Better daily driver/track car than 202x Ford MACH 1? Defective 10r80 Ford may shaft me

General Discussion
1

Just spit balling here.
Better car and trustworthy manufacture than Ford?

I would like a car to road course with at times with. In the last month or so I got the HPDE bug.
My thought is if Ford fuks me, and won’t fix my 202x MACH 1 w/HP, 9k miles car w/10r80 transmission. Best options?

I have taken immaculate care of my car. I bought a new complete WeatherTech mats and trunk mat for the car. I had it fully paint protected filmed.
I use Mobile 1 SUPERCAR oil in it.
The car looks better than new. I put a few BMR Suspension and chassis components on it and I was thinking about buying some new Apex Wheels.
I love the sound of the car with the stock adjustable exhaust and I enjoy the way the car drives now.
It does have good visibility out of the car unlike most others.

Would I be better off going to a totally different trans. Maybe a much more durable and lighter manual transmission of some sort or some other automatic transmission?

Or sell/trade the car and buy a Corvette or Supra/BMW, or something else?
The roof on the new Miata I test drove was too low, my head hit the roof without a helmet. Stock the Miata has zero power. For me it was kind of boring. I’m not disrespecting the Miata or its owners. I know it’s a totally different type of car and some people seem to love them. To each their own.

Trying to figure out possibly better options.

What company if any stands behind their product?

Thank you. HAPPY Thanksgiving!

2

If the car’s data recorder shows you have starved the car of oil, over-revved it, or overheated it, you will be denied warranty from any manufacturer.

Given Toyota being sued for denying warranty of blown GR86 engines… I’d take that Supra off the list.

Back in 2016 GM said they’d warranty a tracked Camaro ZL1 or 1LE so there’s that.

You have put yourself in a tricky position by modifying the suspension with BMR bits. Potentially any manufacturer, including Ford, might point to that as a problem to deny warranty.

Here’s the logic… Your suspension bits teamed up with race tires pulls much higher Gs in a corner than the car with stock suspension and road tires and you bring it in with a rod-knock from oil starvation. YOU caused the starvation because you modified the car and didn’t install a full-race oil pan so no warranty. Given your 202X model description, not sure how much warranty you have left.

The best HPDE car is one that is paid for and out of warranty. I track my 92,000 mile 2013 Mustang GT with its 6R80 automatic and it has lots of suspension upgrades. I drive it to the track on 200 to 300 treadwear tires. I run the oil level 1/4 inch above full and record the oil warning light as I drive. No zero psi excursions! And then I drive it home. I’ve owned it for more than 30K miles and tracked it 2-3-4 times a year… it has been pretty reliable for what that’s worth.

And Welcome to the forum.

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I had the race tire taken off before I left the lot with it. They were way too sticky and like having four shotguns on the car.
The car is stock other than minor Chassis in suspension upgrade are placed three parts just to Take some of the noodle out of it/chassis moving around.

4

Asking for trouble going on track. You might be good but how about idiot who hits you? Is there a difference in pain from no body damage but blown trans vs being hit by someone?

5

Simple, trade it in on a Dark Horse with the TREMEC six speed, or on a Vette, Ferrari , Porsche, Maserati, Aston Martin, or whatever.

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7

My advice is to read the warranty carefully, and if there’s any reference to track driving/exhibition or “speed contest” or “timed contest”. Then it’s a pretty safe bet that they can use that as an out to not warranty a transmission failure due to track use. Not a guarantee that they will, just that they could.

In that case, your warranty would 100% be voided. Manual swapping a modern car (or vice versa) isn’t something that can be done easily or cost effectively.

That’s a personal choice. I’m not sure the warranty verbiage is any different though, with a few exceptions, track use can void the warranty no matter what the make/model. Some niche models do allow it, I want to say the GT-350R had different terms/conditions for it’s warranty, same with the ZL-1 Camaro and Viper ACR when it was in production.

8

What exactly is wrong with your car? Have you even had it looked at yet?

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As far as I know, NO manufacturer “stands behind their product” if you use the vehicle for racing. Even the warranty booklet for a basic economy car makes clear that the warranty is voided if the vehicle is used for racing or competitive driving. And modern vehicles are able to store this information, so the manufacturer can refer to it and deny your warranty claim.

