Many of you are experiencing this concern on your new focus with auto trans. There are many issues with this trans. I explain what is going on and how to get the dealer to fix it already!
2012+ Transmission Shudder Issue Explained
makuloco2000
761 - 780 of 941 Posts
My first failure was at 10k. The second at about 20k.
Well gents (and non-gents, though few ye be), the Focus seems to be FIXED!!
First off, I just want to say that my local Ford dealership is the absolute bomb. If any of you guys are within a reasonable distance of Bedford, IN, I *highly* encourage you to have your service done here. Even if it's an hour's drive for you, I'd still say it's worth it. I took my '05 F-150 there for a handful of things, and they never let me down. I think I mentioned it elsewhere on the forum, but they changed the factory spark plugs at 100 kmi without breaking a single one - that's the 5.4 24V engine, look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about. The bill was so low on that one, that I didn't get anything back from the class action settlement that went down a year or so ago. They stand behind their work (which is all warrantied as long as you use their parts), will take the time to explain everything to you, and are great guys to talk to (I know most of them on a first-name basis after all the fun with the Focus). Anyway, I digress...
*deep breath* Alright, this is straight from the invoice (except the stuff in parenthesis is side commentary from me)...
VEHICLE SHUDDERS SINCE CLUTCH PACK PUT IN (I don't recall saying that, but whatever.). ROAD TESTED, NO CLUTCH SHUDDER, BUT ENGINE SURGES AND HESITATES. (Honesty! Yay!) SELF TESTED PCM AND TCM, NO CODES. CHECKED OASIS, NO TSB OR SSM. RECALIBRATED PCM AND TCM TO LATEST LEVEL (...which is what I thought would fix it...), PERFORMED ADAPTIVE LEARN, CRANK MISFIRE PROFILE LEARN (This actually pointed to the problem, but oh well - thank goodness for warranties.). ROAD TESTED, STILL SURGES, WORST WITH CRUISE ON. MONITORED PIDS ON ROAD TEST WITH DATALOGGER, FOUND TP SENSOR PIDS AND ETC DESIRED AND ACTUAL SHOW PCM COMMANDING SURGE WITH APP STEADY (Interesting...); LOAD PID INCREASING WITH TP OPENING. FOUND MAF SENSOR READING ERRATIC; TRACE NOT SMOOTH. WIGGLE TESTED (That's the technical name for the test, of course.). FOUND MAF CONNECTOR WOULDN'T LATCH INTO SENSOR, SIGNAL ERRATIC. REPLACED MAF SENSOR (Probably not a big contributor to my specific problem, but I'm glad they found it.). ROAD TESTED, STILL SURGES. MONITORED PIDS; FOUND FLP PID (fuel line pressure sensor) SURGES IN TIME WITH ENGINE SURGE. REPLACED FLP SENSOR. ROAD TESTED, STILL SURGES. CONTACTED HOTLINE (1-800-FORD-HQ-1). ADVISED MONITOR FLP, FRP PIDS (fuel line pressure and fuel rail pressure) ON ROAD TEST, ALL AGREE NOW. PER HOTLINE, SUBSTITUTED THROTTLE BODY AND RETESTED, STILL SURGES. PER DIAG BY SYMPTOM CHART, TESTED CLUTCH PIDS WHILE DRIVING; COMPARED TO ANOTHER 2015 FOCUS, MONITORED PIDS THE SAME (That had to be frustrating.). CONTACTED HOTLINE. ADVISED TO CHECK CAMSHAFT TIMING, R+R VALVE COVER AND FRONT CRANK PULLEY, ADJUSTED CAM TIMING PER WSM (Ah-hah...). FOUND CRANK PULLEY HAD BEEN REMOVED PREVIOUSLY - LOCKTITE ON CRANK BOLT IS NON OEM (More on this in a bit...). PERFORMED MISFIRE PROFILE CORRECTION AGAIN, ROAD TESTED, SURGE IS NOW GONE (And the people rejoiced!).
So, the moral of the story in my particular situation seems to be that the jerking and surging were from cam/crank mis-timing. The person that had removed the pulley, and likely frogged things up, was the previous owner's mechanic. She'd mentioned to me before I bought the car that she'd had the harmonic balancer replaced ("by a mechanic I trust"), and that the car had been surging ever since. At that point, I was well-read on the DCT and its plethora of failure modes, and the car had plenty of warranty left, so I wasn't too concerned. I actually emailed her before typing out this post with a more concise version of the story to let her know her mechanic may not be as good as she'd like to think (I only bought the car from her a couple of months ago).
