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Clunky 10R80- do i just live with it?

Aonarch

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Reset and then turn off adaptation with foreskin.

I did and my 10R feels great.

Edit: I turned back on adaptation, still feels good. I don't think the transmission was designed with it turned off.
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Jerome10

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Back on topic.... I wanna say I've seen that leaving the adaptations OFF might not be advised. That the transmission expects those adaptations to ensure the various parts are getting enough pressure and activating at the correct times?
 
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freewayman

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Back on topic.... I wanna say I've seen that leaving the adaptations OFF might not be advised. That the transmission expects those adaptations to ensure the various parts are getting enough pressure and activating at the correct times?
Yeah don't disable it completely. Mine took thousands of miles to learn properly lol.
 

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NiftyF150

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I cleared my transmission adaptive tables with Forscan a couple of weeks ago when I calibrated my speedometer and the truck shifts like butter now. Definitely give that a shot.
 

bjl95mustang

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Maybe I missed it. Has anyone considered checking to see if there are any pcm/calibration updates?

My 24 was built in September of 24 and I just did an update in FDRS last week. My shifting was a little clunky before the update. After the update it smoothed out for me.
 

Jerome10

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I am no PCM or FDRS expert...

Does FDRS updating include PCM updates?

Do PCM OTA updates exist?
 

Oakstone

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I took my 22PB to the dealer last week to get them to check into "clunky/jerky transmission". I had the lead tech both ride with me and drive it. He said he agreed with what I felt and heard, but wasn't sure it was abnormal.

He did, however, then go get the transmission tech to ride with him. They took the truck out for about 15 mins and when they came back he said the trans tech's comment was "that's normal driveline slack in these trucks".

But with what all of you are describing, and me just feeling "this doesn't feel good", combined with the fact that I currently have a rental (not sure the year, but new'ish) RAM 1500 that feels suuuper smooth on the transmission (not that I like the rest of the truck haha, but it's a pretty base model), it reinforces that "it's not the way it should be".

I have about 11K Miles (18K KM) on the truck.

I reset the transmission tables a few months ago and that didn't seem to help much. If I were to go back to the dealer, what's the best way for me to speak with them about things to get it perhaps looked into a bit deeper?

1. Check trans fluid levels
2. Something, something CDF drum? (I believe my truck was build between Aug-Oct 2022)
3. ??

Thanks so much!

I'm trying to learn quickly, but the transmission stuff is definitely way outside of my current knowledge.
 
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freewayman

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I took my 22PB to the dealer last week to get them to check into "clunky/jerky transmission". I had the lead tech both ride with me and drive it. He said he agreed with what I felt and heard, but wasn't sure it was abnormal.

He did, however, then go get the transmission tech to ride with him. They took the truck out for about 15 mins and when they came back he said the trans tech's comment was "that's normal driveline slack in these trucks".

But with what all of you are describing, and me just feeling "this doesn't feel good", combined with the fact that I currently have a rental (not sure the year, but new'ish) RAM 1500 that feels suuuper smooth on the transmission (not that I like the rest of the truck haha, but it's a pretty base model), it reinforces that "it's not the way it should be".

I have about 11K Miles (18K KM) on the truck.

I reset the transmission tables a few months ago and that didn't seem to help much. If I were to go back to the dealer, what's the best way for me to speak with them about things to get it perhaps looked into a bit deeper?

1. Check trans fluid levels
2. Something, something CDF drum? (I believe my truck was build between Aug-Oct 2022)
3. ??

Thanks so much!

I'm trying to learn quickly, but the transmission stuff is definitely way outside of my current knowledge.
So it's been about 4500 miles since they reset the adaptive tables. It's pretty smooth now on the downshifts.. but it took a very long time to learn. Occasionally I still do get a clunk if I have to brake to a stop awakrdly from a high gear/low rpm- it's really hard to explain when it does this but it's basically when you brake and the transmission wasn't "expecting" it if that makes sense. Its somewhat difficult to replicate, and I'm not too concerned because I can avoid this situation pretty easily..

I've accepted thats just how it is in normal mode.. Ford tuned it for maximum efficiency at the expense of smoothness. Therefore in normal mode it tries to constantly keep the highest gear possible short of lugging or stalling the engine, with the torque converter locked. When you abruptly step on the throttle, or abruptly brake from this "low rpm locked TC state" it has to downshift and unlock the TC very quickly, so it might not be always the smoothest. The fact these sort of clunks never happen in sport mode tells me it's just the programming. Furthermore GM half tons have the same trans hardware wise just different tuning, you see way less complaints about the shifting from GM guys, this is because GM version is just more proactive at downshifting and doesn't try to keep a high gear this agressively.. Trust me I've been trying to figure out WTF these clunks are for at least 20k miles, but it doesn't seem to be doing any damage and the behavior is consistent, no codes, I don't get slippage and all upshifts are smooth, and most importantly I can avoid it by changing my driving style or put it into sport mode, so Im just gonna leave it be.
 

