Ford rushes to fix gearbox problems

[sysh]

I'd definitely ask them when I pick up my car (hopefully later this evening). I do hope they've looked into it as although I could take it back to the dealership another day to get it sorted out I feel it's quite a hassle and an inconvenience.

Note: The demo that I test drove had none of the problem, so I'm hopeful

[dannyhilton]

Having driven a few PowerShift equipped cars, it’s a very different drive to a conventional automatic, but so is a CVT. What you must remember when driving a car equipped with a DSG or PowerShift transmission is that it’s not an automatic. It behalves differently, and requires different input from the driver than a conventional automatic does to get the same results. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the advantages of such a transmission are well documented. The technology is still fairly new, so it’ll continue to evolve and become better with time. Ford has acknowledged the issue, and the fix seems to rectify the majority of issues. Unfortunately low speed jerkiness is common to manuals, so this is an issue the transmission is yet to overcome. Go drive a Golf GTI with a DSG. It can be a real pain under low speed conditions. Whack it in Sport Mode and keep it in first and it’s much better. It’s not jumping to up change / down change every five seconds as you accelerate / decelerate.

Ford know there is a learning curve with PowerShift, look at YouTube, there are numerous videos demonstrating how to get the most from the transmission.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Can anyone confirm if this update also applies to the LV Focus?

I called the service department to book an interim service and get my new sticker and she had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the above info.

2010 LV, TDCI auto.

[Pete A]

If you drive them "fairly" hard the box is fine. If you drive it like a girl then it shows the symptoms described all over this focum. I agree it shouldn't be like that but it currently is. If the update fixes it I don't understand why there's so much comment about it. If it's and identified problem then they are bound to fix it. If it is an inherant problem and they can't fix it then that's a different matter.

We found the problem during the test drive. Brand new one, showed some of these problems. Then drove one that was 700K's old and driven quite briskly and it was brilliant. I have found exactly the same with the car I bought.

[Aussie XB12SS]

Originally Posted by Pete A

If you drive them "fairly" hard the box is fine. If you drive it like a girl then it shows the symptoms described all over this focum..

Obviously you take driving a car "normally" as being driven like a girl.

[outback_ute]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Can anyone confirm if this update also applies to the LV Focus?

I called the service department to book an interim service and get my new sticker and she had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the above info.

2010 LV, TDCI auto.

That is a conventional auto not a dual-clutch I think

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by outback_ute

That is a conventional auto not a dual-clutch I think

I always get mixed up with the correct terminology. Mine is the fancy 6sp one if that helps??? It was the only auto available on the LV TDCi Focus.

[Imolator]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

I always get mixed up with the correct terminology. Mine is the fancy 6sp one if that helps??? It was the only auto available on the LV TDCi Focus.

Your car has a 6 speed Powershift transmission, its a DSG as well. I dont know how closely related it is to the current Focus DSG.

[In Focus]

The powershift on the LV TDCI is the same box as the one on the new Focus.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by In Focus

The powershift on the LV TDCI is the same box as the one on the new Focus.

Ok, well there you go. Does anyone have a reference / service bulletin number or anything I can quote to Ford next week? I'm getting an interim service done next week and when I asked a few weeks ago while booking she had NFI about this update.

[Pete A]

Me too please! I emailed my Ford Rep about this isuue and he did not know about it. So I've aksed them to get their act together. So some sort of reference will be a great help.

[Mad_Pom]

Originally Posted by In Focus

The powershift on the LV TDCI is the same box as the one on the new Focus.

I think you will find that the LV TDCI has a wet clutch powershift auto (designed to take the extra torque) and the one that is having the issues is the dry clutch DPS6 used in fiesta nd focus petrol engines.

So no update fo LV TDCi

[dburrast]

I got a call from ford on thursday. my new focus was labouring at low speeds because the transmission was in too high a gear. when the engine got hot there was a loud rattle(chatter) comming from the gearbox. i finally got the service manager to drive one for few days and he rang me agreeing that there was a problem and would take it up witht the ford reps. ford rang and said that the issues were a characteristic of the transmission when driven un der certain conditions and any part changes would have no effect. they are therefore not going to do anything about it. i told them to stick their cars up their buma nd everybody i speek to i will advise not to buy the heap of **** focus or any other ford. this is the third time ford have done this to me over the years. i am going to contact as many car mags as i can and tell them about what has been going on with this car and fords arrogance in not doing anything fix it by saying it is a characteristic.
i am also going to see what trade in i can get on the new cruze hatch.
i also asked whether ford australia read the forums and was told no they do not. there is also no way to get to management at ford you can only go through the customer relations dept. the dealers also have no power whats so ever.
ford have lost me for ever

