DCT / PowerShift Transmission Update TSB Thread

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by Brabs_Weather

New update needs to adapt more to your driving habits. How do you drive. I keep hearing people shifting around 1500-2000, hypermiling and 6th gear below 40mph. Would you guys drive a stick like this.

I think with the variety of issues after the update it has to be the driver. My car is in the shop getting the update. I will have to provide my feed back tonight.

With my 1.6L Prizm and 5 speed manual I would shift below 2000 rpm in town as that was how I was tought to drive by my father, and if you don't need all the power that accelerating harder would provide why waste fuel getting the car up to speed only to have to stop again. Now I had put over 44,000 miles on that car in 3 years and only really had to take care of maintanance and the timing belt at least mechanically. Never had to change a clutch, even though I did occasionally wind it out, and getting on the freeway meant winding it up to at least 3000 rpm before shifting or it would have no torque available to merge.

Now having said that in the Focus with the DCT I don't always try to keep to a minimum pressure on the throttle, prefering to give it the chance to rev up more regularly, and the only oddities have been more so due to traffic conditions than the gearbox itself. It will bang home perfect redline shifts every single time, something that would be harder with a manual unless you had more experience. Since traffic can be quite mad sometimes you have to go quickly from crawling behind a stupid bus/ van going maddenly slow up the on ramp to slam on the brakes then the gas because there was a car in the right hand lane going slowly but occupying the same space at almost the same time as you were supposed to, then flooring it to avoid a pickup truck behind that car. The car jumps down a gear or 3 it feels like instantly then winds up to 4-5k in search of more torque.

[Brabs_Weather]

So got the car back yesterday. The TSB was applied and have to say I did not really notice much on the ride home. However this morning to car was very smooth through the gears pulling very steady. The low speed gear noise or chatter is still there and the Service Manager who I trust very much said it in fact is normal at low RPM shift ~(2000-2500). The front end clunk from the strut, sway bar or spring was not noticeable when on smooth roads, but I did hear it on rougher roads. Very faint. The gas mileage at 65-67mph was ~40mpg which is my sweet spot. The car definitely has changed for the better, but was not really bad in the first place.

[WizeGuyDezignz]

Guys, so I got my car about a month ago. On Etis it shows nothing outstanding that needs to be done to my car, but I've always been skeptical about this update.

Today, I just so happened to be stuck on a hill waiting for a trash truck to pull in somewhere. So to test stuff out, I took my foot off the gas and my car rolled backwards until I pressed on the brake. Didn't the new FSA take care of that?

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by WizeGuyDezignz

Guys, so I got my car about a month ago. On Etis it shows nothing outstanding that needs to be done to my car, but I've always been skeptical about this update.

Today, I just so happened to be stuck on a hill waiting for a trash truck to pull in somewhere. So to test stuff out, I took my foot off the gas and my car rolled backwards until I pressed on the brake. Didn't the new FSA take care of that?

First of all it needs to detect that you were on a hill.

Prior to it being engaged you needed to press the brake and hold the brake pedal down. It does not work just based on taking your foot off the gas until the car stops and then starts to roll backwards as all you proved there was that you can get it to go into neutral.

If you don't start out with your foot on the brake hard enough, or long enough for the sensors to detect that the car is on an incline the system is inactive. Hill start assist only engages the brakes for 2-3 seconds to give you enough time to get your foot off of the brake pedal and onto the gas pedal.

If you never had your foot on the brake then the system was not active.

Even if the system was active but you did not put your foot on the gas after letting off of the brake for greater than the time it would take even some one with a really slow reaction time (2-3 seconds to move your foot sideways less than 2 feet) then yes it can and will roll back if there is not sufficient drive torque from the slipping clutch as it creeps forward on its own trying to mimic a torque converter auto.

[SG Noodles]

I am scheduled for the latest update with the dealer on Tuesday. I only noticed the hard shifts at low rpm on hills in my driveway, which sucks because if it lurches I am likely to hit my wifes car <_< It has lurched a couple times, but so far no damage done LOL. Hopefully this will correct it somewhat, but it isn't very often aside from my driveway, but have noticed some hard shifts. Also, getting the passenger side wiper motor housing replaced under recall. Still love the car though!!!

[allyy]

Be careful with the update if you are going in for it. It doesnt work well with the base model transmission. Drive (D) Low (L)
The car shifts into second gear at 10 mph and thisrd atb 20 mph at lows speeds way to high of a gear if you have to take your foot off the gas then try to give it more gas again . The car is going to slow to drive in that gear

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by allyy

Be careful with the update if you are going in for it. It doesnt work well with the base model transmission. Drive (D) Low (L)
The car shifts into second gear at 10 mph and thisrd atb 20 mph at lows speeds way to high of a gear if you have to take your foot off the gas then try to give it more gas again . The car is going to slow to drive in that gear

As far as I know the actual gear change speeds have not been changed over the previous transmission software, at least if you drive normally. This has been mentioned previously through data comparisons from those with and without the latest software update.

However if you are constantly trying to hyper mile/ use too light a throttle position it does shift at or around 2000 rpm for fuel economy, however with a little bit more throttle pressure the car will shift from 2000-3000 rpm, a bit more than that up to 4500-5000, and at wot it will shift normally at redline, even when the PowerShift gearbox is left in Drive. Low emulates sport mode/ select shift automatic mode with the exception of not using 6th gear until you're going really quickly.

