Focus Fanatics Forum banner

2012 Focus owners - how do you like Powershift tranny so far?

85K views 230 replies 104 participants last post by  silver_fg 
#1 ·
For those who own a 2012 Focus with the Powershift 6-speed automatic transmission, so far how do you like it? Any problems or concerns you might have? I recently test drove 2 Focus models (1 sedan, 1 hatchback) and the Powershift performed flawlessly and seamlessly. Felt very much like a regular automatic transmission. I came away very impressed with the performance.

Thanks for your feedback!
 
#222 ·
The shuttering that everyone is talking about - oil leak

Hey everyone the shuttering at take off an shifting into 3rd (most people think th is the 1 to 2nd shift-wich is incorrect) is caused by rear engine seal leaking. All it takes is the slightest amt a drop or two of engine oil on occasion - this is the cause of the inconsistent shuttering. The dealer has my car now and is separating the engine-train now replacing the engine seal and the clutches now. This is a 3-4 day project if you are going to a good trusted dealer they will inform you this is a known issue. Do no fool yourself and say it is a normal byproduct of a automated 6speed - make sure you are letting your dealer know and notate in veh history at dealer (have it noted on every oil chane receipt from dealer when reported) so you do not run into warrantee issues later. If you do some searching you can find video of replacing of cluches - engine seal due to this issue overseas where they have had this transmission for a few years now.
 
#223 ·
Near collision due to transmission malfunction:

I posted some time back about this transmission, but wanted to add this 2cents due to my most recent transmission issue.

On 9/10/2013 this transmission malfunctioning nearly caused me a collision with oncoming traffic. (this is the 2nd near collision due the transmission, my first event was listed in another post months ago)
This time, I started out from a light making a left hand turn across oncoming lanes.
From best I could tell the transmission shifted 1st to 2nd fine, and then when shifting to 3rd gear it jammed the car to an abrupt stop, throwing me forward into my seatbelt. Then it went into a "freewheeling" state, as if it was in neutral as pushing the gas resulted in zero forward movement.
Quick thinking and traffic coming at me I dropped the transmission into the S (sport mode), and used the thumb shifter to engage manual shifting. At this moment the car dash reported the car was in 3rd gear, so I shifted down to 1st gear and the car lurched forward enough to get out of harm’s way. The Engine light came on, and some other indicators also triggered that I later found by running an engine report.

I have read all kinds of these transmission lurching, shutter, jumping, and near miss accidents. When is Ford going to recall these transmissions?????? When someone dies I do suppose! I guess quality is no longer job 1. Ford would rather follow in Toyota's death march footsteps.

So what do I think about these transmissions - Keep yourself and your family safe and DO NOT BUY ANY FORD CAR THAT HAS THIS TRANSMISSION.

Just to note, my car is back in the shop again for more transmission investigations. My service record for this car is a mile long and most of it is for transmission issues. What a joke.

Thanks for this forum, it will be great proof for my wife and kids some day when I'm dead or crippled because this transmission failed at the wrong moment.

For those Ford employees trying to help my situation, I greatly appreciate your efforts. I just wish your upper managers weren't so rich, then maybe they could care about getting this dangerous transmission fixed for all of us.
 
#225 ·
Near collision due to transmission malfunction: Update

All,

My car is back after three days in the shop. (Just to note, now the engine is idling like a diesel, so back to the shop on my next day off of work...FUN!)

Ford reports the Front Seals were leaking. (Doesn't say which, engine or transmission)
Installed new dual clutch assembly and both new input seals.
Also noted that Axle seals are also leaking, so they were also replaced.
Also noted some heavily rusted parts were replaced. (I'm in Phoenix, AZ, so parts shouldn't be rusting as it is dry here.)

Midwstguy post #219 notes this leak. Good call for those of us with some "beyond new" mileage.

On the other hand, my car has had the shutter, lurch, jumping, etc literally from day one. On day one the sales rep noted the transmission had to learn my driving style and that was the reason for the shutter/lurching. (Greater than 8 transmission related repairs/reprogramming, so I'll believe its fixed if it can last more than a month without issues.)

My early on issues were most likely programming issues, which I would hope Ford has this solved on newer models.

Just to note my car only has 46,007 miles as of the moment of this near collision, transmission/engine seals issue.

I still say if you want your family safe, DO NOT buy any Ford car that has this transmission. My 2 cents. I will be getting rid of this SAFETY ISSUE car as soon as I can, but like most working men/women that is going to take some time to get the money saved up. I just feel sorry for the next poor person that gets this P.O.S. Can you say "CAR FAX"!

Best of luck to those of you who haven't had this happen yet. Its not a lot of fun getting slammed into your seatbelt when the tranmission locks up. I suggest you learn how to manual "thumb" shift this car as it may save your life when the car can no longer act on its own.


Main Parts replaced:
2x SEAL - AE8Z*1S177*A
1x SEAL ASY - AE8Z*7048*B
1x SEAL ASY - AE8Z*7052*C
1x CLUTCH ASY - BV6Z*7B546*D
Lots of extra bolts, fluids, snap rings and such....

Also noted TSB 13-9-4C Performed.
Reprogrammed PCM/TCM
 
#227 ·
All,

I still say if you want your family safe, DO NOT buy any Ford car that has this transmission. My 2 cents. I will be getting rid of this SAFETY ISSUE car as soon as I can, but like most working men/women that is going to take some time to get the money saved up. I just feel sorry for the next poor person that gets this P.O.S. Can you say "CAR FAX"!

