[oritpro]

One thing I've noticed is that the DCT in my Focus does not like it when the outside air temp gets over 90F degrees. It bucks and lurches like it's binding or stuck in high gear and almost kills the engine.

The conditions are always the same:
1. Outside air temp 90F+.
2. A/C is on.
3. I've been cruising the highway at speed for about 10-miles.
4. Traffic drops to a crawl for about three miles, around 5-10 MPH.

It happened today, I thought the car was going to die and leave me stranded on a jam packed freeway in 95F heat.

I put the DCT in neutral then sport shift mode for a mile which helped, but it was very hard to maintain speed going 5MPH in 1st gear. It was like somebody was pumping the clutch. After a couple miles it got a little better but it made the drive home a real chore today.

 

[tjbjday]

Glad to hear a success story! Hope springs eternal! As I said, since my upgrade, I seem to be improving. I still lug going up my steep drive. As you said, if I would use S I would not have a problem. I would just like it to work without having to use my brain!

 

[RFrench6646]

One thing I've noticed is that the DCT in my Focus does not like it when the outside air temp gets over 90F degrees. It bucks and lurches like it's binding or stuck in high gear and almost kills the engine.

The conditions are always the same:
1. Outside air temp 90F+.
2. A/C is on.
3. I've been cruising the highway at speed for about 10-miles.
4. Traffic drops to a crawl for about three miles, around 5-10 MPH.

It happened today, I thought the car was going to die and leave me stranded on a jam packed freeway in 95F heat.

I put the DCT in neutral then sport shift mode for a mile which helped, but it was very hard to maintain speed going 5MPH in 1st gear. It was like somebody was pumping the clutch. After a couple miles it got a little better but it made the drive home a real chore today.

When mine was shuddering, I too noted that it only happened once it got hot. Never noticed it when I first started the car, or when it was night, or early morning. [burnout]

 

[bball40dtw]

I just got my Focus back from the dealership. The trans was slipping and the car was shuddering. I've had the TSB reflash of the transmission. Here is the description of the work done:

23001 WARR, CC D8CP 7052 Road test inspect driveline found dual clutch slipping due to leak at bellhousing. Check oasis for tsb's and ssm's found TSB 11-12-13. Remove trans and install new input shaft seals and new dual clutch. Perfrom adaptive learning and reroad test operation 111213A. Time 6.5 HRS

The parts to fix included:

2 seal assemblies
Clutch assembly/dual clutch packs
Various nuts and bearings

So far so good. The car is also getting better MPGs, but its probably to know for sure.

 

[RFrench6646]

I just got my Focus back from the dealership. The trans was slipping and the car was shuddering. I've had the TSB reflash of the transmission. Here is the description of the work done:

23001 WARR, CC D8CP 7052 Road test inspect driveline found dual clutch slipping due to leak at bellhousing. Check oasis for tsb's and ssm's found TSB 11-12-13. Remove trans and install new input shaft seals and new dual clutch. Perfrom adaptive learning and reroad test operation 111213A. Time 6.5 HRS

The parts to fix included:

2 seal assemblies
Clutch assembly/dual clutch packs
Various nuts and bearings

So far so good. The car is also getting better MPGs, but its probably to know for sure.

Man! I hope that solves the problem. I'm saving this info Just In Case [paranoid]

 

[Dysan911]

I just got my Focus back from the dealership. The trans was slipping and the car was shuddering. I've had the TSB reflash of the transmission. Here is the description of the work done:

23001 WARR, CC D8CP 7052 Road test inspect driveline found dual clutch slipping due to leak at bellhousing. Check oasis for tsb's and ssm's found TSB 11-12-13. Remove trans and install new input shaft seals and new dual clutch. Perfrom adaptive learning and reroad test operation 111213A. Time 6.5 HRS

The parts to fix included:

2 seal assemblies
Clutch assembly/dual clutch packs
Various nuts and bearings

So far so good. The car is also getting better MPGs, but its probably to know for sure.

What is the build date of your car? Scary.. How would anyone know if they need the same TSB performed? Maybe my car doesn't shudder like yours but ive got seals leaking and my clutches are slipping some and expected only to get worse.

 

[bball40dtw]

My build date was in May of 2011. It sounds like the only way you can find out if you need the TSB done is go to the dealer, have them inspect the transmission, and have them do a road test. I have nothing but good things to say about the dealership I go to, and I was very suprised the clutch(es) had to be replaced at 23,000 miles.

