I just bought a ford edge sport 3.7 l 2013 fwd A week ago. It has 108,000 miles, in immaculate condition on the inside of the car , maintenance records seem like they took pretty good care of it.. unsure if any tranny flushes have been done, though.
Anyways, it has a sputter in between gears I believe. It has already shifted into gear, and it doesn’t seem like it has hard time shifting into the gears, but it has these sputters in between those gears pretty much right after switching into another gear. It also has erratic rpms during the stuttering. It is like a jolting stutter every time and only starting around 45 mph when accelerating lightly. if I take my foot off the gas or give it more throttle it gets thru it and I can drive fine until we have to stop again. Once you get to speed it runs good. It has happened around 55 mph a couple times but mostly around 45 mph. Otherwise the car runs great. When buying the car , I took it to a mechanic who said It could just use a transmission fluid change, after driving the car. Then I took it to a local transmission shop near me , and they told me I need a whole new transmission. I have spoken with other people about this shop and people have bad stories and told me to run away. I feel like they are fishing for a job honestly but don’t want to throw parts at it and still need the transmission replaced in the end. The only thing I have tried so far is putting a bottle of sea foam Trans tune in the transmission fluid, and noticed a slight difference but it is still there just the same. We have hammered down on the throttle and it shifted gears flawlessly. But that’s peddle to the metal , it had no stutter issue. I also seen at one of the vvt solenoid on top of the valve cover, there is some oil leaking from the seal. It is by the number 5 and 6 ignition coil. There was a small amount of oil gathering on those, and they haven’t been replaced. I am waiting on a valve cover to replace it , but could this be our entire issue ? No engine codes have popped up the whole time other than one with our parking sensors or something , which they work fine I don’t know why it is sayin that there is an issue. The throttle body looks replaced already it is brand new but not OeM.. which that could be an issue as well, I have heard. Do you have any experience with these symptoms? Out of All the symptoms of a bad transmission we have only the one which is the stuttering, but I have had a bad tranny before and it was hard getting into gear , and this doesn’t seem like that. Do you have any advice for me on where to start?
Do you have any advice for me on where to start?
Start out by getting a proper diagnosis. Don't buy anything until you know what you're up against. Sellers can and will literally tell you anything just to make a sell so take anything they've stated with a grain of salt, it's hearsay. Until the car is properly inspected and analyzed by a competent mechanic, this all assuming and guessing, it's unproductive.
At least get the transmission replaced. If it had been flushed, it was probably recent before it got put up for sale. Any type of high mileage tranny should never be flushed. Since it's used to the old fluid that's running in there, the transmission can't deal with the pressure where the fluid is being drained out immensely. That's why it would be best to drain the pan and throw in about half of the old fluid that was drained and another half that is new. But some people don't seem to listen that well.
It's no surprise that these six speed trannies that are in vehicles like yours tend to go out within after 100k depending on how well it's taken care of. But yeah, maybe do a full rebuild by a professional or just find a junkyard and see if there is one that has low mileage and is in great shape.
Beware of the water pump. It is internal, driven off the timing chain, and can destroy the engine if it starts leaking and is not caught very quickly. If it still has its original water pump at 108K miles you may want to install an OEM replacement as a preventative measure.
