DCT / PowerShift Transmission Update TSB Thread

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by allyy

The letter clearly states if you are haveing issues described. I dont have a scanner so i cant post the letter. If you have a scanner it would be nice to see what your letter says. Thanks

The letter clearly states that if you have damage that occurs to the vehicle as a result of not having the FSA performed in a timely manner Ford may deny your warranty coverage because you purposefully chose to ignore a software update designed to improve the experience, see quoted exerpt from the letter below.

"What should you do? Please call your dealer without delay and request a service date for Customer Satisfaction Program 12B37. Provide the dealer with the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of your vehicle. The VIN is printed near your name at the beginning of this letter. If you do not already have a servicing dealer, you can access www.Fordowner.com for dealer addresses, maps, and driving instructions. Ford Motor Company wants you to have this service action completed on your vehicle. The vehicle owner is responsible for making arrangements to have the work completed. Ford Motor Company can deny coverage for any vehicle damage that may result from the failure to have this service action performed on a timely basis. Therefore, please have this service action performed as soon as possible."

Therefore its not in one's best interest to leave well enough alone if you think it was ok, and that the new program can't improve it was at your own risk, as damage that may have occurred after your denial of the upgrade can cause warranty headaches down the road.

[allyy]

Originally Posted by suss6052

The letter clearly states that if you have damage that occurs to the vehicle as a result of not having the FSA performed in a timely manner Ford may deny your warranty coverage because you purposefully chose to ignore a software update designed to improve the experience, see quoted exerpt from the letter below.

"What should you do? Please call your dealer without delay and request a service date for Customer Satisfaction Program 12B37. Provide the dealer with the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of your vehicle. The VIN is printed near your name at the beginning of this letter. If you do not already have a servicing dealer, you can access www.Fordowner.com for dealer addresses, maps, and driving instructions. Ford Motor Company wants you to have this service action completed on your vehicle. The vehicle owner is responsible for making arrangements to have the work completed. Ford Motor Company can deny coverage for any vehicle damage that may result from the failure to have this service action performed on a timely basis. Therefore, please have this service action performed as soon as possible."

Therefore its not in one's best interest to leave well enough alone if you think it was ok, and that the new program can't improve it was at your own risk, as damage that may have occurred after your denial of the upgrade can cause warranty headaches down the road.

Good thing for you that you had yours done.

[Power Surge]

Originally Posted by suss6052

The letter clearly states that if you have damage that occurs to the vehicle as a result of not having the FSA performed in a timely manner Ford may deny your warranty coverage because you purposefully chose to ignore a software update designed to improve the experience, see quoted exerpt from the letter below.

"What should you do? Please call your dealer without delay and request a service date for Customer Satisfaction Program 12B37. Provide the dealer with the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of your vehicle. The VIN is printed near your name at the beginning of this letter. If you do not already have a servicing dealer, you can access www.Fordowner.com for dealer addresses, maps, and driving instructions. Ford Motor Company wants you to have this service action completed on your vehicle. The vehicle owner is responsible for making arrangements to have the work completed. Ford Motor Company can deny coverage for any vehicle damage that may result from the failure to have this service action performed on a timely basis. Therefore, please have this service action performed as soon as possible."

Therefore its not in one's best interest to leave well enough alone if you think it was ok, and that the new program can't improve it was at your own risk, as damage that may have occurred after your denial of the upgrade can cause warranty headaches down the road.

That is just standard text written on all recalls and field service actions to cover Ford's butt. The fact that this is a "customer satisfaction" program, means that Ford will try to resolve an issue that the CUSTOMER feels in unsatisfactory, but is not potentially dangerous or damaging. It is a voluntary program.

But, as you said, Ford COULD use that the FSA was not done as an excuse for future claim denial. It would be HIGHLY unlikely though. How would they prove you even got the letter and read it?

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by allyy

Good thing for you that you had yours done.

I never had to have an update done to mine as it was built with the latest software. This fix only applied to units built prior to 3/28/12, Mine was built 4/23/12 and hasn't given me any trouble yet in almost 1300 miles. I even got over 37 mpg with the a/c on full most of the last tank, but that was via the first 80 miles of commuting to and from work and around town until Thursday evening, then a pair of weekend trips, one to an amusement park in Ohio, the other to the Chrysler Chelsea Proving grounds for an SAE conference, and then back to home again.

If you've had issues with the update I would probably try resetting the computer by disconnecting the battery, but if that doesn't help then perhaps you'll be best served by finding another car with a torque converter. I however prefer driving a DCT before a torque converter automatic, and in traffic at least put it still ahead of a manual. Although if traffic wasn't as much of an issue and there was a 6MT with a tall over drive gear, and the same final drive as the current MTX-75, or DPS6 I might have considered it.

