2012 Focus Transmission Shaking

[Strix]

Originally Posted by tjbjday

Just got my 2012 back. They replaced clutch and seal that was leaking. It runs like a different car. It never ran this good. Not even brand new. I sure hope it stays this way! I love it right now. Was ready to drive it off a cliff and end it's misery before this fix. Sure wish Ford would have looked and corrected this first, rather than going through all the software updates. I steered a lot of potential owners away from a purchase with my transmission stories.

Congrats. I hope it stays that way for you.

I sure wish that Ford would have the car throw a fault code when the clutches are messed up.

Instead the TCU and ECU conspire to make the car horribly annoying and frustrating to drive.

Mine won't even keep up with traffic.

Traffic pulls away, I step on the gas and nothing happens.

The traffic in front of me continues to pull away so I step on the gas more and still nothing happens.

A little more and it downshifts... and then falls flat on it's face for a moment.

By this point I figure I might as well smash the throttle to the floor, so I do so, and then the car drops another gear finally takes off, engine screaming and racing to the redline... JUST TO KEEP UP WITH TRAFFIC.

It's a real pleasure to drive, let me tell you.

[PratoN]

Originally Posted by Strix

I sure wish that Ford would have the car throw a fault code when the clutches are messed up.

Instead the TCU and ECU conspire to make the car horribly annoying and frustrating to drive.

Mine won't even keep up with traffic.

Traffic pulls away, I step on the gas and nothing happens.

The traffic in front of me continues to pull away so I step on the gas more and still nothing happens.

A little more and it downshifts... and then falls flat on it's face for a moment.

By this point I figure I might as well smash the throttle to the floor, so I do so, and then the car drops another gear finally takes off, engine screaming and racing to the redline... JUST TO KEEP UP WITH TRAFFIC.

I wish it threw a code as well. It's a pain to drive in stop-and-go traffic when the speeds are at the low/cruising speeds of 2nd/4th/6th gear. You press the gas and the car just bogs down and chatters...

[Strix]

Originally Posted by PratoN

I wish it threw a code as well. It's a pain to drive in stop-and-go traffic when the speeds are at the low/cruising speeds of 2nd/4th/6th gear. You press the gas and the car just bogs down and chatters...

I don't get a lot of chatter, but it definitely bogs out and is a real dog. Give it a little throttle from a steady cruising speed and the tach bumps up a bit, maybe a couple hundred RPM, then drops right back down. And the car doesn't really accelerate. Give it a little more throttle and you can watch the same thing happen. Tach bumps up a bit, drops back down, car doesn't really accelerate.

It's not the most gutless car I've ever driven... only because my wife once owned a CHEVETTE DIESEL.

And it wasn't like that when I bought it.

So why does Ford tell people that this is normal?

[Kabigon]

Originally Posted by Strix

I don't get a lot of chatter, but it definitely bogs out and is a real dog. Give it a little throttle from a steady cruising speed and the tach bumps up a bit, maybe a couple hundred RPM, then drops right back down. And the car doesn't really accelerate. Give it a little more throttle and you can watch the same thing happen. Tach bumps up a bit, drops back down, car doesn't really accelerate.

It's not the most gutless car I've ever driven... only because my wife once owned a CHEVETTE DIESEL.

And it wasn't like that when I bought it.

So why does Ford tell people that this is normal?

What happens when you put your foot to the floor from a complete stop?

[Strix]

Originally Posted by Kabigon

What happens when you put your foot to the floor from a complete stop?

It launches very badly, with a slight stumble and bogging after the clutch fully engages. There's not a lot of chatter or vibration (bad vibes are present after the 3->4 shift, though). Power definitely feels reduced from when the car was newer and the clutches not oily.

When it was new it would often bark the tires on the 1->2 shift under hard acceleration. It certainly doesn't do that now. The 1->2 shift is the sloppiest of all of them, with a large amount of shift flare followed by an obvious gap in power delivery. It feels like a poorly driven manual.

And if you are still flooring it when it goes to shift to second gear, the shift flare leads to overrevving. The shift begins just short of the 6500 redline, and before it actually engages second gear, the engine often touches 7000 RPM.

So I don't usually go around flooring it from a stop.

[Shipexc]

We have a simlar issue... shifts from 1st to 2nd.. you feel and here a grinding.. sort of like if your front brakes were worn out ... shakes the car.. it did not do it when it was new.. Ford dealer said it was the tires.. plan on replacing tire at 41000 and taking it back. and leaving it till it is fixed. I do belive we have a transmission issue

[Turb0x3r]

Hey Guys,

First post here on the forum. My wife and I recently brought a used 2012 Focus SEL. From 1st gear acceleration it shakes when the DCT clutch is engaged. Sometimes if you give it hard acceleration to merge on the interstate when the transmission shifts from 3rd to 4th it shakes violently like the clutch wasn't disengaged properly.

The car has around 33,800 miles on it now and pretty much every time at stoplight when you accelerates it vibrates from 0 to 15. Sometimes on a 5 mph roll to accelerate it's much worse. Sometimes during acceleration up to 3k rpm it feels like the car is hesitating.

I took it to the first dealer where we brought the car from in Brandon Ford they told me it was normal they didn't really bother to look at the transmission. So I decided to try a second dealer closer to my home in Countryside Ford one of the mechanics is telling me the same story what corporate Ford is telling them but they said they will be willing to take a look at it. I am going to make sure they look at the clutch and the seals. (Anything else I should add to that list?)

I hope the second dealer can replace the transmission issues or resolve it before I keep trying multiple Ford dealers.

[vacman]

Originally Posted by Turb0x3r

Hey Guys,

First post here on the forum. My wife and I recently brought a used 2012 Focus SEL. From 1st gear acceleration it shakes when the DCT clutch is engaged. Sometimes if you give it hard acceleration to merge on the interstate when the transmission shifts from 3rd to 4th it shakes violently like the clutch wasn't disengaged properly.

The car has around 33,800 miles on it now and pretty much every time at stoplight when you accelerates it vibrates from 0 to 15. Sometimes on a 5 mph roll to accelerate it's much worse. Sometimes during acceleration up to 3k rpm it feels like the car is hesitating.

I took it to the first dealer where we brought the car from in Brandon Ford they told me it was normal they didn't really bother to look at the transmission. So I decided to try a second dealer closer to my home in Countryside Ford one of the mechanics is telling me the same story what corporate Ford is telling them but they said they will be willing to take a look at it. I am going to make sure they look at the clutch and the seals. (Anything else I should add to that list?)

I hope the second dealer can replace the transmission issues or resolve it before I keep trying multiple Ford dealers.

One wonders why you bought it with that issue so readily apparent.

[Turb0x3r]

Originally Posted by vacman

One wonders why you bought it with that issue so readily apparent.

Wife wanted the car and we didn't know about the issues until I noticed about the transmission issues while driving it. I've heard the same story about the Hyundai Elantra issues but not transmission related.

I'm willing to let Ford try to rectify the transmission issue. Luckily my wife convinced me to get the extended warranty so I don't have to worry if shit goes south on the DCT.

[mjb457]

Ford claims that the shuttering is normal ocassionally with the DCT,,,, WOW! I am amazed what is considered normal these days? Anytime I had a car that shook or shimmied there was something wrong......In good conscience it cant be normal......(.maybe its something nostalgic like the early days of the automoble....??.).....MJB