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Sluggish

12K views 25 replies 17 participants last post by  Huck BB62 
#1 ·
My Raptor seems a lil sluggish when it 1st starts up... Anyone else have this?
 
#2 ·
Is the throttle setup the same as on the Mustang? No linkage, its drive by wire? If so I remember there being a weird fix to get most of the lag out. Let me look.

Oh yes now I found it. They take the box on top of the accelerator and play with the brushes in the box to get rid of any lag in the pedal. Look up Throttle lag in any Mustang forum. Hope this helps.

dly Flame Blue Raptor ordered 8-29
 
#3 ·
Are you talking about a lack of power on acceleration, a delay between throttle input and actual response or a slow/labored cranking when turning over?
 
#5 ·
Have a dealer run a quick test to see if there is anything left off or loose during assembly.

You may also want to try to manually shift it from 1st to 2nd and 3rd using medium throttle and commanding it to upshift at about 1500 to 1700 rpm. If it feels better this way, you may need to drive it for a few days to set the transmission adaptive tables.

It is normal to have a very, very slight intermittant roughness when idling in gear because the computer is constantly adjusting lean to rich trying to keep stochiometric 14.7:1. Its almost imperceptable but not if your used to an import or a car with softer mounts.

This truck also likes to shift up into 2nd almost immediately unless your hard on the gas. This can be perceived as roughness and it is sluggish when in 2nd at low speed.
 
#6 ·
I have 450 miles on mine and on wot it seems to "hold back" until 3rd gear
on that shift it really pulls good. I am thinking that the pcm is not actually
giving full throttle in the first 2 gears, a possible fly by wire issue ?
I am going to take it to the dealer and see what the Tech says about it
in my case i am thinking the Traction/Stability system may be causing this
not sure if the Ford system will throttle back the engine, but i know "other"
brands will do that to tone things down. I don't want things "toned" down
though ! will see what they say-
 
#7 ·
The problem is that the trans. upshifts too quickly, so if the engine is not warmed up the engine will try to stall but the computer keeps the motor from doing this, this is the roughness that you encounter. I have talked to the Ford techs about this and they are fully aware of the problem but have no cure for it, off side they told me the cure is the 6.2 motor, that`s BS what about the 5.4 owners i asked, they did not reply.
 
#8 ·
Well, if its an electric throttle body you can just ground the throttle body. It was one of those cheap mods in my speed 3 that made a slight difference.
And yea, the tranny upshifting too quick was one of the downfalls some article online noticed about the raptor, its always seeking 6th gear for fuel conservation.
 
#9 ·
Hope you're able to get some satisfaction from how your truck runs.

Honestly, the 5.4 has plenty of power, it can do whatever you want it to in terms of off-road (or on road) capabilities.

In my experience the engine/trans has gotten better as I drove it - probably during the first 1,000 miles.
 
#10 ·
The problem is that the trans. upshifts too quickly, so if the engine is not warmed up the engine will try to stall but the computer keeps the motor from doing this,

That pretty much describes my truck exactly. After driven for a while it accelerates awesome, Just not first thing in the morning.
 
#11 ·
I had these same problems... I felt the trans was upshifting way too fast and not downshifting fast enough but after around 1000 to 1500 miles the trans started shifting perfectly and the engine seems more powerful as well.

I would bet the PCM has some sort of "break in" program because the operation of the engine and trans definitely changed as I put miles on the truck... and the mileage has gotten a lot better too. :smileup:
 
#14 ·
I have over 3000 miles on the truck. Time or miles are not going to change the problem. People are just getting used to it, it does not go away.
You might have a problem with your truck. But please don't tell me that I'm "getting used to it". That's simply not true. There has been a definite and extremely noticeable change in the way the engine and transmission operate on my truck as I get more miles on it.

I can also measure the mileage and it has improved considerably since new.

That said, I wish you luck getting your issues sorted out. My sister spent months getting a driveability problem fixed on her brand new car. There were no codes so she was told there was nothing wrong. Then she was told by the service manager "the V-8's all surge and stumble like that sometimes, you should have bought the smaller engine they run smoother" BS. Finally one service tech agreed there was a problem and eventually got it fixed by completely replacing the PCM.

Mark
 
#16 ·
I have over 3000 miles on the truck. Time or miles are not going to change the problem. People are just getting used to it, it does not go away.
I agree. I've got almost 6000 miles on mine, and while the gas mileage has improved slightly with the break-in, the tranny issue isn't going to go away. The 5.4 does has adequate horsepower and torque, but it doesn't get to the wheels as well as it could with the current 6-speed.

It's honestly not that big of a deal to me driving around the city. In the mountains I put the truck in tow/haul mode and that helps. Ford didn't get this quite right and obviously adjustments are being made to correct on the 6.2.
 
#17 ·
Over the years I've had the annoying experience several times of a transmission hunting for the right gear on the mountainous I-15 drive from Nevada from California.

From some of what I've read, I expected the Raptor to have this "hunting" problem on this drive... but mine doesn't for some reason?

My Raptor arrived at the dealer in early December and has a production date of late October. I'm wondering if some programming changes may have been made to improve the shifting?

I've done a lot of reading and research both before and after I bought my Raptor. The only issue I remember someone from Ford commenting on was a "bogging" problem off road under excessive wheelspin conditions in deep sand. My normal driving style did not "bog" my 5.4 Raptor in deep sand.

But I was able to reproduce this "problem" by holding the gas pedal to the floor without any regards for the excessive wheelspin. The rpm climbed and the transmission shifted. But then the truck "hooked up" and the engine "bogged". So it downshifted. Wheelspin. Upshift. "bog".

