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MK3 (2013) DCT @ dealer for repair

20K views 139 replies 33 participants last post by  mysticreach 
#1 ·
Hey guys. I made an appointment to get my oil changed for the first time (3,500 miles; bought new on 12/15/12) and decided to not tell them my issues until I got there. I explained that my car has been jerking/lunging on low speeds (starting), not shifting smootly, and vibration in the wheel and pedals (I confirmed this while driving the loaner 2012 Focus SEL with 23,500 miles - it performed closer to my 13' when it was new. He said it's likely that they will have to remove the transmission and test/inspect the it/the car. He said they may need to replace the "dual clutch system", and may need to hold the car until Tuesday.

A couple of weeks ago I spoke to my Ford Regional Customer Service person after Cory (FF) suggested I tell them about my other issue (which turned out to be normal operation) , and mentioned that I had read that many of the 2012's had issues with the clutch (oil leaking, etc) and they had to be replaced with allegedly "better" replacement parts, and I wondered if the 2013's could already have that problem. He said that if Ford knew that a replacement part was better, then (we assume) they would use it to begin with, especially the newer builds. I didn't worry about it until today, when I drove and really felt the difference between my car and the loaner. There is definately something weird going on with it. I can only hope the issue isn't too bad and that they can replace/repair the issue.

I'm looking forward to the responses/insights on this. Thanks.
I already miss my car [mecry][bigcry]
 
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#3 ·
Yeah. If it keeps happening after 2-3 thousand miles after they replace the clutch system, maybe I have a lemon case. If so, I would consider getting a manual instead.
 
#4 ·
I spoke with the tech, and he said my car is already ready - it just needed a TSB update - no need to replace seals or clutches! I mentioned to him I had read on the internet about the 2012's oil leak on clutch issue, and he said that it's not the case with the 2013's. He said that they communicate directly with Ford and they would have known about it if that was the case, and build the 2013 with that fix in mind.
He explained to me that about half of what people say online I can ignore because many people dont' know what they are talking about.

In any case, i'm excited to see my car feeling good again! I will keep you all updated!
 
#5 ·
He explained to me that about half of what people say online I can ignore because many people dont' know what they are talking about.
That's usually true. However, in the case of the MK3 Focus, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that most people's complaints are well justified.
I have the clunking in the front over bumps, grinding transmission, and random creaks/rattles in the interior. I've also had my share of MFT crashes/bugs, however nothing to the effect of being unresponsive necessitating pulling the fuse. I've brought my car in to my local dealership multiple times, and EVERY SINGLE TIME have gotten either the "unable to reproduce", "it's normal", or just not acknowledging there is a problem. I can understand it from their end, having many people coming in with the same issues, while having other cars with legitimate issues that need to be addressed.
However, I paid a lot of money for my car. I deserve to have the car performing at peak efficiency, or close enough to how it acted when I drove it off the lot.
I think the bottom line here is that Ford is unwilling to spend money on fixing "cosmetic" issues, like the grinding or clunk. Those issues do not seem to affect the car's safety or reliability, so why spend money fixing it?
We'll see as soon as people start putting more miles on their cars how well this generation of DCT holds up.
I wish I could tell you it'll be fixed once you get it back. Maybe it will. However, read through the thousands of postings here and you'll soon realize you're stuck in the same situation as the rest of us.
 
#133 ·
I wish I had the time and resources to let everyone getting the "normal" story take a drive in my vw gti dual clutch. When they were done they would need a stiff drink as it sinks in what a huge hoax is going on.

You could put your mother in a vw gti dsg and she would never know it wasn't an automatic
 
#9 ·
Like I said they said it did not need anything but a computer update. They said the clutch/seal parts (the problematic parts the 2012's) are not the same as the 2013's. On that note, may I remind you all that I am driving a 2013, not a 2012. I do believe that there were changes including the defect from the 12's. That is what I was told by 2 independent sources from Ford. And on that note, I don't think the mechanics lie because they get paid to do work on cars, not to mention they communicate directly with Ford about everything.
Anyways, I think the update helped a lot because my car feels much better now! It's so much smoother, and smoother launching especially uphill, which is when it was lunging/jerking a lot before the update. I also got my first oil change (3,500 miles) which probably helped.

Let's have some faith in Ford here, people!
 
#10 ·
There hasn't been a change to the transmission hardware since March 2012, and there have been people with 2012s and 2013s with the same reported issues that have had clutch failures, but its not a universal case.

