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Oil Leak: Dealer said Ford stated This is NORMAL

74K views 179 replies 61 participants last post by  Remog 
#1 ·
I took my car in because there's oil seeping from between the Engine and The Transmission. Also a very metallic rattle when the car is in 6th gear and low RPM's. Like going up an incline at almost 40mph.

I just got a call and they said the tech couldn't reproduce the noise and the Oil leak is normal. Its not oil she said,. its some sort of factory fluid that they use during assembly and quite normal for it to leak.

I have officially HEARD THEM ALL now!. THank you FORD!.

I told her that It never did that before and she said that the Tech has had quite a few cases where they saw that same leak and contacted Ford and was told that was a Normal condition of this vehicle. [facepalm]
 
#162 ·
Well its been 10 days, haven't heard from the dealer since I called last week to find out they have a clutch ordered for it, which the clutches are on backorder and the shipping company Ford hired for the region went bankrupt, which has really messed up getting parts to the dealers. Got a call last Wednesday from the Ford customer service manager for the area. She said the clutch was ordered but didn't know if the input shaft seals were ordered. So I left work early and went to the dealership to talk to the service writer who said they were doing it by the TSB and they won't know whats leaking without taking the car apart. Which really pissed me off, how do they know it needs a clutch without inspecting it first when the TSB says to inspect the clutch for contamination. And why wouldn't you look at both concerns I brought it in for. I wish I wasn't so busy at work or I would have done it myself. Hopefully it all works out and the car will be ok. Rant over.
 
#163 ·
Guess I will resurrect this and say:
just got a call from my dealer during a routine oilchange they found a leak at the rear-seal and suspect it may be this TSB/issue.

Unfortunately their transmission guy just went on 2 week vacation.[:(]

I will ride it out for another two weeks and hope for the best. There are some other Ford dealers (like the one I bought my vehicle from) but I really prefer the one doing my oilchange...

Wish me luck I guess
 
#168 ·
Guess I will resurrect this and say:
just got a call from my dealer during a routine oilchange they found a leak at the rear-seal and suspect it may be this TSB/issue. I will ride it out for another two weeks and hope for the best.
I'd like to jump in here and refer you to Kwasi (my counterpart at FordServiceCA), etherboy. Please send him a PM here with your full name, best daytime phone number, VIN, mileage, and servicing dealership; he'll look into options.

Todd
 
#166 ·
I didnt have mine long and i got a red fluid, either coolant or trans fluid, leaking all over the felt ish pan under the transmission and motor.. Took it in for routine maintenance and whamo, it didnt.leak. Dunno if it was a spill from my previous routine check up or if it was leaking and they just sealed it.my dealer is shady like that...
 
#169 ·
I have a 2014 ford focus se 5spd. I drive it a lot, I mean 12,XXX miles in 5 months a lot. (Because of school and work) I recently did my second oil change and notice a sizable oil leak on the opposite end of the tranny. So it's leaking either from the 1.) oil pump seal, the valve cover seal and is dripping down on the bottom front of the block of the passenger side, or from another (possibly) more internal seal after the timing belt, if there is one. I'm pretty hand under the good and can do all my own mechanic work on my cars, but this car shouldn't be leaking at 12,XXX?! I'm taking it in next week to see what they say. I'll also post a thread in this section with pictures. We'll see what my dealer tells me I guess.
 
#171 ·
Sent a PM to Todd.

Had the issue serviced at 10,600 miles in November.
Now at 17,5XX miles and did my oil change and noticed it was wet there again. This seeps as much oil if not more than my 1993 Taurus SHO with 130k miles. And that car's has seen many many hard miles as my summer/track car.
 
#177 ·
Sorry to jump into an existing thread, but

I am having this problem with a 2012 Focus SEL that was purchased in June of '12.

This is third time in a row that I've had this issue. Seems to happen every 6 months or so. The first transmission issue was a recall and fixed. Then since I've been back in again to have the clutch seals replaced for fluid on the clutch.

Now, this week, I am hearing the tell-tale rattle in the front end, hesitant and jerky acceleration, and shuddering between first and second gear. It's not happening every time, but it's getting progressively worse. I plan to take it back in, but man, this is nuts.

I can't keep doing this.. It is under warranty and all, but there has to be a way to fix it 'for good'.

Any options, or am I basically stuck with this problem? I don't drive it hard, it's mostly city driven, and it has ~36k on the odo. Awesome car other than this. Really.
 
#179 ·
The dealer should able to fix it. Have they actually taken the trans apart or have they just been reflashing the pcm/tcm with new software and sending you away..? Make sure they understand this is a reoccuring problem. If the problem keeps returning the clutches are likely contaminated with fluid due to leak. Most will become an external leak which is hard to detect on your own unless you have the lower engine cover off. But even with a slight internal leak the clutches can be contaminated and give you a bad shudder. If they are a good dealer they should be able to diagnose this pretty easy and repair the problem. Some occasional shudder is normal with this trans, so keep that in mind too, also clicking noises here and there are normal and it will never feel like a regular auto trans......it's two manual tranmissions stuck together with electronic clutches
 
#180 ·
True a certain amount of shudder is normal, but I know the difference between normal and non in this case.

The chatter is very distinct and only occurs at very specific times during acceleration and is usually accompanied by the shudder, and in those cases the rpms fluctuate at the same time up and down. once it has transitioned through second gear, it dies down.

In a couple of specific cases, with a lot of hills (the noise and behavior is more acute when accelerating up even mild inclinations) I have even noticed what smelled like a hot clutch in the cabin.

I have also noticed that at times it is particularly noticeable, the car has a hard time with acceleration and seems to struggle accelerating, and the rpms vary more. Noticed when passing, or acceleration to speed on highway.

I know that the first time I had it in, they reprogrammed the car to fix two issues. The Rollback issue, and the transmission, and they also replaced the clutch seals. Second time, they replaced the clutch seals and sent me on my way. This time around, i am not sure. I've been told by others to insist on a replacement trans. But I doubt they would even consider that.

I guess we'll see.
 
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