7MT TSB…a nuisance or a real issue causing damage/failure?

[honorarysail]

hey all quick question, I’ve got a ‘21 2.3L with the 7MT and when it’s pretty cold out, in 1st & 2nd gear I definitely hear a kind of soft scraping that I believe describes the TSB put out perfectly. Now, it’s warmed up around my area so I’m really not hearing it as much. Is there documented cases where this issue leads to damage/parts failure? If it’s just a nuisance I may just leave it until next winter rolls around— I have an appointment with Ford to get it diagnosed and maybe fixed, but now that it’s warmed up I’m worried they won’t hear the noise and I’ll be stuck with the $250 diag cost. They also said they don’t have a way to cold soak the transmission either. Any guidance is appreciated

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[Ducati1098]

I’ve had a bunch of these apart everywhere from 1,200-26,000 miles. I’ve never seen one that had any additional abnormal damage.

 

[Sitruc_btb]

I’ve had a bunch of these apart everywhere from 1,200-26,000 miles. I’ve never seen one that had any additional abnormal damage.

You a tech? What do you see inside? What's the cause of the noise? Insufficient clearance? I havent read up on it much, but my 7mt is making noise when cold.
I did see a synchro set that had some hot spots, discoloration, but that's all Ive seen.
Id love to see inside the mt88.

 

[Ducati1098]

You a tech? What do you see inside? What's the cause of the noise? Insufficient clearance? I havent read up on it much, but my 7mt is making noise when cold.
I did see a synchro set that had some hot spots, discoloration, but that's all Ive seen.
Id love to see inside the mt88.

There's really not much to see. Other than the new part number stamped on the updated part, they look virtually identical. I would guess it has something to do with a minimal clearance issue, but Ford doesn't exactly tell us or go into that much detail. They just say to replace it with the updated part

 

[Sitruc_btb]

There's really not much to see. Other than the new part number stamped on the updated part, they look virtually identical. I would guess it has something to do with a minimal clearance issue, but Ford doesn't exactly tell us or go into that much detail. They just say to replace it with the updated part

Aww, that's a bummer. Honda can be a stickler about sharing information too. Just curious. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Tricky Mike]

In my experience it's just a nuisance, and a very minor one at that. Maybe 200k from now it will be a bigger issue and I can look at a rebuild/replacement then.

 

[FloridaBurgBronco]

I had the same noise, went in and got it taken care of. I would have loved to have seen the fluid when it came out. Maybe nothing was wrong with it, but still curious. As far as what you should do, definitely take it in and get it done, to me this is a no brainer, it's a TSB covered by Ford, unusual noises in transmissions maybe aren't always terrible, but I figure they are never good. Plus how dumb would you feel a couple thousand miles out of warranty and then something happened. Maybe it would be related, maybe not, you either way, you'd probably kick yourself for not getting it done. The TSB did fix mine, doesn't make weird noises anymore. Just my $.02

To be fair, I did drive with it that way for many, many miles, but that wasn't really on me, Ford had a parts shortage, so everything was on forever backorder.

 

[JEMSA]

Brought my 21 in for the cold rattle - after removal and then dismantling for synchro replacement, dealer opted to replace as unit - evidence of multiple hot spots on bearings as well as synchros. I bought used but can’t envision what the PO could have done to cause so glad dealer agreed manufacturing defect.

 

[Sloo]

Do TSBs expire at some point? What if someone takes the Bronco in 5 years from now with warranty expired. Will this TSB serve as essentially a lifetime warranty for the transmission if the noise ever occurs?

 

[dejones64]

Received my '22 BD in August '22. I did hear the tranny noise winter of '22 but was still kind of new to it so I never brought it in. Actually heard the noise summer of '23, took it in Oct '23, with 37k miles on it.

Dealer took it apart, found the damage, plus damage to other parts. The "other" parts (unknown to me) were on forever backorder. They decided to replace the whole transmission.

About 8k miles on the new tranny, this past winter I could hear faint scraping. Will wait until next winter to see if the scraping is really back.

 

[Blue Hen]

TSB's can be performed after warranty runs out, just at the customers expense. Some people think TSB's are like recalls. Not the case. A good tech that stays up to date with TSB's, helps them diagnose issues faster than a tech that doesn't. Knowledge is king. I see it first hand. We have a few techs that try to stay up to date with TSB's.

 

[HighVelocity]

I plan to take mine in at 35,999 miles or 2 years, 11 months and 30 days, whichever occurs first.

 

[Ducati1098]

I plan to take mine in at 35,999 miles or 2 years, 11 months and 30 days, whichever occurs first.

Might as well wait until powertrain is almost up instead if you can deal with the noise.

 

[HighVelocity]

Might as well wait until powertrain is almost up instead if you can deal with the noise.

Good point.

Noise doesn't bother me. I drive a Bronco, after all!

 

[gtabert]

Might as well wait until powertrain is almost up instead if you can deal with the noise.

Agreed, 60k is a ways out, I just past 36k on my '23, not the least bit worried. Just an annoying grind I've gotten used to. I did purchase an extended warranty to 150k, more for electronics than anything else. Mechanical repairs are simple fixes, electronic gremlins not so much. To my knowledge no one has suffered catastrophic failure or been stranded due to this issue, just don't feel comfortable giving it over to a dealer who may not have the right tools, knowledgeable staff, or past experience rebuilding this trans. I realize many of the horror stories associated with dealer issues may in in lower percentile of competent dealers but if it ain't broke why fix it? Am I letting Ford off the hook, maybe, I've simply decided not to let this stress me out.

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