2015 Expedition Down-shifts to Accelerate?
Posted by No-Anxiety8485@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 4 comments
I've started having the strangest problem with my 2015 Ford Expedition (3.5 EcoBoost V6). Sometimes it down-shifts to gain acceleration, especially when going up even the slightest inclines. For example, I will be driving 60 on the freeway, and cruising in 6th gear. Even with cruise control on, if I hit an incline, in order just to maintain 60, it will drop down into 5th, lose a few MPH, then "work harder" to get back up to 60, and eventually shift back into 6th. Sometimes it even shifts down to 4th to reach 60 again. It's like it's requiring more power than usual, or trying to force more power than usual, to do the same accelerating. The RPMs increase a little but not dramatically, but it starts to feel sluggish. It's especially strange how it does it sometimes but not every time.
Today it did just on a side street at about 30-40 MPH. I noticed it drop from 4th to 3rd while I was accelerating up to 45-50.
Has anyone ever seen this?
Hungry-Job-3198@reddit
That’s exactly what it’s supposed to do
No-Anxiety8485@reddit (OP)
But it doesn't always do it. And it's not supposed to lose speed as you accelerate.
lunchbox651@reddit
Unless there's something special about the expedition that sounds like an auto working like an auto. It drops to a lower gear because the engine can consistently accelerate at that incline.
No-Anxiety8485@reddit (OP)
When it's driving right, it can climb inclines just fine without losing power, without a speed drop, and without a down-shift. When it starts doing this it requires extra gas pedal acceleration and is slower to respond.