[ConradP]

Originally Posted by dburrast

I got a call from ford on thursday. my new focus was labouring at low speeds because the transmission was in too high a gear. when the engine got hot there was a loud rattle(chatter) comming from the gearbox. i finally got the service manager to drive one for few days and he rang me agreeing that there was a problem and would take it up witht the ford reps. ford rang and said that the issues were a characteristic of the transmission when driven un der certain conditions and any part changes would have no effect. they are therefore not going to do anything about it. i told them to stick their cars up their buma nd everybody i speek to i will advise not to buy the heap of **** focus or any other ford. this is the third time ford have done this to me over the years. i am going to contact as many car mags as i can and tell them about what has been going on with this car and fords arrogance in not doing anything fix it by saying it is a characteristic.
i am also going to see what trade in i can get on the new cruze hatch.
i also asked whether ford australia read the forums and was told no they do not. there is also no way to get to management at ford you can only go through the customer relations dept. the dealers also have no power whats so ever.
ford have lost me for ever

You can get through to managment at ford, just you may not know it when speaking to them.

Either way, good luck with a poorly built cruze.

[sysh]

.. have not experience that nor would I want to, however I do find that the for my Duratec PowerShift, at low rpm.. it does feel rather tepid, unless I floor the pedal more, which is a little disappointing. I suspect it's cos the transmission is too high too..

[OzJavelin]

Should 2012 plated vehicles have the latest software for the PowerShift (great name) transmission?
Friend of mine has bought one (500km on the odo now) and it seems to have some "issues": dropping out of drive when stationary, rolling backwards on inclines (need to keep revs up for keep in gear), "extra big sloppy hydromatic style gear change from 2nd to 3rd at about 20kph" (then felt like stuck in top gear) .. and just general poor gear selection, etc.

[DeKa]

I don't think your friend is driving it correctly. It cannot be driven like a torque convertor automatic... My experience is from driving about 1500 miles in a US model.

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

it seems to have some "issues": dropping out of drive when stationary,

It will do this by design. It changes to neutral when stationary. If you lift off the brake pedal, it will go into creep mode on flat ground.

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

rolling backwards on inclines (need to keep revs up for keep in gear),

Again, it will do this by design. If you 'keep the revs up' on a hill, you are just burning the clutch out so do not do it. You should brake hard enough at a standstill to engage the hill holder function, then as you accelerate, it will disengage the brake as the clutch takes up the load.

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

"extra big sloppy hydromatic style gear change from 2nd to 3rd at about 20kph" (then felt like stuck in top gear) .. and just general poor gear selection, etc.

Not sure on this - try driving it a little more aggressively for a while and see if the behaviour goes away. It may be too used to driving like a grandma.

[OzJavelin]

Thanks for the response.

I've seen statements like this before "I don't think your friend is driving it correctly". I can't understand how an automatic gearbox (with or without a torque converter) cannot be driven "correctly"?

[outback_ute]

A lot of the autos these days have learning strategies that get too hung up on 'slow' driving and don't respond like you would expect when you want to go a bit quicker (not flooring it).

[Foconatic]

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

Thanks for the response.

I've seen statements like this before "I don't think your friend is driving it correctly". I can't understand how an automatic gearbox (with or without a torque converter) cannot be driven "correctly"?

You did mention somewhere that he had to keep the rev's up to stop the car rolling back, if he is pressing on the accelerator and a foot on the brake at the same time could also confuse the poor transmission computer.??
TPS saying go, Brake switch saying no, Computer saying What the?

[WILDB]

I personally like the way they drive, especially in the diesel models.

I've driven plenty of powershifts in both Focuses and Mondeos and have never had any issues personally, however I've had a couple of customers complain about them but once they adjust their driving style to suit the gearbox they love them.

People need to remember that these are NOT an automatic gearbox, they will feel, sound and drive totally different to an automatic.

What you are driving is a manual gearbox which automatically controls the clutch and changes gears for you, thus it will display different driving characteristics. It will roll back on hills if you don't allow it to enable hill launch assist - DO NOT use the throttle to hold the car on a hill, you will fry the clutches.

Jerkiness may be experienced during stop/start and city driving, this is again a characteristic of dual clutch manual gearboxes, in a conventional manual the same thing would be experienced. You don't have the "slip" of the torque convertor which would help smooth things out on a normal auto in such situations.

I think there is a bit of an "unknown" factor for people and these types of gearboxes as they are new technology in Ford products and are not like people have experienced previously.

[wombat66]

We have been really happy with the auto trans in ours. NO issues at all. It feels a bit different to a normal auto but it drives really well. It's not jerky at all. The hill assist thing works better than the "creep" of any other auto we have owned. The power you feel when overtaking is amazing. The only thing I would suggest is not to plant your foot when taking off at the lights.

