. Our two week trip went from nothing to acting like it can't find the gear to go into. I've only noticed it going from second to third to fourth and I've taken it to two shops and they can't get it to act up but it still remains after fluid change and reprogram from the dealer.
I turned onto a road and when I pressed the gas to accelerate, the vehicle wouldn’t move. I put the vehicle in park, turned it off and back on and into drive and it let me accelerate. When I got to the red light, I stopped then went to accelerate when it turned green and the vehicle went in reverse and the engine light turned on. Both incidences could have resulted in an accident if there were other vehicles on the road at the time. The dial that changes gears and/or the transmission abruptly stopped working. I took it to the dealership and do not have the diagnostic results yet. They have confirmed issues with shifting gears so far.
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Quick Summary
The 2018 Ford Expedition has 96 Power Train complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.