I have thousands of miles of off road racing experience and I naturally tend to moderate the throttle to match the traction conditions... excessive wheelspin is just not "fast"... so I don't consider the wheelspin-upshift-"bog" a problem. My Raptor has more than enough power.

(If there is some other documentation where Ford says there is a problem with the engine or transmission, I'd appreciate seeing a copy of it!)

Mark

P.S. I usually drive "gently" until the temp gauge is near normal running temp. So if the issue is only when the engine/trans is stone cold, that could be why I haven't noticed it with my Raptor.
 
#18 ·
I agree. I've got almost 6000 miles on mine, and while the gas mileage has improved slightly with the break-in, the tranny issue isn't going to go away. The 5.4 does has adequate horsepower and torque, but it doesn't get to the wheels as well as it could with the current 6-speed.

It's honestly not that big of a deal to me driving around the city. In the mountains I put the truck in tow/haul mode and that helps. Ford didn't get this quite right and obviously adjustments are being made to correct on the 6.2.


I'm not seeing this at all.

I'm with Mark. The 5.4L has plenty of power and while one could always have more (trust me, the 6.2L folks will say the same thing), the Raptor has plenty.

I've not had a transmission hunting issue either. I will say that the transmission seemed to act differently when I first got the Raptor but it seems to have gotten better to the point where I don't notice the tranny at all on or off-road.

I assume the tranny's behavior programs itself based on the way the vehicle is being driven (common with newer vehicles). I'm quite happy with the Raptor all around.
 
#19 ·
I'm not seeing this at all.

I'm with Mark. The 5.4L has plenty of power and while one could always have more (trust me, the 6.2L folks will say the same thing), the Raptor has plenty.

I've not had a transmission hunting issue either. I will say that the transmission seemed to act differently when I first got the Raptor but it seems to have gotten better to the point where I don't notice the tranny at all on or off-road.

I assume the tranny's behavior programs itself based on the way the vehicle is being driven (common with newer vehicles). I'm quite happy with the Raptor all around.

I have never had a new vehicle, so if everything programs itself when you first start driving it how should one drive it in the beginning?
 
#20 ·
I have never had a new vehicle, so if everything programs itself when you first start driving it how should one drive it in the beginning?
That is a reasonable question az. It makes me wonder if your vehicle is adjusting to the driver during the initial break-in and you are driving it with little or no agression, will the vehicle be a wimp for the rest of its days. Or if you hammer on it from day one will it grow up to be a beast?
 
#21 ·
That is a reasonable question az. It makes me wonder if your vehicle is adjusting to the driver during the initial break-in and you are driving it with little or no agression, will the vehicle be a wimp for the rest of its days. Or if you hammer on it from day one will it grow up to be a beast?
or, if you don't drive it aggressive during break in, then decide to run it hard will it break something? and if you drive it aggressive during break in will it get sh!tty gas mileage for the rest of its life? :4-dontknow:
 
#22 ·
I would think that any "adaptive programming" would continue to adapt for the life of the Raptor. I doubt you could mess it up permanently somehow... it would probably just start to relearn when your driving style changed.

I didn't baby my Raptor (too much) when it was brand new. I drove it gently until the temp gauges were in the "normal" range... (I still do that because I think it's a good idea!) I also didn't floor it very often before 1000 miles and when I did only for a couple of seconds.

I also avoided driving at a constant speed continuously for the first thousand miles or so like the owner's manual recommends.

To get the best fuel economy a lot of people think you should accelerate very gently. My experience is that moderate acceleration is far better for economy. It's usually better to get 4 to 6 mpg for a hundred yards and then cruise at 18-25 mpg for the next mile than it is to get 10 or 12 mpg for 3/4 mile while you slowly accelerate to the speed limit.

I can only guess at the throttle position for what I feel is "moderate" acceleration... 1/4 throttle? What I can say for certain is that at whatever the throttle position is I normally use off a stop, my Raptor shifts at 2800 to 3200 rpm or so and I'm usually way out front if there's nobody ahead of me. :D

All I can say is that I'm very happy with the way my Raptor runs and shifts now that it has a few miles on it!

Mark

P.S. Unlike Dan, I do notice the trans off road! It's awesome how it holds the gear you're in and lets the engine rev even at lighter throttle settings... and when you lift off the throttle to set up for a corner it doesn't upshift like a "normal" automatic would! This really makes the Raptor fun to drive off road! I'd prefer completely manual gear selection but I have to say the off road programming in the Raptor trans is pretty good.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Here's a simple explanation for trans. adaptive learning......

"This feature is designed to increase durability and provide consistent shift feel over the life of the vehicle. This operation is considered normal and will not affect function durability of the transmission. Once the vehicle is at operating temperature, it may take several shifts at the same operating condition for the transmission to properly adapt. Over time, the adaptive learning process will fully update transmission operation. The more varied the driving habits, speed and torque, the longer it may take to adapt, but the more complete the process will be."

How you drive the truck from day one doesn't mean it will be like that forever. It constantly adapts but needs a short time frame to understand the current driving habit.
 
#26 ·
I probably haven't set a record

But my I've come out of work at minus ten degrees, no problem. I do have an autostart though so perhaps it's not a good comparison. I think it's really hard on a truck to start off right away when it's that darned cold. I usually give it five minutes to warm up. I DO wish that the seat heaters came on! Brrrr. It warms up very quickly though. The mirror heaters are great too.
 
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