2017+ Ford F-150 Ten Speed 10R80 Transmissions: Are Skip Shifts Normal?

In this video we check to see if it is normal for the new Ford 10 speed transmissions to randomly skip gears?

Official Statement from Ford:

Upshift Gear Sequence

At times the 10-speed transmission may skip gears when the vehicle starts from a complete stop. This is normal and desired behavior.

At part pedal when acceleration is brisk, single step upshifts would result in very frequent shift events (very short time in gear). Double step upshifts results when a longer time is spent in gear.

However, at light pedal or road load, single step upshifts will occur. The small 10-speed gear steps allow the engine speed to drop to lower values than it would in the 6-speed transmission; providing for the best fuel economy. In contrast, when the 10-speed transmission is at heavy or max pedal, the small steps keep the engine closer to the horsepower peak for best performance.

Down shift Gear Sequence

At times the 10-speed transmission may skip gears when the vehicle down shifts to a complete stop. This is normal and desired behavior.

The same skip shift strategy that is used for the upshift may be applied during down shift.

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[FordTechMakuloco]

Official Statement from Ford:

Upshift Gear Sequence

At times the 10-speed transmission may skip gears when the vehicle starts from a complete stop. This is normal and desired behavior.

At part pedal when acceleration is brisk, single step upshifts would result in very frequent shift events (very short time in gear). Double step upshifts results when a longer time is spent in gear.

However, at light pedal or road load, single step upshifts will occur. The small 10-speed gear steps allow the engine speed to drop to lower values than it would in the 6-speed transmission; providing for the best fuel economy. In contrast, when the 10-speed transmission is at heavy or max pedal, the small steps keep the engine closer to the horsepower peak for best performance.

Down shift Gear Sequence

At times the 10-speed transmission may skip gears when the vehicle down shifts to a complete stop. This is normal and desired behavior.

The same skip shift strategy that is used for the upshift may be applied during down shift.


Forscan is a free Ford Specific Diagnostic Software:
Download Here-
ELM 327 Adapter I Recommend-

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

[oldbloke]

I have a Ranger here in Australia with the 10sp transmission, it does exactly what Brian is talking about, haven't had a problem with it.

[derekd]

Just replaced the 10speed trans on my 2017 lariat ford is putting the newest 2023 10 speed in it as we speak! 8600$ my extended warranty covered it! Can’t wait to see the difference from the old one to the new one!

[mikechiodetti]

Manual transmission drivers did that for years, nice to see Ford has a 10 speed auto that skips gears under the right conditions.
Thank you for this video.

[groosbro]

I drive a manual transmission car, and I also skip gears often depending on traffic conditions. I'll go to about 4K rpm in fourth and shift to 6th for cruising.

[franciscorobles]

Yessir. The shift schedule will change based on current gear and throttle position. There are 14 different shift schedules based on mode, temp, etc. In Normal mode upon normal acceleration to 45 to 55mph, it will go 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Very light throttle will cause 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Extremely light throttle will make it shift 1-2, but eventually will skip to 4th and so forth.

[JWimpy]

My 2019 skips some lower gears on level grade. I climb a pretty steep hill coming up to my home, and there it goes through every gear. Some of the gears you can feel and others are smooth as silk depending on the acceleration. I have been very pleased with my F150.

[George-Edwards]

Hello Brian, I understand what your saying perfectly, ten speeds are rarely needed. My main driver is a 2018 Focus ST or occasionally my 2015 Mustang GT. In both of them if I do an aggressive take off I might only use 1st and 2nd and be up to the speed I want and jump right into 6th. I can' hardly believe at the age of almost 74 I'm still driving two cars with manual transmissions but that's what I like in many ways. I'd love to drive one of the newer Mustangs with the 10 spd auto but my 2015 only has about 8500 miles on it so there is no way I'm going to pay 1000's of $s just to get a 10 spd auto.
George

[Olds]

Thanks for the great video Brian. The 10R80 (mine included) seems rough around the edges. Of course, it delivers phenomenal gas mileage that a 4R70W or C6 could only dream about.

[campermike]

Like truckers used to do Skip gears. But most would have never noticed had not been for the indicator on the dash showing what gear it was in currently

[tylerjbellows]

Another great video. Always learn something. Those "Everything wrong with" videos are popular right now and I'd love to see how you would do them!

[ET]

This doesn’t bother me because it’s shifting smoothly when it shifts. I have a 19 jeep 9 speed that I’ve been told is normal, it slips gears, hangs up in, high rpm revs before shifts etc, clearly has something wrong they refuse to fix. I knew better that to get away from Ford. Awesome informative video 😊

[danielmcquaig]

Awesome video, put my mind to rest on my 2022 3.3 F-150.

[blueovalOdell]

30, 000 mile fluid change and filter is a must for these trans. Not a flush, just pull the pan and it’s ends up being about a 8qt change which is half the fluid. Use only motorcraft ULV on the 10R80.

[adamtrombino]

If you have an older say 17-19 with the 10 sp, check with Ford for software updates. My friend bought a used 17 F150 2.7 4x4 and all it did was constantly up and down shift, lock and unlock the converter, even at light throttle. It never skipped gears! Highly annoying! They did a reflash and now it shifts like in this vid, and much less busy, more smoothly. It currently has 54k on it. He bought it with 37k on it.

[jasonfore]

Thank you for sharing, I have wondered why my 2018 f150 did this .

[FoMoCo]

I thought you were in snap-on mode. That S in red reminds me of the S in snap-on tools. 😂👍🍻

[PNGMovers]

10 speed is actually a perfect transmission if you're towing the transmission will use all the gears if you're driving lately with no load it will skip gears sounds good to me

[tinkerscorner]

Not so much for emissions with skip-shifting, but improved fuel mileage and better acceleration than would be achieved by going through all of the gears.

With manual transmissions (5-speed), I do 1-3 and 2-4 shifts quite frequently and, occasionally, the 1-3-5 shifts (If I'm in a Hurry). It really depends on road conditions, incline, and the type of driving I'm doing.

Experimenting using a ScanGauge and Dash Command, I gotten anywhere from 2 to 5 mpg improvement over using all of the gears, while driving for fuel economy. Conversely, for acceleration, I generally use a 1-3-5 for top-end speed or 1-3-4-5 for shorter range or if I'm in the 4-banger. A lot of times, with a slight downhill grade at a stop sign or light, I start in 2nd gear and have used 3rd when the grade is a little steeper and letting off the brakes give me a good enough roll. On an up-hill grade, all 5 speeds may be required.

With the 10-Speed automatic, it would make perfectly good sense to use skip shifting strategies. Now-a-days, with the brain boxes and modules to think about all of the input variables, the transmission control module can use only the gears that are needed for the circumstances, in theory. As you Stated, the calibration is " Muey Impotante".

My Dad had one of the early 10-speed automatics in his F-150 that would lock up occasionally. Once the Dealer did the fix and recalibrated the trans, that was a great driving truck. (Except for the "Electric Steering" that went out on him. It never works correctly for small R/C cars. I don't understand why Ford thinks it would work for long or any better in a full-sized vehicle. Not one of their "Better Ideas". (Picture a skinny 83-year-old dude having the steering go out on him while trying to get 6, 000-pounds of truck in the driveway. After 68 years of driving Fords, he swore off of ever buying another.))


Thanks for the video!

[bobbyt]

Good info as always from your channel. Thanks Bryan