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by WILDB

People need to remember that these are NOT an automatic gearbox, they will feel, sound and drive totally different to an automatic.

What you are driving is a manual gearbox which automatically controls the clutch and changes gears for you, thus it will display different driving characteristics. It will roll back on hills if you don't allow it to enable hill launch assist - DO NOT use the throttle to hold the car on a hill, you will fry the clutches.

Jerkiness may be experienced during stop/start and city driving, this is again a characteristic of dual clutch manual gearboxes, in a conventional manual the same thing would be experienced. You don't have the "slip" of the torque convertor which would help smooth things out on a normal auto in such situations.

I think there is a bit of an "unknown" factor for people and these types of gearboxes as they are new technology in Ford products and are not like people have experienced previously.

Makes sense ..

.. however doesn't help when Ford advertise it like this though ..

Six-speed PowerShift Automatic Transmission

Too smooth for school. Seamless, barely perceptible gear changes not only make for a dream drive, they also mean less time at the pump. Dual-clutch design lets you enjoy the optimum gear ratios of a manual, so there’s no ‘drag’ between gears, with the effortless ease of an automatic with amazing responsiveness.

I have a reasonable mechnical knowledge .. and that reads like it's just an auto (planetary gearsets, bands and all) without a torque converter. I'd be interested to read the operating manual.

I hope my friend will just wear into it and stop thinking about it too much. Can't really acuse him of driving like a grandma though .. his previous vehicles included 351C XB GS coupe, 351 XC GXL, LJ with 308, '49 Spinner with 302, A-roadster with 302, 421SD Pontiac Bonneville, etc, etc ... I think he'd be giving the little Focus the beans when applicable.

[WILDB]

Yeah, the advertising doesn't help things. People think they are getting a normal auto.

The dry clutch versions (Fiesta and GDI Focus) are the ones that seem to be copping the most flack. The wet clutch versions (Mondeo, TDCi Focus) are nicer in their operation though.

[LVzetec]

I'm not completely sure of what some of you guys are on about but I have a 2011LV Zetec auto that doesn't drive well slowly. It seems like when you slow right down, say to go around a roundabout,then go to pick up speed it feels like it slips out of gear, or selects 1st instead of second.

But, when you drive it in "manual"mode and just the gear shift to upchange it's a different car altogether.

I'm starting to wonder whether this is the correct way of driving it.

[rand0mn00b]

Originally Posted by LVzetec

I'm not completely sure of what some of you guys are on about but I have a 2011LV Zetec auto that doesn't drive well slowly. It seems like when you slow right down, say to go around a roundabout,then go to pick up speed it feels like it slips out of gear, or selects 1st instead of second.

But, when you drive it in "manual"mode and just the gear shift to upchange it's a different car altogether.

I'm starting to wonder whether this is the correct way of driving it.

I believe the only LV focus with the dual clutch is the TDCi diesel. The petrol models such as the Zetec would have had a regular auto gear box

If your LV Zetec Auto is having issues as you describe it may be having actual problems as opposed to behaving a little differently to what you're used to because of it being dual clutch

[LVzetec]

Well I thought it was having issues when I returned it for it's irst service. Unfortunately it seems to be hard to take one of the service guys for a drive so you can show them, rather they simply say we'll take it for a run. go to pick it up and they say "could not get it to show problem as customer describes"

I still think it behaves funny in the normal auto position.

[MR4ORD]

Hey guys, I have a 2.0L Powershift Sport and have not had any issues noticed here. The salesperson told me it would take about 3000k for the transmission to learn the driving patterns set and the real power/performance would show. I am now at around 2,200kms and there's a huge difference since new in how the engine/trans responds.

There is noticeable difference in the way the car now drives. I make an effort to regularly give the car a heavy right foot to make it learn to give the most and rev out the first few gears

Also I leave the car in S (Sport) mode unless going on a freeway, no need to make the car use 6 gears and put more load on it when city/urban driving only requires 4-5 gears and top speeds of 80kms

Cheers

[mik]

it sounds like an electronically shifted manual gearbox in a truck(except they still have a clutch pedal for taking off at the lights),
perhaps it does need a different method of driving. maybe ford should do an instruction video prior to people buying one so they can see if it`s the style of driving they want, there`s plenty of complaints from other brands with similar boxes.

[dannyhilton]

Originally Posted by MR4ORD

Hey guys, I have a 2.0L Powershift Sport and have not had any issues noticed here.

Do you have the petrol GDI or deisel TDCI engine mate? Just curious.