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2.3L 7MT — lurching/stuttering in low gears between 2-3k RPM

Bronco Bax

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This has happened twice now, on my 2.3L 7MT badlands 4dr — in first and second gear. I’ll be in gear, slowly climbing through the revs right before I shift around 3.5k or so, and the car will kind of lurch back and forth almost like I’m applying throttle and letting off, over and over. Feels like a yo-yo effect a bit. My foot wasn’t on the clutch pedal whatsoever, but as soon as I press in the clutch to shift, it stops. Has only happened when the car is relatively cold and it’s the first time I’m get up to road speed after starting it.

I only have about 350mi on it so far, so wasn’t sure if this is simply a break-in quirk or not. It does feel like some amount of ECU learning could smooth it out, or possibly a turbo/wastegate/vacuum leak issue? I remember seeing someone else’s thread talking about their clutch acting strange similar to this but couldn’t find it by searching.
Ive had this happen twice as well. Have about 3k on mine now, same conditions though... usually after start up while its cold and im going to shift from 1st to 2nd
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I've been experiencing the same issue, as I commented many times in the other thread. Someone else mentioned a possible vacuum leak and I'm wondering if that might be the case of mine.

In my 7MT, when I give it gas (parked or driving) and let go, I get a "click" noise every time I let my foot off the pedal. It kind of sounds like a solenoid opening and closing, aka possible vacuum leak (local Bronco guys said it sound like a vacuum leak). The dealer heard it but couldn't find where it was coming from. Thoughts?
Hi there! Would you send us a private message with your VIN and dealership name and location? I’d like to look into this concern on my end.
 

DesertMike680

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Hi there! Would you send us a private message with your VIN and dealership name and location? I’d like to look into this concern on my end.
Just sent a private message. Thank you in advance for looking into this!
 
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SPITmadFIRE

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What fluid should we use, no need not to change good enough for superior fluid
To be clear, this was on my RS -- once the transmission fluid gets older/dirty the crunchiness of shifting definitely gets a little worse but that's on the RS's 6MT. I'm only at 1,500 miles or so on my Bronco 7MT at the moment.

I used Motul's Multi DCTF fluid for the RS transmission, as many others have done on the RS forums.
 
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SPITmadFIRE

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Just sent a private message. Thank you in advance for looking into this!
The way these go is they'll make a case number and refer you to your dealership to take a look -- unless @Ford Motor Company knows something their service departments don't, they'll most likely use your truck as a data point for researching a potential issue. Just keep that in mind before you drop off your truck in case you're hoping to get it back soon 😬
 

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As a general update -- I'm now at roughly 1,800mi and haven't experienced one of these lurching/stuttering events since creating this thread.

As an aside, I did my first oil change at 1,200mi or so and would definitely recommend others do the same. There was a definite sheen of what I'd call break-in material (not metal shavings, not necessarily glitter, but definitely some break-in wear causing a color change) in the oil.
 

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To be clear, this was on my RS -- once the transmission fluid gets older/dirty the crunchiness of shifting definitely gets a little worse but that's on the RS's 6MT. I'm only at 1,500 miles or so on my Bronco 7MT at the moment.

I used Motul's Multi DCTF fluid for the RS transmission, as many others have done on the RS forums.
Gotcha, good for the Bronco as well? Not a fluid expert, just figure why not flush early and change from good to excellent, as since ive owned her, only super and only full synthetic
 
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SPITmadFIRE

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Gotcha, good for the Bronco as well? Not a fluid expert, just figure why not flush early and change from good to excellent, as since ive owned her, only super and only full synthetic
I'm not a fluid expert either -- don't know if anyone's even done a 7MT fluid change yet on one of these. I would assume Motul Multi DCTF is fine given the owners manual, but if you're looking at trying to remove some shifting crunch more than anything, I'd just replace it with the recommended Motorcraft fluid instead. There shouldn't be any harm in replacing the fluid early I would imagine.
 

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Just experienced this for the first time today. At first I did think it was slipping. 1100 miles. 60 degrees outside. Second gear. 1/4 mile from home. Power, lurch, power, lurch, power, lurch. I shifted to 3rd, got paranoid, but didn't have it again today.
 
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thesocalexplorer

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Just experienced this for the first time today. At first I did think it was slipping. 1100 miles. 60 degrees outside. Second gear. 1/4 mile from home. Power, lurch, power, lurch, power, lurch. I shifted to 3rd, got paranoid, but didn't have it again today.
Happened to me yesterday too around 900 miles. Second gear, engine not at operating, 85*F ambient temps, super light throttle in 2nd gear. Light bucking felt. Did a whole 100 mile roundtrip offroad mission afterwards, no problem. Figured it's a small glitch with throttle mapping.
 

JD11937

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I have experienced this 2-3 times now also, at around 4,000 miles now. Because it happens at low rpms I was wondering if it has something to do with the anti-stall over reacting? In general I have found myself having to adjust the way I typically drive a manual because this system kicks in a little aggressively sometimes making it more difficult to modulate throttle in a tight driveway etc.

As some others have noted the bucking has only happened when it was the first few shifts of the day and the engine wasn’t up to full temp.
 

TheSSBoz

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I've seen this a few times on my 7MT. Basically coming out of first not even at heavy throttle (2-3K RPMs), felt like I was getting rev limited....

It's a 7MT issue only and not reported with the automatic 2.3?
 

barracuda

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I've had this too a few times

4dr 2.3 manual black diamond
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