Think I figured out the shuddering when starting from a stop...can't believe it

[FrostedG]

Forgive the cross-post, but I've been trying to reproduce my extremely intermittent, low speed, low acceleration, transmission shaking. I've only experienced this a handful of times, and it seems to occur under very specific conditions. If you're interested, I put the details in my most recent post to http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=295215&page=11 - #126. I am going to make a habit of turning the traction control off, and wait for the exact conditions to present themselves.

[TboneZX3]

Originally Posted by raptor1956

2. Some new gears due to grinding

Synchros will definitely need to be replaced if grinding is present. Gears are a possibility.

[hotleadsingerguy]

Originally Posted by jellybean

I have had my car since January. Things are going from bad to worse. It has been in the shop probably 5 times. Enterprise Rental know me. I am very patient and have always given my dealer and Ford Customer Service on this board credit when due. Sorry if I am a little bit skeptical at this point.

Lemon Law time. If your car has been at the dealership for 30 days or more in the first year (or 18,000 miles, whichever comes first), or they've attempted to fix your issue a reasonable amount of times (3+ for the same issue or 8 for any issues) and failed, you qualify for the lemon law in most states.

My problem is these problems started after the update that they forced on me. My car worked great for the first year, and then they updated the transmission and the car bombed out. Since then my car has been at the dealership probably 7 times with no resolution in sight. They told me the headliner stain was something that "I must have caused", despite my initial dealership saying they're certain it's the adhesive that holds the headliner to the A-pillar. Ford denied the claim.

[dan50]

Originally Posted by smizak

Where did you get that information? I've never seen any of these reps admit to a problem anywhere, they just say to contact them.

Ford handing me a piece of paper explaining the transmission and basically telling me that I'm an ignorant yokel who doesn't understand the technology gives me no confidence at all that they are working on a solution or give a crap about their customers.

Take a look at post 27 (9/28/12) of a thread titled "The competition", for one. Ford and the dealer network are both exposed here and while neither is exactly distinguishing themselves, the dealer network sure seems to be a big part of the problem.

[narkotskyb]

1st update.
Kind of got lucky today - my rental car is Focus! with almost exact mileage as mine. So I'm going to drive it a around a lot today to see how it behaves but on a short run back from dealership it DID NOT do any of the things I am so displeased with mine. Most importantly power delivery while going uphill is completely predictable, normal and fast as I would expect from any car with 160 hp engine. Drove it with TCS off will try with TCS on later today as well. Comparing two side by side it like night and day. Basically driving rental now bring back memory of my test drive and the reason I bought the Focus to begin with. If Ford/dealership will come back with their normal BS again about 'normal limits' I swear to our maker I'll tell 'em I'll keep rental instead.

[PratoN]

Originally Posted by narkotskyb

If Ford/dealership will come back with their normal BS again about 'normal limits' I swear to our maker I'll tell 'em I'll keep rental instead.

Love it.

[dan50]

[QUOTE=gkirk;4397274]Agree with all that. I'd add that I'm not 100% sure who makes the DCT, but ford would simply turn around and sue the shit out of them for whatever it costs them.

Getrag makes the DCT at a plant in Mexico. I expect they and Ford are already having pretty spirited discussions. If Ford is responsible for the software (likely), attributing blame for this debacle could get really interesting.

Hmm. My iPad just tried to correct "Getrag" to "Get rag". To wipe up the leaks, maybe?

[PratoN]

Originally Posted by dan50

Getrag makes the DCT at a plant in Mexico. I expect they and Ford are already having pretty spirited discussions. If Ford is responsible for the software (likely), attributing blame for this debacle could get really interesting.

Yes, Getrag (a German company?) makes the DCT in Mexico. What I don't know is who designed the faulty seals, DCT programming, or dual clutch mechanism itself. I think the seals are really the issue here. Funny how those "little details" are overlooked. I know someone that designed a windmill... he put it up and it spun and generated electricity and everything... then it fell over because he put no engineering effort into the feet / base of the windmill.

[Kabigon]

Originally Posted by raptor1956

It seems likely to me that some but probably not all will need:

2. Some new gears due to grinding

It's also possible some may need some of the gear change actuators replaced as I suspect there may be a few that have been damaged.

Do you know of anyone here that has had gears or synchros replaced?

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by PratoN

Yes, Getrag (a German company?) makes the DCT in Mexico. What I don't know is who designed the faulty seals, DCT programming, or dual clutch mechanism itself. I think the seals are really the issue here. Funny how those "little details" are overlooked. I know someone that designed a windmill... he put it up and it spun and generated electricity and everything... then if fell over because he put no engineering effort into the feet / base of the windmill.

Per powerpoint documents I've seen about the powershift dry dual clutch DCT it appeared that LUK is responsible for the manufacturing of the clutch pack. Of course I can't find that particular presentation at work at the moment however.