Transmission broken?
 

I know we have all had issues with the transmission jerking/shuddering sucking in general, but has anyone's actually broke and left them stranded?

I have heard and experienced several stories about the issues with the DCT but I want to know if its going to blow up in some catastrophic highway incident? Or is this thing going to last forever and just feel and act horrible?

Just curious?

There have been reports of people being almost stranded because the software controlling the DCT gets confused. Usually, a redraft seems to cure the issue. Of course, there are many stories about bad DCT behavior, but these are annoying rather than debilitating.

The good news is that the DCT itself should be as reliable as a typical manual gearbox, provided the clutch behaves. It doesn't have a torque converter to heat up the fluid, so none of the worries that attach to that in mountain or city driving. The clutch itself is a different issue: hard to say how long they will last.

Please explain 'redraft" thnx

There's a video on Youtube of a Focus that has an overheating transmission. The computer basically asks you to stop the car and wait XX minutes before resuming.

I seem to remember someone on this forum posting a story of the car basically shutting itself down when the transmission overheated. That, to me would be the same as being stranded.

In regard to longevity, I don't know how a transmission that makes such horrible grinding noises could last very long. Mine isn't doing it (yet)...I'm referring to some of the videos that people have posted. I'm imagining a lot of metal shavings sitting in the bottom of some of those gearboxes, and once the gear teeth wear down to a certain point and begin slipping past one-another, game over. I think we'll be seeing some failures on this forum or on YouTube when the miles start racking up on the cars that are making noise.

I think the gears themselves are pretty much bullet-proof. Germans know their stuff. The only things I am worried about are the clutch plates (obviously), actuators, solenoids, and synchros.

There was one owner who said the technician said their clutch wasn't only saturated with oil, but that it actually broke... I trust the gears will be fine, but I bet those synchros and shifting solenoids are getting all kinds of beat up/extra work because my clutch can slip for 3+ seconds. I just don't know if that means the "shift" itself is lasting 5+ seconds or not.

My computer and I are in a constant struggle to determine which spells the best. I believe I typed "reflash", but (and you know how uppity Apple products can be), it decided it knew better. In this case, I win.

Although, maybe it knows something I don't, like redraft = redo work done on a drafting table, or a redesign. Hmm, maybe...

Based on everything that I have read in these forums, I would say that transmission problems are extremely rare.

To my way of thinking, the transmission and clutch(es) are separate items.

I can't imagine how a slipping clutch is hard on any part of the transmission.

If anything, the transmission should be happier.

I don't understand...

The so called "grinding" noise is not made by the transmission (this has been confirmed *many* times) so how could the gears possibly "wear down"?

I guess I'm going to need to see this confirmation you speak of. Has a Ford dealership or a Ford CSM stated that this noise is coming from....the engine? The suspension? The radio?