Neutral Tow / Transmission Problem

[63GBPackerfan]

Well, my brand new 2023 Bronco (less than 500 miles) has fallen victim to the transmission/flat tow failure issue. Towed my Bronco from NorCal to Texas. Detached the Bronco and smelled burning plastic and the Bronco started shifting very hard (almost like it had a stall converter).

I follow the flat tow engagement/disengagement to the letter as I cut and pasted it from the online manual and put it in my Notes on my iPhone.

We were headed to Oklahoma to see relatives, so we hooked the Bronco back up, put it in flat tow mode and headed that way.

Upon arrival, I contacted the local Ford dealer who has initially diagnosed it as a destroyed transmission. They ran the codes on the DCM and stated the Demco Air Force One supplemental braking system was part of the cause of the failure.

I contacted my installer (who has installed hundreds of these units) and told him what they said. He said that was impossible since the braking system doesn’t communicate with the DCM.

I‘m waiting to hear back from them after they contact the experts at Ford to determine if it will be covered under warranty. We did not buy this Bronco, but leased it. I’m not sure if that will make a difference in their decision.

If they don’t cover it, we’re turning the Bronco back into them.

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[GddyupGG]

Be prepared to very frustrated. The dealership will point fingers to Ford and Ford will point fingers to the dealership. We had a very similar incident. We were traveling cross country and had flat towed our Bronco at least 10 times with no issue. We followed the instructions to a tee. Transmission fried and it was stated we were to blame and Ford wouldn't warranty it. 6 week nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone. Don't expect much from Ford coz they don't support their product or customers. Please keep us posted as to what transpires. My e-mail is [email protected]. Ford monitors these forums and I don't trust their minions.

 

[63GBPackerfan]

Be prepared to very frustrated. The dealership will point fingers to Ford and Ford will point fingers to the dealership. We had a very similar incident. We were traveling cross country and had flat towed our Bronco at least 10 times with no issue. We followed the instructions to a tee. Transmission fried and it was stated we were to blame and Ford wouldn't warranty it. 6 week nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone. Don't expect much from Ford coz they don't support their product or customers. Please keep us posted as to what transpires. My e-mail is [email protected]. Ford monitors these forums and I don't trust their minions.

I’m taking screenshots of all of the conversation s and responses on multiple threads. Ford has responded on the forums, so I’m aware they look. That’s ok as they should be aware that some of us might seek legal representation for a class action lawsuit.

 

[GddyupGG]

Agreed, this needs to be acknowledged and a class action lawsuit will most likely occur as more instances of this occur.

 

[Bill K]

I have a little over 6,000 miles on my 2021 Badlands Sasquatch. In edition to the 6,000 driving miles, I have flat towed it, in neutral tow mode, about 5,000 miles. I have put the Bronco in and out of flat tow mode about 40 times. I always follow the directions in the owners manual, as displayed on the screen, with exactness. And I have always had the "neutral tow enabled" displayed on the dash before towing. Last week, I flat towed the Bronco from Utah to my home in Temecula, about 450 miles. I got home late and pulled my tow vehicle and Bronco into my driveway and parked for the night. The following morning, I backed my tow vehicle and Bronco down the driveway.

My driveway has a slight grade and I wanted to disconnect the Bronco on level ground. My wife held the Bronco steering wheel straight, so the Bronco would track straight. I backed up slowly for about 30 feet when my wife heard a mechanical grinding sound coming from the Bronco. I stopped. The Bronco would not roll forward or backward. The Bronco display stated that the vehicle was, in fact, "neutral tow enabled". I took the vehicle out of neutral tow mode. When I started the vehicle, all I could hear was the transmission making a grinding noise. I put the vehicle back in neutral tow mode. However, the vehicle would not roll forward or backward.

I repeated the process, twice more, and had the same result. It was locked up. I tried it a fourth time. This time, when I rocked the vehicle, it sounded like something gave way and it rolled forward. I tried taking it out of neutral tow mode, but when I started it, the tranny was making the same noise. I put it back in neutral tow mode and had it towed to the dealership. The dealer pulled the pan from the tranny and there were metal shavings in the pan. I believe the shavings were the result of the tranny grinding from putting it in and out of neutral tow mode several times. I'm working with the dealer as far as the repair goes.

I've seen a couple other people who have posted similar issues on other forums. Has anyone had a similar experience to mine?

By the way, even with the issue I'm having, love the Bronco! It was worth the 26 months wait.

Just finished flat towing my 2023 Big Bend 2 door around 4000 miles. No issues to speak of as I put it in and out of neutral tow around 20 times. Have 2000 miles on the vehicle now. Praying that I don't experience problems cited on this forum as I too bought the Bronco exclusively because it could be flat towed. Will be watching this thread to see the outcome of issues others here are experiencing. So sorry to hear it, and good luck.

 

[dgorsett]

Not dismissing what you guys have experienced at all, this is my greatest fear flat towing the Bronco. No way to verify that the TC is in neutral. I had a thought: since to disengage neutral tow you turn the Bronco 'on' to accessory mode and press the brake for 7 seconds could it disengage itself if it was in accessory (left on or woke itself up for some reason) and your towed brake system applied the brake for seven seconds? My brake system has never seams to engage for that long and I'm cautious about being sure it's not in accessory, but a possibility? The dash doesn't acknowledge 'nuetral tow disabled' until you put it in Park, but I believe the shift has already taken place.

