Overall Satisfaction w/Focus DCT

[renatogcarvalho]

Originally Posted by 6769MOPARS

I very clearly understood what he said. He did not provide adequate information.

My 67 Plymouth makes noises too. But, I have learned what they are and why they are.

Hello,

Sorry for not being very clear. I stated on another thread what my problems are and the FordCustomerService user on this forum offered me some help to talk directly with my dealer about it. I decided to give it a try. Let's see how it goes over the next weeks.

I'm going to copy and paste my post below, so you can have the complete explanation.

But first, let me say something. Sorry but I don't agree with your opinion that I need to "GET USED" with the noises on my car. A brand new car, with just 3500 miles on it, should not make transmission noises. I'm not American, so I'm living here as a legal immigrant, but in Brazil me and my family have already owned a lot of brand new cars, and none of them made noises on the transmission. This is the first time ever. It just doesn't make me feel confident.

Originally Posted by renatogcarvalho

Hello guys.

I usually access this forum on a daily basis to read this thread, and I wanted to make sure before posting this message in the board, but unfortunately I'm experiencing some weird issues with my transmission as well.

I own a 2012 Focus Hatchback, bought my car on May, 2012 and the build date is 24.04.2012. (How could I know which version I have on my DCT automatic transmission? Can anyone help me with this? Much appreciated.)

While driving my car and applying the brakes before a turn, usually after finishing the turn and giving gas to the car again, I hear some weird sounds coming from under the hood, sounding like gears/metal scratching each other. Another situation that it usually happens is when I apply the breaks before traffic light, and I turns green before I come to a full stop, so when I start giving gas to the car again I hear the same sound. I'm positive that this issue is related with the transmission.

The same does not happen (or maybe I haven't noticed the sound until today) when I drive on the S mode though.

I don't drive that much, my car only has 3500 miles. I live very close to my work, so my commute is very small.

It's really frustrating owning a brand new car and hear some weird noises coming from the hood. I've never experienced that before on my life.

I really hope that I can get this problem fixed, because I decided to buy a Ford instead of a Honda to support an American company.

While doing a research yesterday, I found this website: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/tsbs/

On this website we can check all the TSBs and Recalls related to any car. Maybe it can be useful to anyone.

And while searching for issues related to a 2012 Ford Focus, I found this document: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...45086-3565.pdf

I'm planning on asking my dealer to fix my problem, and show him this document. I'm not an expert on cars, neither on the laws (I'm a legal immigrant and tax payer living in the US), so any advice would be very appreciated.

I wish all you guys good luck.

All the best.

[Robert1966]

Extremely satisfied. It was jerky the first 2500km but has smoothed out since. I have 15000km on it now and it's shifts very smooth.

[VOLDAR]

Originally Posted by Strix

"Only 9"?! LOL

A 20% problem rate is absolutely terrible.

When I asked, I was not refering to those who have problems. I asked about the DCT equiped car owners = 45 (at the time). Which is low in my view. And yes, I had the impression there are more having problems with the DCT - according to you and the other 9 persons not satisfied. And if you suggest the 20% is the "real deal" in real life, I assure you Ford would have been forced to stop going the DCT way and buy back all the DCT equiped vehicles and change route back to the slushboxes in no time. Which is far from the reality, as far as I know (until now).

[PratoN]

I voted "Not Satisfied."

I'm, not going to say I'm extremely dissatisfied with the DCT itself. Mine still "grinds" and jerks, vibrates, etc. But sometimes it's a really nice transmission.

What I AM extremely dissatisfied with is the service. I've tried driving 50 miles away to other dealers and even paid a $100 diagnostics fee (I'm past bumper-to-bumper). After trying to get it fixed for almost 20k miles, I'm just done fighting for a while.

[paul21]

Miles 0-500: Satisfied; Some lurching/shuttering at very low speeds but tolerable
500-10000: Extremely Satisfied
10000-14000: Not Satisfied, Grinding, multiple service visits
14000-18000+: Extremely Disappointed, 4 versions of software, 5 service visits; Shifts are no longer smooth, it feels like someone driving a real manual with loss of power between each gear; Shuttering and grinding when warm; Transmission failing after interstate driving but recovering with a night turned off;

[paul21]

Originally Posted by VOLDAR

And if you suggest the 20% is the "real deal" in real life, I assure you Ford would have been forced to stop going the DCT way and buy back all the DCT equiped vehicles and change route back to the slushboxes in no time. Which is far from the reality, as far as I know (until now).

See FSA 12B37 (among the other litany of updates) to confirm that there are real life DCT satisfaction issues that Ford is having to make a real attempt to correct. An extreme response like buying back all DCT vehicles requires extreme transmission failure, which is not what we are seeing.

[Kabigon]

Originally Posted by WizeGuyDezignz

A fellow member here VOLDAR brought up a good point. Let's do a poll on the overall feeling about the DCT. We have some vocal people on this board that absolutely hate it. To the point that they took a loss and dumped their Focus.

AFAIK, there have been some changes/improvements to the DCT from the first production. For that reason, this poll would have been far more useful if those responding would have included their build date.

[Strix]

Originally Posted by VOLDAR

And if you suggest the 20% is the "real deal" in real life

I am not suggesting that. I took issue with the prefix 'only'. I realize now that you chose that word because of your surprise at the results of the poll, not because you are trying to discount the people having problems. My apology.

Most of my bad experiences are the result of poor dealership service. It took repeated complaining and finally a threat to keep the rental car before my oil seals and clutches were replaced... and while the car is much improved, it's still not 100% right.

[VOLDAR]

Originally Posted by paul21

See FSA 12B37 (among the other litany of updates) to confirm that there are real life DCT satisfaction issues that Ford is having to make a real attempt to correct. An extreme response like buying back all DCT vehicles requires extreme transmission failure, which is not what we are seeing.

I have the FSA12B37 done on my car since april 2012 and it had a great impact in how my DCT acts. In the most positive way, if you allow me to say. From my experience (and I know how the DCT behaviour can frustrate a person) if someone has problems with a (any) update, he should look for another dealer, because the one who's done it has poor technical personnel who knows nothing or less about PCM/TCM programming.

[dan50]

Originally Posted by paul21

Miles 0-500: Satisfied; Some lurching/shuttering at very low speeds but tolerable
500-10000: Extremely Satisfied
10000-14000: Not Satisfied, Grinding, multiple service visits
14000-18000+: Extremely Disappointed, 4 versions of software, 5 service visits; Shifts are no longer smooth, it feels like someone driving a real manual with loss of power between each gear; Shuttering and grinding when warm; Transmission failing after interstate driving but recovering with a night turned off;

One thing you could try is disconnecting the negative battery terminal for a few minutes, which seems to erase the DCT's memory. If possible, you could then follow with the "adaptive drive cycle" outlined elsewhere in this forum.

This shouldn't hurt and it could help. Of course if your problem is oil leaking on the clutch plates it won't help at all.