The production software might have been different, however there has been no newer TSB released than 12B37, which went through at least two revisions before as people claim that the later programming like the 13s refuses to shift to 6th before 40 mph where as the original programming and every update until then would shift into 6th as low as 35 mph.
 
#24 ·
so pretty much here is the deal. The forum people are saying don't trust the dealers. the technicians from Ford dealerships are saying don't trust people on the forums.

I think the choice is... mostly obvious. So far no problems.
In the end.. it's still a new model car. And it's going to have glitches. Even Bentlys have glitches. if they can fix them with computer updates then that is awesome. lets give Ford some time to work out the bugs. We paid the price by buying new cars ;)
 
#25 ·
There are a bunch of stealth transmission updates that don't get TSB's or FSA's, and my dealer always just updates to the latest version when I complain about any problems and it never fixes any of them. There is a real population of real focuses with actual hardware issues and it sucks when the dealers rely on software to fix them.
 
#27 ·
That's not strictly true though as there would have been some notice of the software changes posted for the dealers to find them within the dealer connection page, however from what I've heard there has been no further revisions to the fsa 12b37 which indicates that there should not be any further software changes and they are likely only re-installing the same software over and over again. Which may seem to help at first as it wipes a portion of the memory, but it would not fix the underlying issues as those who have problems that keep coming back after a reflash can attest to.
 
#37 ·
Hey Crystal, thanks for the follow up. Like I said in the previous posts already, I've seen a great improvement after the "computer update" and first oil/filter change. We'll see if those symptoms I had come back after 3,000 miles or so (when I noticed problems before).
I also installed a Steeda cold air intake this weekend, and run Shadowfax (my car's name) on premium gas from Shell.
 
#42 ·
I brought it into dealership this morning. When I got to the dealership and described problems he recognized the problem right away - he said that Ford is aware of the trans problem on the new 13's and have built replacements.
Tech just called and said they confirmed that I need a new "clutch system" . He mentioned replacing the clutches and seals. He said it's not on back order so it should only take a day or two. Warranty covered, I'm just paying $15 a day for a loaner Focus.
We'll see if it solves the issue.

Anyone else take their 13' in and were told to you needed new clutch system, or am I the first? In either case it sucks the trans parts aren't great but its really good that Ford doesn't hesitate to acknowledge the issue and fix/replace everything.

Will keep ya'll updated.
 
#45 ·
I brought it into dealership this morning. When I got to the dealership and described problems he recognized the problem right away - he said that Ford is aware of the trans problem on the new 13's and have built replacements.
Tech just called and said they confirmed that I need a new "clutch system" . He mentioned replacing the clutches and seals. He said it's not on back order so it should only take a day or two. Warranty covered, I'm just paying $15 a day for a loaner Focus...
Thanks for the update, mishka. It sounds like things are progressing well. Let us know how the repair goes!

Not, yet but I am on the verge of visiting the dealer, my car is like Christine, today it did not make much noise at all. Nearing 500 miles, not sure if it was just a green clutch issue or what?
It sounds like it might be a good time to visit the dealership, Tubeway Army. I'm happy to do what I can to help, too; just send me your info via PM (VIN, dealer, daytime phone number, full name) and I'll get to work.

Crystal
 
#44 ·
Mine was fine and I started to hear noises around 2000-2500 miles. Then car gradually became less smooth (shifting), more vibrations, more shuddering (gradually more violent). I got the computer update around 3500 miles and it helped a lot until about 2 weeks later the symptoms started gradually returning, except faster than before. Around 4,000 miles after the car shuddered violently in traffic while driving from a red light, something under the hood made a horrible loud noise that sounded like some metal pieces being thrown around voilently and lasted a minute while i was accelorating. Since then the gears had been grinding or boaring noise - I could definatetly hear it while cruising... it was probly going on during acceleration too but I couldn't really hear it.

Are you experiencing anything similar? If so take it in... I mean the Tech DID tell me that Ford has built replacement parts and that they are aware of the issue. For that reason I think there's no reason not to take it in. Just me. Keep us updated :)
 
#47 ·
Remember this is a new model/transmission (powershift). Give Ford a chance to make things right... this is a GREAT car.

Even cars that cost $1 million can have problems, especially new models. My who works at Mercedes here said that this guy ordered a car from Germany that costed several hundred thousand dollars... brand new... all of the wiring and electronics were [:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)] up and it had to get sent back to Germany and it costed like $50,000 more

HAVE FAITH :)
 
#50 ·
Mishka,

My 2012 focus Ti (built 9/2011) with ~12k miles just had the transmission warning alert go off as I was driving up a short hill. I heard a loud clunk and some grinding and quickly applied the brakes. Luckily no one was behind me or I would have been rear-ended. I quickly did a vehicle health report and it mentioned powertrain fault. The dealers assessment was that I too needed a new clutch. They mentioned that a new "vendor" now provides the new clutch assembly although the design is the same. I'll post an update when I get the car back..


