In the 19,000 miles I've had my 2012 DCT-equipped Focus I've complained about lousy throttle response (bogging, surging,etc.) and DCT behavior (lunging at launch, mostly). I've stumbled upon a solution that eliminates 80% of my issues. Best of all, it only puts the car into the condition in which it was supposed to leave the factory and it's easy.
So those of you with these problems, try this. I'm curious if it will work for you:
1) Facing the car with the hood open, look on the right side and note the two intake tubes coming from the air filter compartment and going through the front bulkhead. (these tubes go through the bulkhead and attach to the intake horn located where cooler air is available for induction)
2) At the point where these two tubes meet the bulkhead, they are secured with a rubber strap that latches on the left side. Undo this latch.
3) You will see that the bottom of these 2 tubes are supported by a rubber base guiding them through the bulkhead. The top half of these tubes though merely butt up against the bulkhead.
4) The top of these 2 tubes are supposed to be sealed by the rubber strap. In my car, not only was there a 1/8 inch gap between the intake tube and the bulkhead, the rubber strap didn't fit securely enough to creat a seal.
5) Thinking this was not what Ford intended, I sealed the gap with a little duct tape and overlaid that with a layer or two of adhesive felt, then reinstalled the rubber strap.
6) To my surprise, my driveability issues largely went away. My car now behaves the way it should, with much better throttle response at launch and greatly diminished surging, bogging and lunging.
It doesn't make complete sense to me why this is so. However, as suction devices like an intake tube typically draw air first from the closest source and getting air from the intake horn is a bit "uphill" anyway, the car was probably ingesting a lot of warm, engine compartment air, particularly at a stop. When acceleration is asked for, it will suddenly start to ingest the much cooler air from the intake horn. If the PCM had adjusted the fuel mixture to suit the less-dense warm engine compartment air, a sudden introduction of colder air could make the engine run lean for a few seconds. What is a classic sign of a lean mixture? Surging.
So, this may be wishful thinking. However, it could explain why some cars are great and others aren't. It could also explain why some have improved throttle response by removing the intake box cover - while the intake air is hot at least its temperature doesn't suddenly change.
In any event, if you have these symptoms, undo the strap and take a look. If you have a gap or the strap doesn't seem to seal well try filling the gap with tape. Again, all you're doing is putting the car in the condition Ford intended. Apologies in advance if this is no help to others.
So those of you with these problems, try this. I'm curious if it will work for you:
1) Facing the car with the hood open, look on the right side and note the two intake tubes coming from the air filter compartment and going through the front bulkhead. (these tubes go through the bulkhead and attach to the intake horn located where cooler air is available for induction)
2) At the point where these two tubes meet the bulkhead, they are secured with a rubber strap that latches on the left side. Undo this latch.
3) You will see that the bottom of these 2 tubes are supported by a rubber base guiding them through the bulkhead. The top half of these tubes though merely butt up against the bulkhead.
4) The top of these 2 tubes are supposed to be sealed by the rubber strap. In my car, not only was there a 1/8 inch gap between the intake tube and the bulkhead, the rubber strap didn't fit securely enough to creat a seal.
5) Thinking this was not what Ford intended, I sealed the gap with a little duct tape and overlaid that with a layer or two of adhesive felt, then reinstalled the rubber strap.
6) To my surprise, my driveability issues largely went away. My car now behaves the way it should, with much better throttle response at launch and greatly diminished surging, bogging and lunging.
It doesn't make complete sense to me why this is so. However, as suction devices like an intake tube typically draw air first from the closest source and getting air from the intake horn is a bit "uphill" anyway, the car was probably ingesting a lot of warm, engine compartment air, particularly at a stop. When acceleration is asked for, it will suddenly start to ingest the much cooler air from the intake horn. If the PCM had adjusted the fuel mixture to suit the less-dense warm engine compartment air, a sudden introduction of colder air could make the engine run lean for a few seconds. What is a classic sign of a lean mixture? Surging.
So, this may be wishful thinking. However, it could explain why some cars are great and others aren't. It could also explain why some have improved throttle response by removing the intake box cover - while the intake air is hot at least its temperature doesn't suddenly change.
In any event, if you have these symptoms, undo the strap and take a look. If you have a gap or the strap doesn't seem to seal well try filling the gap with tape. Again, all you're doing is putting the car in the condition Ford intended. Apologies in advance if this is no help to others.