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Oakstone

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So it's been about 4500 miles since they reset the adaptive tables. It's pretty smooth now on the downshifts.. but it took a very long time to learn. Occasionally I still do get a clunk if I have to brake to a stop awakrdly from a high gear/low rpm- it's really hard to explain when it does this but it's basically when you brake and the transmission wasn't "expecting" it if that makes sense. Its somewhat difficult to replicate, and I'm not too concerned because I can avoid this situation pretty easily..

I've accepted thats just how it is in normal mode.. Ford tuned it for maximum efficiency at the expense of smoothness. Therefore in normal mode it tries to constantly keep the highest gear possible short of lugging or stalling the engine, with the torque converter locked. When you abruptly step on the throttle, or abruptly brake from this "low rpm locked TC state" it has to downshift and unlock the TC very quickly, so it might not be always the smoothest. The fact these sort of clunks never happen in sport mode tells me it's just the programming. Furthermore GM half tons have the same trans hardware wise just different tuning, you see way less complaints about the shifting from GM guys, this is because GM version is just more proactive at downshifting and doesn't try to keep a high gear this agressively.. Trust me I've been trying to figure out WTF these clunks are for at least 20k miles, but it doesn't seem to be doing any damage and the behavior is consistent, no codes, I don't get slippage and all upshifts are smooth, and most importantly I can avoid it by changing my driving style or put it into sport mode, so Im just gonna leave it be.
I read the bits about Sport/Tow and it didn’t even dawn on me to throw it in those modes and see if the issue goes away lol!

I’ll give that a try soon, thanks :)
 
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freewayman

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I read the bits about Sport/Tow and it didn’t even dawn on me to throw it in those modes and see if the issue goes away lol!

I’ll give that a try soon, thanks :)
Yeah I never ever get those "slacky" clunky downshifts in sport or tow/haul.. which imo confirms my theory that normal mode is just way too aggressive with the torque converter lockup and hanging on to high gears way more than necessary. Sport is very proactive in downshifting so the trans won't even have the opportunity to clunk in the scenarios it does in normal mode..

However I'm just worried about the longevity of the engine using these modes exclusively because these modes tend to hold a low gear for so long.. not excessively per se, but it's just weird for me to see the truck cruising at 2500 rpm right after a cold start lol... Not sure what is worse, higher forces/loads in normal mode which affects bottom end wear more.. or the higher rpms of sport mode which technically means more valvetrain wear.. Maybe @Snakebitten can chime in here haha (I know he's well versed at these kind of things)
 
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Snakebitten

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I don't know if I'm 10r80 knowledgeable, but I do have the advantage of spending time driving multiple trucks with the same drivetrain. (3.5 Ecoboost/10r80)

They are remarkably consistent at being inconsistent, if that makes any sense. Or put another way, all of them can be unrefined at certain moments/circumstances, and if you only have one example (your truck), it would make perfect sense to wonder if you might have a problem transmission.

A good 10r80 still can be quirky. Apparently it's the nature of the beast.
But having said that, I did have one of them tuned by Matt at GearHead tuning, and the results were nothing short of wonderful. Whatever it is about the factory calibration for the 10r80, it obviously leaves room, or makes possible the inconsistencies and quirks. Matt's transmission calibration was quite the contrast. Firmer, but consistent and predictable.
 
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freewayman

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I don't know if I'm 10r80 knowledgeable, but I do have the advantage of spending time driving multiple trucks with the same drivetrain. (3.5 Ecoboost/10r80)

They are remarkably consistent at being inconsistent, if that makes any sense. Or put another way, all of them can be unrefined at certain moments/circumstances, and if you only have one example (your truck), it would make perfect sense to wonder if you might have a problem transmission.

A good 10r80 still can be quirky. Apparently it's the nature of the beast.
But having said that, I did have one of them tuned by Matt at GearHead tuning, and the results were nothing short of wonderful. Whatever it is about the factory calibration for the 10r80, it obviously leaves room, or makes possible the inconsistencies and quirks. Matt's transmission calibration was quite the contrast. Firmer, but consistent and predictable.
Definitely want to tune mine. I've been holding out for some time because it seems like the 23 PCMs are still locked, and you have to swap to a 22 PCM and copy contents to be able to tune. I've looked into the Ford Performance tune, maybe that's the way to go. Unfortunately it voids any ESP from my understanding
 

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Definitely want to tune mine. I've been holding out for some time because it seems like the 23 PCMs are still locked, and you have to swap to a 22 PCM and copy contents to be able to tune. I've looked into the Ford Performance tune, maybe that's the way to go. Unfortunately it voids any ESP from my understanding
Ah yeah I have both Premium Care and a maintenance plan so I 100% don’t want to mess those up. Curious if tuning would fall under right to repair laws. I added CoPilot 2.0 that was deleted during my build and I’d definitely fight it if they say warranty is void because of it. Of course, I’m sure not going to highlight that I did it lol.
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