The '18 Mustang has transmission problems

"LJ909" (lj909)
09/06/2018 at 11:22 • Filed to: None

So its looking like 2018 Mustang owners have been having serious issues with the new 10 speed transmissions. Not simple issues either. Total failures at less than 10 thousand miles. Since the middle of last month I’ve counted about 150 different owners who have called in for tows on their 2018 Mustangs.

The transmission was jointly developed between Ford and GM, though Ford took the lead in development. It comes standard on the Ecoboost Mustang and is an option on the GT if you don’ t want the manual . The tranny sees duty in the Camaro ZL1 as well as F150’s and the Raptor. Its supposed to spawn more 10 speed transmissions for other vehicles as well. But these failures might put a kink in those plans.

A quick search of the forums online, like !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , will show that other owners have had problems as well. One owner started a thread asking if anyone has had any failures because his went out at 4 thousand miles.Others, like one owner with less than 2000 miles, have noticed a delay in shifting from certain gears. The owner of the original post posted a pic of the update after going to the dealer and its not good:

Compounding problems also is an apparent lack of parts available for repairs to the point that some Ford dealers are outsourcing the work. I spoke with one owner that needed a tow and had to take his Mustang over 98 miles away to a tranny specialist that the Ford dealer referred him too because they didn’ t have the parts available to repair his transmission.That doesn’ t make sense to me at all. Has anyone encountered any problems ( if you’ re an owner) or know anyone that has had any transmission problems on the ‘18 Mustang? What do you guys think about these problems?

DISCUSSION (20)

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > LJ909
09/06/2018 at 11:38

Well that sucks. Seems to be getting good reviews in all applications be it GM or Ford especially in the F150.

Seems the manual transmissions also have a lot of issues with the aluminum shift forks which are breaking off

https://themustangsource.com/forums/f806/mt-82-transmission-problems-545701/

nj959 > LJ909
09/06/2018 at 11:46

Mergio’s ghost is working at Ford confirmed.

LJ909 > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
09/06/2018 at 11:46

Seems that they are doing a good job of keeping it under wraps from the press as well for that praise.

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > LJ909
09/06/2018 at 11:52

Completely shocked that another transmission issue is plaguing ford.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > LJ909
09/06/2018 at 12:00

I rented an 18 GT about a month ago. It wasn’t really smooth in auto mode and a few of the shifts were clunky. I did notice it making a weird metallic noise on slowdown on the twisty roads. The car also over heated. not majorly, but enough where the needle was all the way on hot and the car cut a lot of power. The car had close to 19k (assuming hard) miles when I returned it.

jimz > LJ909
09/06/2018 at 12:03

Yet it doesn’t seem to be having similar issues in the F- 150?

Maybe the Mustang has a driver problem.

LJ909 > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
09/06/2018 at 12:41

Damn that’ s embarrassing . Just goes to show that we didn’ t need a 10 speed auto. Like at all.

LJ909 > jimz
09/06/2018 at 12:45

Well they did do a recall a few months back over the truck not going into park properly. Unintended movement they called it. But the problems it has aren’ t as widespread. It does have issues though.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > LJ909
09/06/2018 at 12:57

I think it could have been sloppy tuning. It was always eager to downshift and the paddles worked pretty well. But auto mode kinda sucked. I’m not used to automatics but I feel like the ND Miata I had did fine.

7:07 > LJ909
09/06/2018 at 13:39

So this would be the same transmission that is in the Expedition, Yukon, Escalade, F150 and everything? That’s not good. I had high hopes it would be solid and reliable.

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > 7:07
09/06/2018 at 13:44

Could be an issue for just this car. Probably wouldn’t be the first time a seemingly plug and play between cars go wrong. IIRC, there was something between the ATS coupe/sedan with identical engines/transmissions where one had no issues and the other ate its engine for lunch.

Also, could be ford itself doing something. They’ve had a few issues the last 6-8 years. The MT82 when they first went back to 5.0 stangs In 11/12 had issues, the 13/14 ST’s had widespread synchro issues, the whole powershit debacle, etc along with this. I’m not knowledgeable enough in these issues to speak to them but I know they all existed.

7:07 > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy
09/06/2018 at 14:01

I wish info like this were easier to find without having to spend hours digging through specific forums. It’s funny how much the transmission can make or break a car and sometimes I shop for a vehicle just based on its transmission. One reason I love some FCA products is because of the ZF 8-speed. It’s such a great unit.

ranwhenparked > LJ909
09/06/2018 at 17:57

If there’s one thing Ford is excellent at, its sweeping Mustang quality problems under the rug and ignoring them for years.

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > 7:07
09/06/2018 at 18:37

So I think the powershift is pretty well known by this point, but the original MT82 issues were known to me because i frequented the mustang forums at the time because I thought I wanted one. The ST issues I know because I owned a ‘17 and now own an ‘18 ST. I probably wouldn’t have known about this or the manual issues with the current MT82 without reading this thread. Goes to show it can pay to do proper research before buying a car you’re interested in, and like you said it’s kind of a shame that it’s not easier to find this information otherwise.

Stephenson Valve Gear > LJ909
09/06/2018 at 20:17

That’s too bad. From what I’ve heard, the 10 speed auto with the 5.0 is a great quarter mile combination. Now, I don’t drag race and I prefer the manual... but yes, Ford is having a lot more issues with the updated manual in the ‘18 as well. I was on the fence last year about getting a ‘17 or waiting a year for the ‘18, and I’m very glad that I went ahead and got the ‘17. T urns out that the ‘17 manual is more robust, and Ford quit offering my preferred final drive ratio (3.31) in the ‘18, too. Sure, I would like the horsepower bump in the ‘18, but if I r-e-a-l-l-y wanted it, I could install the stage 2 power pack from Ford. But, let’s face it, I don’t use all of the paltry 435 that the ‘17 has anyway. Regardless, sure hope Ford gets the issues in both transmissions sorted out soon...

pip bip - choose Corrour > LJ909
09/07/2018 at 08:18

manual trans will fix it

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > LJ909
09/17/2018 at 12:48

i hope all the Automatics fail. and are costly to fix.

LJ909 > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/17/2018 at 12:56

They probably are because codeveloped with GM and they will be costly, because transmission work always is.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > LJ909
09/17/2018 at 13:04

no i mean ALL of them. like Infinity Gauntlet snap my fingers and they turn to dust style.

PS9 > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/19/2018 at 07:23

HFV: “You Should have learned to drive stick.”
Thor: “What?”

*snap*