If you would please refrain from trying to scare people from getting the software update just because you aren't satisfied with it and try to stick to facts rather than corrupting them with your opinion that every single unit is a prototype and not fit for the road.

If I was not satisfied with the car I would either have never bought one in the first place, or tried to sell it as soon as possible.

P.S. I do not work for Ford, or any automobile manufacturer on a direct basis. I am however a mechanical engineer and appreciate the way it works like a manual transmission controlled by a computer which is what it is.

The Cruze 1.4L turbo with a 6 speed hydra-matic torque converter was a poor powertrain combination, at least for any spirited driving, it fell apart on the autocross course that GM had set up on their proving ground. That was one of the cars I had compared prior to ordering my Focus.

I have also driven the current generation of Corolla, and it felt solid enough if I didn't have anything but my 1994 Prizm to compare against, but it still uses a four speed automatic transmission, and it just felt numb and lifeless by comparison to the joy I get from driving my Focus.

The 2013 Dodge Dart is even heavier than the Cruze, sure its a little bit larger as well, bordering on being a mid sized car, but if you're not pushing it on a track it felt composed at normal speeds. The 1.4L multi air turbo is paired with either a 6 speed manual (which has the cheesiest chromed plastic shift knob), or a 6 speed DCT, the 9 speed automatic comes later. The base 2.0L i4 isn't as refined as the GDI engine in the Focus either, as its an evolution of the Chrysler/Hyundai/Mitsubishi i4 family that was initially built as a joint venture project but ended up with Chrysler taking majority control. Its not that its a bad car, its just not quite as much fun to drive, nor did it feel quite as well built as the Focus. Albeit it was nice that it actually had an available 6 speed manual, and that made it fun to try and rev match, drop a gear or two and spool up the turbo, but that would be bad for fuel economy. The cubby hole under the seat base was interesting though.

I tried several cars in this class and the Focus with the DCT is clearly at the front of the automatic pack for me. However had the normal non ST Focus been available with a 6 speed manual with a super tall double or possibly nominally triple over drive I might have taken that instead had it been available for my particular car. The DPS6 however is a good transmission that needed a few software tweaks to appease the general public who is used to the sloppy nature of a torque converter which can mask many of the vibrations and direct connections between the engine and the gearbox. The latest torque converter automatics are much better than they used to be as far as power and efficiency, however there is no denying that the mechanical advantage they provide at low speeds comes from the slippage of the fluid coupling which allows the car to always move forward without the brake applied. Unless the car does not generate enough torque to over come gravity, in which case it will still roll backwards.

[Kaaru]

Originally Posted by allyy

Be careful with the update if you are going in for it. It doesnt work well with the base model transmission. Drive (D) Low (L)
The car shifts into second gear at 10 mph and thisrd atb 20 mph at lows speeds way to high of a gear if you have to take your foot off the gas then try to give it more gas again . The car is going to slow to drive in that gear

Good God, please go away and stop spreading false information will you? The more you do this, the less credibility you have...if you have any left, anyways. You dont like the car? I can understand that. You are not happy about it? I can understand that too. But you'll acheive nothing here regarding this be acting like you are right now. Take a lawyer, have fun with your Lemon act or whatever it is, spend a fortune in Lawyer fee and seetle this in court, not here. I'm sick of this pathetic, pittyfull, sad spectacle you give us every day.

[descentgate]

Okay, I'm 2400+ Miles in after I had the update done. Just did a cross country trip which included the hills of Appalachia for a good chunk of it. Some notes:

1) Sticky-Hill-Assist? The hill assist seems to be so aggressive at holding the brakes that my brake pedal has a notchy / sticky feel as you release the brake on a hill (more notchy as the hill grade increases). I'm not sure if anyone else has been experiencing that too. I had an update done last year (see beginning of thread) and I never experienced this type of brake pedal feel with that update or the previous update or even the original transmission programming.
2) 1->2 Shift at low speeds - Car is more reluctant to shift at low speeds from 1->2 at low RPM (the minimum that shift takes place unless I try to trick the computer is at 2000 RPM. The laggy 1->2 shift I used to have is eliminated.
3) Uphill shudder Got stuck in a traffic jam in Pennsylvania. The traffic was moving uphill. After hours of moving the car at about 65 mph, the creeping was quite shuddery than normal (over about 2 miles). Now back here in the city, the creeping in-town is well-behaved on more level ground, and even on uphills. Downshifts were a bit more jerky when executed after a long period of high speeds. It seems transmission temperature dramatically affects shift quality in the Focus.
4) Overall: - Satisfied with the experience on the road trip. The transmission heats up when consistently at long speeds. However, pretty satisfied with the transmission so far (never truly complained about it :).

[r1derbike]

Originally Posted by allyy

Be careful with the update if you are going in for it. It doesnt work well with the base model transmission. Drive (D) Low (L)
The car shifts into second gear at 10 mph and thisrd atb 20 mph at lows speeds way to high of a gear if you have to take your foot off the gas then try to give it more gas again . The car is going to slow to drive in that gear

You do know that accelerator travel goes all the way to the floorboard stop, no?

At least mine does.