Best of luck to those of you who haven't had this happen yet. Its not a lot of fun getting slammed into your seatbelt when the tranmission locks up. I suggest you learn how to manual "thumb" shift this car as it may save your life when the car can no longer act on its own.


Main Parts replaced:
2x SEAL - AE8Z*1S177*A
1x SEAL ASY - AE8Z*7048*B
1x SEAL ASY - AE8Z*7052*C
1x CLUTCH ASY - BV6Z*7B546*D
Lots of extra bolts, fluids, snap rings and such....

Also noted TSB 13-9-4C Performed.
Reprogrammed PCM/TCM
I bought my 2012 Focus the month they came out in 2011 in Toronto. It had the same transmission issues that you are all experiencing (mainly violent shuddering from N->1 in auto mode), and each time I took it in for service I would mention this. Each time they would indicate "no transmission light on dash, no problem". I posted on Focus Fanatics. Posting here got the attention of Ford Corporate, and then I was informed that it was normal and perhaps because it's a DCT, that I didn't know how to drive the car. Ford Corporate had me go on a test drive with the service manager at my dealership, and with his steady foot, no issue could be found. Eventually I stopped taking the car to Ford for regular service, alternating between a trusted mechanic of mine and the dealership.

During this whole thing of course I was experimenting, trying to figure out what might make the situation better or worse. I found that the shuddering did not make TCS very happy and/or that TCS made the shuddering worse. I found for the last 4-5 months before FINALLY getting this fixed (wait, it gets better), that driving it around in manual mode, I became very in tune with the particular mannerisms that the transmission had, and the subtle throttle tricks to make any shuddering stop. In essence, the lady at Ford Corporate was right, I didn't know how to drive the car BECAUSE I BOUGHT AN AUTOMATIC. I learned how to be happy but it meant I had to use the vehicle in manual mode all the time. I didn't have a problem with this but for the average person, I'd have probably driven the car over to a Honda dealership and traded it in.

Sorry to keep going but I need to get this out. During one of my regular visits for service at my trusted mechanic, they noticed oil leaking from between the engine and the transmission. Two years of this apparently non-issue (if you asked Ford..), the transmission was literally coming apart from the engine. I took it to my dealership, who told me it was oil from the previous oil change that just had to be wiped away. The oil change previous to the one I had just had, was performed by Ford.

Next oil change, took it back to my trusted mechanic, and he said "wiping the oil away has not solved the leak". Drove it directly to Ford and demanded someone fix this IMMEDIATELY. The car is nowhere near coming up to its warranty period for drivetrain (the only saving grace is it's 5years / 100,000km). This time?

BV6Z*7B546*D CLUTCH ASY
*W520102*S442 NUT - LOCKING
9U7Z*19a506*BA GREASE - CHASSIS LUB
XL*2* LUBRICANT - UNIVERSAL
XT*11*QDC FLUID - TRANSMISSION
CPM*4* BRAKE CLEANER
AE8Z*7064*A SNAP RING
*W715491*S442 BOLT
*W520415*S442 NUT
BRS*172* SEAL
AE8Z*7048*B SEAL ASY - OIL
AE8Z*7052*C SEAL ASY - OIL
*W705448*S441 NUT
YS4Z*3N324*AA RETAINER - BEARING
FL*910*S FILTER ASY - OIL
Re-re trans replace clutch asy TSB13-9-4C, check for PCM and TCM calibration level, not at latest level, reprogrammed PCM and TCM, calibrated switches, drums and clutches, cleared all codes on all modules, check PID data on road test, calculated values, retest.

From 2011-05-05 - 2014-01-22 I lived with this problem.

Now? The car:

- Shifts normally, and smoothly
- Does not shudder at all, anywhere (so far)
- Does not 'shake' when idle

So "thanks" to Ford, for listening to me after nearly three years. Good luck to the rest of you, Ford has a LOT of work ahead of them.
 
#226 ·
Offrddrver this sounds identical to me I drove my for the first time out of dealer shift and it was shuddering so hard drove straight back in and complained it's now been 6 months and the car has been in for warranty for transmission for a total of abouT 4 weeks still it is terrible up shifts are shocking clutch rattles regularly and just recently rolling take offs have started to suck it just will not kick back and just bogs down. I feel this car is unsafe. Stuck with it as it's a 3 year lease. Ford clearly do not how to Fix these things.
 
#229 ·
I am a Ford Focus MK3(DCT) user in Thailand. We also have the same experience with the transmission, it was shuddering and jerking at low speed or in traffic congested. We was trying to find the way to solve this problem. So far, we thought the odd behavior of the transmission was related to insufficient of electric power in the car. At the end of battery service life, the transmission upshift slower that it was, shuddering and jerking much harder than normal and fuel consumption increase dramatically. After battery changed everything come back to normal with shuddering and jerking back to normal. So we improve the car electrical system as follows
1. increase the size of the battery from 60Ah(equipped with the car from factory) to 75 Ah. (Might not be necessary)
2. add 2 additional ground-wire. You may see the position of 2 additional ground wire in the following link (Sorry that the explanation in the link is in Thai) Click for the link for the second ground wire the picture might not clearly shown. The second one was connected from transmission housing. No additional drilling needed. For the best result, use sand paper to remove the paint under the ground wire contact.

After that(with a few days of normal driving), transmission shuddering and jerking disappeared. It is as simple as that. Nothing have to do with clutch or transmission at all. We hope that our experience may help you find the way to solve your transmission problem too. [wave]
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top