The car really does drive infinitely smoother now. Time will tell if it holds up, but at the moment it's just as good as all the rentals that motivated me to get it, which is exactly what I wanted. My issue may be an outlier, but if anybody else is having continued surging/jerking after attempting all the transmission-related fixes, you might give the engine timing a look as well...
First off, I just want to say that my local Ford dealership is the absolute bomb. If any of you guys are within a reasonable distance of Bedford, IN, I *highly* encourage you to have your service done here. Even if it's an hour's drive for you, I'd still say it's worth it. I took my '05 F-150 there for a handful of things, and they never let me down. I think I mentioned it elsewhere on the forum, but they changed the factory spark plugs at 100 kmi without breaking a single one - that's the 5.4 24V engine, look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about. The bill was so low on that one, that I didn't get anything back from the class action settlement that went down a year or so ago. They stand behind their work (which is all warrantied as long as you use their parts), will take the time to explain everything to you, and are great guys to talk to (I know most of them on a first-name basis after all the fun with the Focus). Anyway, I digress...
*deep breath* Alright, this is straight from the invoice (except the stuff in parenthesis is side commentary from me)...
VEHICLE SHUDDERS SINCE CLUTCH PACK PUT IN (I don't recall saying that, but whatever.). ROAD TESTED, NO CLUTCH SHUDDER, BUT ENGINE SURGES AND HESITATES. (Honesty! Yay!) SELF TESTED PCM AND TCM, NO CODES. CHECKED OASIS, NO TSB OR SSM. RECALIBRATED PCM AND TCM TO LATEST LEVEL (...which is what I thought would fix it...), PERFORMED ADAPTIVE LEARN, CRANK MISFIRE PROFILE LEARN (This actually pointed to the problem, but oh well - thank goodness for warranties.). ROAD TESTED, STILL SURGES, WORST WITH CRUISE ON. MONITORED PIDS ON ROAD TEST WITH DATALOGGER, FOUND TP SENSOR PIDS AND ETC DESIRED AND ACTUAL SHOW PCM COMMANDING SURGE WITH APP STEADY (Interesting...); LOAD PID INCREASING WITH TP OPENING. FOUND MAF SENSOR READING ERRATIC; TRACE NOT SMOOTH. WIGGLE TESTED (That's the technical name for the test, of course.). FOUND MAF CONNECTOR WOULDN'T LATCH INTO SENSOR, SIGNAL ERRATIC. REPLACED MAF SENSOR (Probably not a big contributor to my specific problem, but I'm glad they found it.). ROAD TESTED, STILL SURGES. MONITORED PIDS; FOUND FLP PID (fuel line pressure sensor) SURGES IN TIME WITH ENGINE SURGE. REPLACED FLP SENSOR. ROAD TESTED, STILL SURGES. CONTACTED HOTLINE (1-800-FORD-HQ-1). ADVISED MONITOR FLP, FRP PIDS (fuel line pressure and fuel rail pressure) ON ROAD TEST, ALL AGREE NOW. PER HOTLINE, SUBSTITUTED THROTTLE BODY AND RETESTED, STILL SURGES. PER DIAG BY SYMPTOM CHART, TESTED CLUTCH PIDS WHILE DRIVING; COMPARED TO ANOTHER 2015 FOCUS, MONITORED PIDS THE SAME (That had to be frustrating.). CONTACTED HOTLINE. ADVISED TO CHECK CAMSHAFT TIMING, R+R VALVE COVER AND FRONT CRANK PULLEY, ADJUSTED CAM TIMING PER WSM (Ah-hah...). FOUND CRANK PULLEY HAD BEEN REMOVED PREVIOUSLY - LOCKTITE ON CRANK BOLT IS NON OEM (More on this in a bit...). PERFORMED MISFIRE PROFILE CORRECTION AGAIN, ROAD TESTED, SURGE IS NOW GONE (And the people rejoiced!).
So, the moral of the story in my particular situation seems to be that the jerking and surging were from cam/crank mis-timing. The person that had removed the pulley, and likely frogged things up, was the previous owner's mechanic. She'd mentioned to me before I bought the car that she'd had the harmonic balancer replaced ("by a mechanic I trust"), and that the car had been surging ever since. At that point, I was well-read on the DCT and its plethora of failure modes, and the car had plenty of warranty left, so I wasn't too concerned. I actually emailed her before typing out this post with a more concise version of the story to let her know her mechanic may not be as good as she'd like to think (I only bought the car from her a couple of months ago).
The car really does drive infinitely smoother now. Time will tell if it holds up, but at the moment it's just as good as all the rentals that motivated me to get it, which is exactly what I wanted. My issue may be an outlier, but if anybody else is having continued surging/jerking after attempting all the transmission-related fixes, you might give the engine timing a look as well...
