Ford Territory Gearbox & Transmission Problems

The transmission probably needs servicing at the least, perhaps even rebuilding. Have a mechanic check it.

Ford has a responsibility to repair any faults found in their cars, so you do have a case for some assistance in locating the cause of the downshifting problem and fixing it to your satisfaction.

You could visually check the transfer case and CV joints, but I doubt you’ll see anything that might tell there’s a problem with them. It could also be a diff. Get it to a specialist mechanic and have them check it for you.

The idle speed is possibly too low. Take it to a mechanic and have it checked.

It's not uncommon to hear of transmission troubles with the Territory. I'd suggest you get a second opinion by taking it to an independent automatic transmission specialist who should be able to diagnose the trouble and suggest a fix.

We'd like to think that our cars would last longer and not give us trouble, but the reality is quite different to that. The ZF 6-speed gearbox is a troublesome one that can fail, as yours appears to have done. But as Ford has pointed out to you your Territory is out of warranty, although that doesn't end Ford's responsibility to back the product. You could pursue a full payment for replacing the transmission from Ford, but I doubt you would have any success. Should you choose to do that contact your state Consumer Affairs people in Perth for advice and support. But in my view your best course of action would be to accept Ford's offer of part payment.

The auto transmission is a fill-for-life unit, which means that you don't have to have it serviced for the life of the vehicle, whatever that means. For mine the auto should be regularly serviced, particularly when the vehicle is being used for towing, as yours is. There is no hard and fast rule, but in your case I would have it serviced annually.

Unfortunately I don't think there is much you can do about it, the car is 10 years old and well beyond the warranty. It's even stretching the limit where you might expect goodwill. You bought an old car without inspecting it, took the salesman's word, and bought a model with known issues.

We haven't had any reports specifically relating to the Territory, ours have all been about the Falcon.

There can be problems with this transmission as the kays climb, and they're expensive to fix, but yours would seem to be relatively new and unlikely to be affected by age issues. The transmission does have a heat exchanger, which can split, and when it does it allows the transmission fluid and coolant to mix, which is a deadly scenario for an auto trans. But our auto transmission specialist says he hasn't seen a lot of them in his shop.