We have classified the 11 complaints from 2011 Ford Flex about POWER TRAIN into the following categories.
Ptu failure - i have had my flex since 2012. i have never had an issue with anything in that vehicle. i am in the military, and i travel a lot. i have that oil changed and tires rotated religiously. fluids are always topped off. i just turned over 120,000 miles on my 2011 flex, 85 percent of those miles were highway. my flex started hesitating, occasionally. an occasional jerk into gear. then started making metal-grinding noises, then sputtering. this happened over a 3 month period. i find out my ptu is shot, of course i am over the mileage for the warranty - shocker. so i have to put out 1888.00 to repair this. i started doing some research on ford, and flexes and was shocked to see that the transmission repair facility was very aware of this common issue, in their edge, flex and other full wheel or all wheel drive vehicles. and still no recall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford flex. the contact stated that the transmission failed. the vehicle was taken to a dealer to be repaired. no further details were available. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 125,000.
After several visits to the dealer, beginning at 52k in april 2014 complaining of a burning oil smell after highway driving, the dealer diagnosed the problem to be a failed ptu/pto and needing replacement for $1800 after i exceeded 75k miles. i advised ford that i returned my vehicle several times before my 75k extended warranty expired. they apparently never checked the ptu. the are several reports of of failed ptus on tarurus's, flexes, edges, mkt's sharing this same unit which ford says is only replaced and requires no maintenance. googling ptu failure returns multiple posts and responses. fordflex.net, fordedgeforum.com www.blueovalforums.com explorerforum.com there design and repairs should be honored for customers identifying symptoms of the problem while under warranty and systems should be incorporated in a maintenance schedule. my claim with ford was rejected and my service visit documents were not considered.
While accelerating from a stop with the ecoboost system , the car will almost stall, then speed up with out your foot on the pedal. it blows black smoke and then it will be fine. this has happened on and off for the past several months, the car had an extended warranty in which this showed up. while this was going on i have had to replace the power transfer unit because it locked up, then the car would only work in front wheel drive, have had nothing but trouble since the car radiator fan system burned up and they replaced. they have re-flashed modules after they could not figure out what was happening, however it still does it. i am worried as the car has speed up to 2000 rpm while driving and stayed there with out the gas pedal being pressed.
Both front axle half shafts worn, dealer repaired.
10/15 eaps failure can't steer car no fix several repeat problems 4/15 cold air when using heater on passenger side fixed but since then water on passenger side when using air conditioning several service calls no fix 4/15 oilk leak for awd system several tries then service finallyt replaced complete awd unit
Power take off assembly failure - at ~59k miles into my 75k mile extended warranty i took my vehicle in to service because of an oil burning smell after highway driving. about a month or so later i returned to advise of the same smell. the seal was removed and replaced. subsequent highway travel yielded additional burning oil odors that i've returned to the dealer for diagnosis but the cause was not identified until the last visit ' on 7/24/14 @ 58,195 mi. on 10/9/14@ 59,472 mi. on 04/22/15 @ 72,712 mi. on 11/23/15 @84,974 mi. references- http://jonathanlackman.com/blog/ford-edge-pdu-pto-transfer-case-issues-flex-500-mkx/ http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=375439&page=13 http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/10914-ptu-leak-failures/page-11 at 84,974 the obvious fluid leak was identified as pto fluid as a result of the pto overheating. now that my extended warranty has expired ford refuses to warranty repair coverage even though the problem has persisted since before the warranty expired but not identified by the ford mechanics. there are multiple instances of failure with this part on ford awd vehicle my complaint is that ford is aware of the failure and the issue was not addressed with my vehicle before my warranty expired and now i have to pay $1600 for the repair when servicing the complaint could have prevente d the failure and need for replacement. ford has not proactively done anything to prevent failure and high out of pocket expenses to me or other customers. there is no recommended service other than replacement of the failed unit. there is a problem with the earlier units and ford should recommend service intervals to avoid failure and replacement of already failed units at their expenses since they advised of no service required
It has happened since 2012 sept, when i bought it at 4000km. i was about to start from a traffic light. i let go my brake and 'slightly' onto gas. "nothing at all happened." i push a bit harder and it crank into another gear as i felt like 'galloping'. i brought it to the body shop i knew (8 pm) and was told to go to dealers for transmittion check up. did so, in 3 days - 'no code' no problem. it happened in november 2012; trying to catch up with traffic on 401 highway - march 2013, moving slowly in scity street - june and oct 2013; from stop - april 2014, june 2015 and about to stop before traffice light - may 2016. i brought it into 2 different delears, 3 private bodyshops. dealers found nothing - 'no code'; private body shop - water/ air trapped in gas/ fuel line; bad transmission etc. contacted ford customer sevices - told to contact local delears, record on file. no solution still. this is ford!!!! once get the chance - go anything other than ford!!
From a stop, transmission slipped, banged into 1st (or 2nd gear), did it again around 50 mph, felt like the tranny slipped and then banged into gear. the banging into gear is a violent lurch. took it to ford told nothing wrong with vehicle (even though i had prior tsb's on same tranny issues in 01/2011 build cars). started in 2012, was intermittent until recently and has happened several times over past month. *tr
Transmission on flex often hesitates and thunks with a lurch. the lurch is so bad it now feels like we are being hit. it has happened in both forward and reverse. tried to get it repaired twice at dealer - haven't been able to fix. online forums with owners and service bulletins describe similar problem. ford not acknowledging issue or helping. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford flex. the contact stated that whenever accelerating to pass another vehicle, fumes would emit into the cabin of the vehicle with the vents closed and the windows open. the contact stated that the failure only occurred when accelerating at a high rate of speed. the contact would experience nausea and burning of the eyes when the failure occurred. the vehicle was taken to the dealer three times before determining that the transmission filler cap needed to be replaced and that the o-ring was too big for the vehicle. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 1,500 and the current mileage was 9,000.
Lunging and stalling at start up and when accelerating at highway speeds. *tr
My vehicle will act as if it is in neutral when i pull away from a stop. the engine revs with no forward movement then the transmission "bangs" into gear and the vehicle proceeds. the hesitation could cause an accident. there are numerous reports from other owners on the fordflex.net forum about this, ford has not been able to help me rectify the problem. this happened to me as well, and has happened on 3 occasions ford has looked, but not found any problem or solution. *tr
My vehicle will act as if it is in neutral when i pull away from a stop. the engine revs with no forward movement then the transmission "bangs" into gear and the vehicle proceeds. the hesitation could cause an accident. there are numerous reports from other owners on the fordflex.net forum about this, ford has not been able to help me rectify the problem. *tr