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

[redone17]

Happened to mine once this past week - after not doing it for months. Very strange. I haven’t seen any sort of pattern either.

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[Baconator]

Here is another thread describing similar issues:
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/clutch-bouncing.30712/

 

[Mustbeheresomewhere]

I have had my Bronco for a week now and I haven’t owned a manual transmission for probably 20 years. The Bronco was easy to shift from the get go and I have been getting better at smooth shifts. However, 2nd gear is tough to shift into smoothly. 1st and 2nd are pretty low with the 4.70 rear, 3rd -6th are magic and bliss! The crawler gear is like a cheat code too!
No complaints with the 7 MT, so glad I got it! It’s probably my technique and it will get better with practice.

 

[JD11937]

Want to keep this thread alive and see if anyone has been able to have this issue addressed. After not having this happen for a while it seems to be occurring more frequently and different scenarios. As many others have mentioned this usually happens shortly after starting the car and at low speeds but recently it has happened a few times at highway speeds when applying throttle, not fun.

Does anyone know if the car throws any codes that the dealership could read when this happens? Going in for my 10,000 mile service and want to at least have it on the record in case this becomes an issue down the road.

 

[djp]

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.

I have 7MT with about 2500 miles on it, this has happened about 3x to me so far.
I shift from first to second, and it starts to lurch as If i'm pumping gas and letting off over and over again. Only fix is to let of gas and let it settle, not even feathering the gas pedal works. It may because the car is cold, however happened once when it was warm.... Please keep me posted. It is always when i'm driving non-aggressive. (note i'm a veteran MT driver, as this is my 9th MT (civic, bmw, lexus, tacoma, bronco) and I own 2 motorcycles (harley, honda dirtbike)

UPDATE: this has only ever happened in 2nd around mid range RPM

 

[mike8675309]

This problem would be much easier to understand if we had a decent tachometer in this vehicle. What could be at play?
Engine control mapping weirdness - Pull the battery cable for 10 minutes and reinstall. That should cause the system to have to relearn. does the problem go away?
Electronic Throttle Control issues - datalog it
Slipping clutch - data log actual rpm vs target rpm
Vacuum leak - should show up as a mass airflow issue and set a CEL.

 

[rgalvinmi]

Has happened to me on 3 occasions in the first 500 miles...always when I first start out, I believe it may be a "cold motor" issue...I'm not too worried about it, but if they get a fix, I will have it done.

 

[Mattyfly42]

Has happened to me quite a few times. I just put in neutral or shift to second. Def seems to do it when its cold. Used to do it in my jeep as well. But that was a 1990YJ. you would think technology would have fixed that issue. Either way not worried but def watching this thread.

 

[Hkak45]

UPDATE: this has only ever happened in 2nd around mid range RPM

5400 miles. Only run 93 octane from Shell since brand new. Happened today for the second time while in 2nd gear mid range RPM just driving down my driveway. Was bucking violently this time. Almost like it wanted to stall on me and lasted just a few seconds. Outside air temp 65°F and was warmed up only for like 3-4 minutes before driving. After the episode everything ran fine again all day.

 

[redone17]

Does anyone know if the car throws any codes that the dealership could read when this happens? Going in for my 10,000 mile service and want to at least have it on the record in case this becomes an issue down the road.

Zero codes from these instances. I’ve checked.

But a couple of months ago I got a check engine light with code P2282 -Air Leak between Throttle Body and Intake Valve

I checked the torque on the throttle body and they all checked out. The hose clamp was a little loose - but, nothing alarming. Went away, cleared codes and never came back.

I just had this happen in 1st gear for the first time the other day. Usually releasing gas and reapplying fixes it - but, it wouldn’t this time. I needed to shift into second.

Ford called me to try and resolve this. But, I stated there is no way to show the service department if it only occurs once a month. Not going to leave it with them for testing - until there is more data out there.

 

[JD11937]

This problem would be much easier to understand if we had a decent tachometer in this vehicle. What could be at play?
Engine control mapping weirdness - Pull the battery cable for 10 minutes and reinstall. That should cause the system to have to relearn. does the problem go away?
Electronic Throttle Control issues - datalog it
Slipping clutch - data log actual rpm vs target rpm
Vacuum leak - should show up as a mass airflow issue and set a CEL.

I agree, don't even know where to start, seems so random and don't know where to start looking.

 

[JD11937]

Zero codes from these instances. I’ve checked.

But a couple of months ago I got a check engine light with code P2282 -Air Leak between Throttle Body and Intake Valve

I checked the torque on the throttle body and they all checked out. The hose clamp was a little loose - but, nothing alarming. Went away, cleared codes and never came back.

I just had this happen in 1st gear for the first time the other day. Usually releasing gas and reapplying fixes it - but, it wouldn’t this time. I needed to shift into second.

Ford called me to try and resolve this. But, I stated there is no way to show the service department if it only occurs once a month. Not going to leave it with them for testing - until there is more data out there.

My thought exactly, if no codes I'm not leaving my car at the dealership for a month while they tear it apart. Hoping it's enough to create a paper trail so if something catastrophic happens down the road as a result Ford will do the right thing and fix it.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Want to keep this thread alive and see if anyone has been able to have this issue addressed. After not having this happen for a while it seems to be occurring more frequently and different scenarios. As many others have mentioned this usually happens shortly after starting the car and at low speeds but recently it has happened a few times at highway speeds when applying throttle, not fun.

Does anyone know if the car throws any codes that the dealership could read when this happens? Going in for my 10,000 mile service and want to at least have it on the record in case this becomes an issue down the road.

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.

 

[HorizonHunter]

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.

If you're looking in to this, pretty much all the MT drivers are experiencing it and info to the group would be great.

 

[EVH1994]

I’ve had this happen to me twice. The first time was in the first 1000 miles, and the second was the other day at around 3000 miles. Both occurrences happened in first gear, and I had to shift to second to get it to stop bucking.

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