 

[63GBPackerfan]

My response to that is, it’s possible, but I feel if it engaged and was dragging the Bronco, there would be flat spots on the tires. If the Bronco “accidentally “ engaged, then that’s a Ford issue.

 

[dgorsett]

My response to that is, it’s possible, but I feel if it engaged and was dragging the Bronco, there would be flat spots on the tires. If the Bronco “accidentally “ engaged, then that’s a Ford issue.

Well no, since the transmission is also left in neutral when towing. You would never know, but the output side of the transmission would still be turning without lubrication, since the pump is on the input of the transmission. The pump on the transfercase is on the output so it gets lube even when in neutral.

 

[63GBPackerfan]

A quick update. After 5 days of waiting, Ford is going to replace the transmission under warranty. I have a Demco Air Force One supplemental braking system installed and the Ford Service Technician is blaming the supplemental braking system on the transmission failure.

My installer told me that there is no way the AFO system could do that.

Has anyone heard of such a thing and if that’s a possibility?

 

[GddyupGG]

A quick update. After 5 days of waiting, Ford is going to replace the transmission under warranty. I have a Demco Air Force One supplemental braking system installed and the Ford Service Technician is blaming the supplemental braking system on the transmission failure.

My installer told me that there is no way the AFO system could do that.

Has anyone heard of such a thing and if that’s a possibility?

A quick update. After 5 days of waiting, Ford is going to replace the transmission under warranty. I have a Demco Air Force One supplemental braking system installed and the Ford Service Technician is blaming the supplemental braking system on the transmission failure.

My installer told me that there is no way the AFO system could do that.

Has anyone heard of such a thing and if that’s a possibility?

You should consider yourself lucky if Ford is going to cover under warranty. Can you tell me what codes they pulled on your transmission?

 

[turbocc]

Just finished flat towing my 2023 Big Bend 2 door around 4000 miles. No issues to speak of as I put it in and out of neutral tow around 20 times. Have 2000 miles on the vehicle now. Praying that I don't experience problems cited on this forum as I too bought the Bronco exclusively because it could be flat towed. Will be watching this thread to see the outcome of issues others here are experiencing. So sorry to hear it, and good luck.

Is it necessary to leave Accessory ON when flat towing to allow steering wheel to not be locked ?

 

[63GBPackerfan]

No! Do not leave it on. It will deplete the battery and go out of neutral tow and you’ll destroy your transmission.

 

[Blue Bulldog]

My number one motivation to purchase the Bronco came after reading an article stating towing with all wheels down was an option. I went to a local dealership (San Antonio, TX) and traded my 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe Rubicon. First trip came a week later. The trip out was awesome. Enjoyed the R&R and returned home only to find out that I could not move the Bronco.
When I first pressed the start button, foot off brake, lights on the dash went crazy. Got heat it a minute no change. I turned it back off and tried it again. This time the check engine lights were on and the message ‘service vehicle soon’. I tried to disengage the neutral tow and nothing happened. I turned it off and started over. This time message ‘neutral tow disabled’ came up. I put the Bronco in neutral and tried to bckup, the engine just raced up. I tried moving forward, same result. I called the dealership and the service advisor told me to disconnect the battery for a few and reconnect and try again. 5 mins later reconnected the battery and tried again, that too was unsuccessful. Next step was flat bed to the dealer , and that’s where things got interesting.
I received a call from the service writer. Let’s call him “John”. John informed me there was ‘catastrophic failure to the transmission resulting from improperly engaging neutral tow.,‘ an hour later I was sitting in the service managers office. We’ll call him ’Bob’ . Bob put on his most diplomatic face and tried to explain to me how “delicate” and “sensitive“ this vehicle was. Bob wanted to know if we were taught how to properly engage the neutral tow function. The answer to that was a resounding “NO!” Needless to say things did not improve from there. The conversation turned to him trying to quiz me on exactly what I did. The General Manager joined the conversation and assured me they were on my side and would be doing everything they could to “help me out”. At some point I ask, “ So based on our conversation, you guys are alleging that I failed to properly engage neutral tow and towed the Bronco with the transmission in park. So are you saying all the other people on the internet have made this same mistake? “. There was an awkward silence.. I was suddenly provided a loaner and asked to allow them time to “properly” investigate the issue. I left with a 2023 F150 loaner.
I am still waiting on the call. From what I’ve been reading. I am thinking the outcome will not be in my favor that this is a warranty issue.

 

[Blue Bulldog]

Hi Everybody,

An update on mine. Dealer said they ran it up the flag pole at Ford. Got a No at every turn. Yet Ford says it's up to the dealer to determine if it's warranty. Ford won't even talk to me now. I was without my Bronco for almost 2 months. No loaner car, nothing.
Ended up paying for the repair, $7200.
I have started legal action against Ford.
What they are doing to customers is a joke.
At the very least the Bronco should communicate to the app. App should say you are in/out of tow mode.
How do you ever tow it again???

 

[aknavy]

Ok...jumping in here for suggestions. I neutral towed my Bronco for almost 2k miles in the last week. I'm afraid I have a ruined transmission on top of the brake issue.

It says it's in neutral tow, but will not disengage. I did the accessory/push the brake/park, and nothing. Also disconnected battery and pushed brakes for 30 secs to discharge any residual charge. Now it's stuck in neutral tow and park.

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