10

My car is at the dealership now for the fourth time and I’ve also had an independent shop. The dealer it is at now is the only one that would replace any parts. They tried replacing the valve body, but they’re saying that there is internal transmission damage. They’re saying it’s due to excessive driving the cars all stock except for a few chassis/suspension parts. I find this is false advertising since the car comes with: Mich. Cup 2 track tire, Recaro racing seats, track and drag driving modes, 2 front splitters, rear spoiler with Gurney flap, heat exchanger for all the fluids, etc. and Ford marketed it as as a track car.

I get the impression the dealer is going to try to void my warranty!

I’ve been doing a lot of research on this transmission and I am seeing that there is a class action lawsuit about this transmission, but I haven’t seen any results yet so I assume it’s still ongoing?

It seems very odd to me that Ford and Chevy together making this transmission would think it’s a good idea to have steel gears running on aluminum along with one of the gears having bearings on one side, but not the other. It has other problems also that Ford has TSB‘s on and aftermarket people have come out with Upgraded parts for.

How much difference does the black anodized trashcan/clutch container/outer shell make in longevity vs non anodized and steel gears. I am thinking not enough to really mater in longevity?

List of failures:

When it comes to Ford 10R80 failure points, Dunsford describes three common problems and two lesser issues that may cause your Ford 10-speed to behave erratically and eventually fail.

CDF Drum. In earlier versions of the 10R80, a poorly designed bushing inside the CDF Drum slides out of position, allowing a Teflon seal to fail, resulting in pressure loss.

Outer Shell Problems. The 10R80’s outer shells are made of aluminum, which is softer than the steel used to make the transmission’s various clutches. Sometimes these clutches stick into the divots in the outer shell, causing weird shifts.

Valve Body. Valve bodies are what control the physical shifting in an automatic transmission. But if too much fine metallic contamination collects in the valve body, they behave out of spec. Which is why Dunsford always recommends replacing valve bodies anytime a 10R transmission is rebuilt.

Torque Converter Shudder. A problem that was much more common in Ford’s earlier six-speed (6R80) transmissions. Dunsford says it’s much less common in the 10R80 but can be an occasional issue.

Gear Driven Pump Noise. Sometimes the pump in charge of moving the automatic transmission’s hydraulic fluid makes noise. Again, this is a less common issue.

[MEDIA=youtube]-5G12-_HwmY[/MEDIA]

This guy does a number of videos on the Ford/Chevy 10 speed trans:

[MEDIA=youtube]-zAUFd6kqyQ[/MEDIA]

I really do love this car and I’ve spent a lot of money to protect it and upgrade it. I’ve a really nice aftermarket stereo in it full paint protective film full ceramic coating. I only use high-quality motor oil on it. I started using mobile one supercar 5W 50 but spending another $5.5k to $11,000 just for the transmission alone does not make me happy!

And on top of it again, are these upgrades/updates truly make the transmission last for 200,000+ miles or is it just make it last 1000 miles more?
Remember only has 9k miles!
Stock engine and trans no tune!

Thank you for any of your wisdom on this car.

11

You might want to give Casey at Shiftwerks transmissions in Nashville Tn a call or email him, he builds these things and knows the in and outs of them, he also builds high performance transmissions…

If interested, PM me and I will give you his contact info if you can’t find it…

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I don’t see any way to PM you on my iPad. But yes, I am interested thank you.

13

Click on Dave’s icon. There is a red box labeled “message”. Click on it and start your PM with Dave.

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Car has 9k and you think you might keep it for 200k? I’ll take that bet.

15

(In the 10R80, planetary gear sets and the one-way clutch are vital for maintaining smooth gear shifts and appropriate gear ratios. Deficiencies in these components can lead to improper shifting or transmission failures. A faulty one-way clutch might cause skipping of gears or failure to hold power in specific gears.

Friction clutches also play a role in this system, and their wear can exacerbate these issues. Keeping an eye on gear shifting behavior can alert you to early signs of these problems. Repairing or replacing these components early can prevent costly overhauls. From: https://cartipsdaily.com/10r80-transmission-problems )

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PM sent with info…

17

You are using 5w50 oil? Is that recommended in the owners manual?

18

2nd PM sent with info…

Don’t know if you got the 1st one or not and this site is so f’d up with PM’s and other stuff right now…