The ST has great potential, but the clutch is a bit of an on/ off switch if you're not used to the clutch on a higher performance fwd car.

[fcbaldwin]

based on what i've read here, I'll go ahead and ask for the reprogram. But...the front end problems are what is scaring me big time. So I want that fixed first.

[VOLDAR]

I had my update done some time ago and I can say the car is still great to drive. At 62 mph (100 km/h) I saw on a highway strech of 36 km, 5.2 l/100km = 45 mpg. I have to say that it was right after I fill it up. I never saw this kind of reading in the same conditions before this FSA. Usually it was 5.9 l/100km = 40 mpg. Because I don't like to drive like a grany and usually doing 70 mph = 112 km/h, I average on highway 6.8 l/100 km = 34 mpg for the same distance. I don't have yet any long distance highway to really have a better idea about how it performs lets say in a trip from Montreal to Toronto = 500 km (313 miles). But the car has almost 20 000 km already and I love it. Only if it had a larger tank...

[craigsfocus]

Originally Posted by VOLDAR

I had my update done some time ago and I can say the car is still great to drive. At 62 mph (100 km/h) I saw on a highway strech of 36 km, 5.2 l/100km = 45 mpg. I have to say that it was right after I fill it up. I never saw this kind of reading in the same conditions before this FSA. Usually it was 5.9 l/100km = 40 mpg. Because I don't like to drive like a grany and usually doing 70 mph = 112 km/h, I average on highway 6.8 l/100 km = 34 mpg for the same distance. I don't have yet any long distance highway to really have a better idea about how it performs lets say in a trip from Montreal to Toronto = 500 km (313 miles). But the car has almost 20 000 km already and I love it. Only if it had a larger tank...

I drove to Midland, TX from Austin, TX (approx 330 miles) last weekend. I got 37 MPG. Its sort of a hilly route to drive. I had the update done quite sometime ago, I think late May. I average 34 MPG on my daily commute to work (62 Miles one way). I have 5300 miles on my car to date, with zero problems or complaints

I have the letter from Ford regarding the FSA if anyone wants it scanned, I can scan it.

[Kaaru]

Originally Posted by VOLDAR

I had my update done some time ago and I can say the car is still great to drive. At 62 mph (100 km/h) I saw on a highway strech of 36 km, 5.2 l/100km = 45 mpg. I have to say that it was right after I fill it up. I never saw this kind of reading in the same conditions before this FSA. Usually it was 5.9 l/100km = 40 mpg. Because I don't like to drive like a grany and usually doing 70 mph = 112 km/h, I average on highway 6.8 l/100 km = 34 mpg for the same distance. I don't have yet any long distance highway to really have a better idea about how it performs lets say in a trip from Montreal to Toronto = 500 km (313 miles). But the car has almost 20 000 km already and I love it. Only if it had a larger tank...

Woa !! Impressive numbers. The best I could get before 12B37 was 6.2 going 100 KPH on highway 30 going to Varenne. Needless to say I didnt make any friends on the highway on that day going 100 KPH, but, I needed to see what kind of numbers I'd pull from some granny driving. In regular condition, the best I had was 7.5 (St-Constant to corner Papineau/Metropolitain in Montreal).

Last nite comming back from the dealer (Laval to St-Constant) I got pretty ordinary numers: 28.9 MPG or 8.1L/100. Maybe things will get better after a 1000 Km ''break in'' of the new tranny software, who knows?

I had FSA 12B37 done yesterday so I'll be monitoring my fuel situation closely. So far, I like very much how the tranny reacts, it's more responsive, has less hesitation and dear God, I even had a kickdown mergring onto highway trafic last nite. I noticed that Iddle drops to 500/600 RPM's and it still shuders but very lightly compared to before. anyways, 12B37 sounds like a sucess to me. I hope the tranny will still behave during winter time as I had troubles adjusting to avoid TC to kick in at each stop and go.

[ricomtl]

I had the update done less than 2 weeks ago but the dealer handed it back to me and said "Have a good day". I forgot to ask if I had to treat the car any differently!?

Should I be driving the car like I was in the first 1000 miles (break in period) for the next 1000 miles again?

I'm planning a trip from Mtl-NYC tomorrow and wondering I should be using the cruise control or vary speed continuously?

[kam327]

Originally Posted by ricomtl

I had the update done less than 2 weeks ago but the dealer handed it back to me and said "Have a good day". I forgot to ask if I had to treat the car any differently!?

Should I be driving the car like I was in the first 1000 miles (break in period) for the next 1000 miles again?

I'm planning a trip from Mtl-NYC tomorrow and wondering I should be using the cruise control or vary speed continuously?

Nah, that's just to break in new hardware and you (presumably) didn't have any hardware replaced.