 
#58 ·
Unless your willing to take it apart, there probably won't be much to see.

The circular shaped object to the left of the picture is the dual dry clutch which is incased in a steel enclosure (cut away in the picture to show inner components. I don't know if it's serviceable, that is made to come apart with screws or ? Might be welded or pressed together/throw away component to lower cost.

 
#61 ·
I searched in google for "2013 focus problems" and found this link: http://www.lemonlaw.com/wordpress/ford-focus-transmission-problem/
I pushed control+f and searched for "2013" and several people have had the same issues as me with their 2013.
Reading stuff like this makes me... really sad and pissed off. It's discouraging me from modding any further... as the car might turn out to be a lemon... in fact they all might be lemons after a read like that.
After my clutch system get's replaced i'm going to drive the car hard. really hard. I'm not going to waste any more time waiting for problems to happen. I'd rather have them happen sooner then later. If my car is also a lemon then it would be nice to find that out while it's still under warranty.

All I can say is... this new clutch system better be freaking perfect or else I"m taking the car in again and calling an attorney.

I'm sorry to anyone if I sound angry.. I dont mean to offend anyone. Its just that I spent $19k on my first car and apparently most of them are POS...
 
#62 ·
My 2013 is at the dealership with the same issue. They are replacing the new clutch system as well. My car is only 2 months old with a little over 1300 miles on it. Had it to the dealership 3 times for the same issue. First time they said just keep driving it, it will get better...NOT!!! We talked to the dealership about trading, but they won't give us what we paid for it, even though it's a LEMON!!! They want us to eat $7,000...not going to happen.
 
#63 ·
I'm sorry to anyone if I sound angry.. I dont mean to offend anyone. Its just that I spent $19k on my first car and apparently most of them are POS...
My first car too - $26.5k. It has really left a bad taste in my mouth - I'll probably never buy a new car ever again. Kinda sad when you think about it.
 
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#64 ·
Has anyone had their 2013 clutch system replaced and is already driving with the replacement clutch system? If so please let us know how it performs.

Yes, Praton, it's sad. I mean the car is the fastest in it's class and still gets 40mpg and less than $20k. If they could just get the transmission right it would be fine... I mean.. the car isn't perfect... but there is nothing else out there for this price that is as good (if you ignore the transmisson...)

Ford makes me want to smash things.
 
#65 ·
Hmm - fordparts seems to infer that 2013s built after 2/13/2013 have a different clutch kit than those build from 07/23/12-2/12/2013. No one knows what's up with that though, right?

EDIT: Hmm - I can't even find the 7C604 (AE8Z-7C604-A) at a component level other than the exploded view and adding to the cart. I wanted to see if the actuators were superseded at any point in assembly.
 
#66 ·
It's kind of interesting to have watched (read) as you've gone from encouraging the 'Ford believers' to wanting to smash things. That's not meant to be a disparaging remark, just interesting to have watched it occur in 30 days.

I have empathy for those that have issues. While I don't have transmission issues (yet), I am plagued with the clunk. I understand peoples' frustration with having spent their hard-earned money (mine is a nearly fully-loaded Ti) on a vehicle to have to be told that their issues are 'normal' or that they simply need to drive it more. After watching the video and then following the Lemon Law link..

On the positive side, be thankful that you appear to have a decent dealership. They seem to be at least attempting to get your vehicle fixed, and that is a lot more than many of us have gotten. Hopefully all will turn out well for you in the end.
 
#70 ·
It's funny, Dyn, I was thinking the same thing just before I read your post. I know a few days ago I was saying "have faith." Now i'm really pissed. I guess it's because it was confirmed by the tech (he called me last night) and said I need new clutch system. He told me that would probly be the case, but the stress and frustration didn't kick in until he called last night. The stress is literally making me sick. THe whole reason I bought brand new because I didn't want any problems. [?|]
Maybe I am being a little inpatient. Maybe I should chill and give it some more time, at least closer to end of my limited warranty, for Ford to come up with a "fix" or "update" or whatever.
If it is really just a computer/programming issue... they should be able to come up with a fix right?
Anyways, we'll see how this new "clutch system" performs.
Previously I had a computer update.
So far 2 times to dealer: 1 cpu update, 1 new clutch system

we'll see....
 
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