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With respect to cg49me post (12-13-2016), are there major differences between the 2015 and the 2013 models?
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
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1,351 Posts
I would love to drive a 2015 around for a week & see how it drives, shifts, accelerates etc... vs. my current 2013. I've asked your question before & I dunno if it's ever been answered? It's my understanding that the 2012-14s are the same, but idk about 2015 or even 2016s?
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There are no major differences.
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14 Posts
From Consumer Reports 2017 Ford Focus revew
"Available as a sedan, a hatchback, and an electric version, the Focus feels solid and sophisticated, but it's plagued by poor reliability and, at low speeds, a jerky transmission."
I'm guessing Ford doesn't think anything is wrong. no?
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497 Posts
Ok look around ---count on any given day how many Focus cars you see----plenty---they look good ride good great MPG but this DCT issue I can't believe isn't recalled or fixed right! They extended the warranty -replaced TCM's & clutch packs ( fix it once & for all!) no car is perfect but I think we can figure this one out I'm sure...hmmmmmm ( EXTEND the WARRANTY FOR TEN YEARS 150K Miles on anything to do with Transmission to make people confident again)
Anyone think that this might somehow connect to electrical system?
I ask due to this:
I had a new TCM installed in October. Worked great for about 500 miles. Then shudder started up again. Went away on 2 week vacation. AS has happened to me before, when I came back, I could not start the car. Battery tested fine but engine would not turn over : Nothing!
Trickle charged it: Nothing. Fiddled with automatic shifter a bit and voila! Started up. After that: NO SHUDDER AT ALL.
I ask due to this:
I had a new TCM installed in October. Worked great for about 500 miles. Then shudder started up again. Went away on 2 week vacation. AS has happened to me before, when I came back, I could not start the car. Battery tested fine but engine would not turn over : Nothing!
Trickle charged it: Nothing. Fiddled with automatic shifter a bit and voila! Started up. After that: NO SHUDDER AT ALL.
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497 Posts
I've always thought a lot had to do with electrical stuff on these cars...Got to have a good battery to start/ mechanics today do what they are told---not too many go the extra mile---even the techs who come up with the fixes don't own or drive them daily.
Reading about this issue has me disappointed. I'm supposed to test drive a nice looking 2012 Focus Sel with 68,000 miles tomorrow but now I don't know whether I want to even bother. Are the majority of these transmissions bad like it sounds here? If it's bad would it already be shifting poorly by this point?
I've owned an early-production 2012 SEL sedan for four years and I'm here to tell you that the issue does NOT affect all Focuses. While it does recur for some, many people who have had issues get it fixed and have it stay fixed. I would definitely say that the issue would have shown up by the 68,000 mile point. Keep in mind that Ford has extended the warranty on the clutches and transmission input shaft seals to 7 years or 100,000 miles, and will apply software updates to the TCM for free until then. I say go test-drive the car and if you like it, buy it with no worries; you'll still have at least a year's worth of warranty coverage on the mentioned trouble items (assuming it's an early-production 2012 like mine).
Thanks Michael. So yours is fine? I read about the extended warranty but am concerned about the number of people that have had the problem again even after having the parts replaced. It's a beautiful car at what seems to be a good price at $7900. I plan to drive the Focus and a 2012 Fusion SE and will probably choose between the 2.
Yes, mine has been just fine the entire time I've owned the car. I've had the TCM updated with the latest available software every time I have my oil changed, and it has fixed every complaint I've ever had about the transmission. Just remember to avoid creeping along as you would with a torque-converter automatic and it'll be fine.
How much do they charge you to update the TCM? I normally don't go to the dealer for anything. Is there anything I should do or check for during the test drive to get it to shudder if it's going to?
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1,393 Posts
Bdouglass, don't be disappointed, ge glad you got to see all this "before" you spent your hard earned money. There is also at least one class action suit and you can find more info by googling ford focus transmission complaints.
It got so bad at Fords Facebook focus page that, in my opinion, they decided to roll it into their main page where the complaints would be harder to see.
I am very glad for anyone here whose dct tranny runs well but there are hundreds of posts here going back to 2012.
There is even one thread that explains the proper way you should drive it.
You've seen all the posts, its your money, be careful.
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14 Posts
sigh
I enjoy the car, with the (major) exception of the transmission.
I wouldn't purchase this if I could go back in time.
I own a 2013, I bought used a year or so ago. When I test drove the car, I couldn't tell any issues. Then I brought it home...
I enjoy the car, with the (major) exception of the transmission.
I wouldn't purchase this if I could go back in time.
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