 

[rp3583]

Transmission problems

Just wanted to add that I am also having transmission issues. Just bought last weekend, build date 07/12, and transmission is horrible. It does not move at all from a stop and slams into first gear, between first and second there's nothing until it slams into gear once again, then shakes its way into third. Sport mode only helps the situation temporarily, until it too has similar problems. Highway driving is actually pretty good. I've read many posts here about the "break in" period, and understand that this is a non-standard transmission, but this cant be good for the transmission at all. I'm seriously worried about this impacting the overall life of my transmission.

I've driven just about every kind of car at one time or another. Working in car washes, new car porter, grease monkey, valet, and this is NOT normal, "special" transmission or not. If I drove one of my old manuals like this, it wouldn't last long. I want either a new transmission under warranty/recall once they get their software mess figured out or to have this thing lemoned. Hopefully enough people make noise about this so that Ford complies.

I appreciate the forum, this is the only place I've found that has any real info about what appears to be a widespread problem.

Looks like I have to go to the dealer to determine which software version I have?

 

[100296]

I'm beginning to wonder if there are more cases of bad seals than anyone realizes (the ones that are allowing transmission fluid to come into contact with the clutches). Mine was built mid-May and I've had no issues besides its tendency to hold a gear too long after auto-downshifting in sport mode.

The dilemma is that you can't know until you take it apart, or if it's been going on long enough, it probably drips fluid onto the tray. I doubt Ford would be willing to disassemble all the 'problem children' in search of leaks unless they can somehow confirm that it's a widespread problem.

I just can't believe that bad programming is to blame for ALL of these cases, when some of us have had no issues at all. They're all programmed with the same software, so I'd speculate that there are widespread leaky seals, or a lot of bad clutchpacks supplied to Ford.

 

[Gary_C]

It is obvious that Ford has made a huge mistake. Every one of these cars should be purchased back or at the very least, swap in a trans and torque converter that works.
I had the Drivability Upgrade and it is now worse than ever. Diferent symptoms. My driveway is on a slight incline and i fear that one time i am going to drive through the house it is so bad. I tried to accelerate onto the highway today and just got a huge bog until it finally downshifted by 3 gears, which had the motor almost redline. What a piece of crap this car is. I will be trading it in by the end of the month. Hopefully the dodge dealer doesn't know what a POS it is and i won't loose too much money on the trade.

 

[VOLDAR]

....

I just can't believe that bad programming is to blame for ALL of these cases, when some of us have had no issues at all. They're all programmed with the same software, so I'd speculate that there are widespread leaky seals, or a lot of bad clutchpacks supplied to Ford.

The explantion is even simpler: 90% of people complaining about the DCT don't want to learn how to drive it. For different reasons, they expect a DCT to act as a slush-box and that's it. I say to them, go buy a Corola!
The rest of 10% complain for a good reason and I say to them to not give up and take it to Ford and don't stop till the problems are solved. There are here more persons happy with their DCT, even though they had their part of "troubles". I have my Focus since a year almost and I love the DCT. If it wasn't the DCT, I would have gone for a MT, but not for a slush-box.

 

[Kabigon]

My build date was in May of 2011. It sounds like the only way you can find out if you need the TSB done is go to the dealer, have them inspect the transmission, and have them do a road test. I have nothing but good things to say about the dealership I go to, and I was very suprised the clutch(es) had to be replaced at 23,000 miles.

???

The tech was following the instructions for TSB 11-12-13 which specifies the replacement of the shaft seals and the dual clutch assembly (which was contaminated/damaged because of the oil leak).

 

[Kabigon]

It is obvious that Ford has made a huge mistake. Every one of these cars should be purchased back or at the very least, swap in a trans and torque converter that works.

Should that also apply to cars with happy owners?

 

[Kabigon]

I'm beginning to wonder if there are more cases of bad seals than anyone realizes (the ones that are allowing transmission fluid to come into contact with the clutches). Mine was built mid-May and I've had no issues besides its tendency to hold a gear too long after auto-downshifting in sport mode.

The dilemma is that you can't know until you take it apart...

The determination as to whether or not the TSB should be performed is made by inspecting the base of the transmission clutch housing for evidence of transmission fluid leak.

 

[skymykel]

I had the update done about a month ago. I got my car in March with a build date of Dec. 2011. I have a little over 4,000 miles on it and have been getting 34 mpg.

I had never had any problems with the DCT. In the last couple of weeks, I have noticed that it sometimes wants to stall when putting your foot on the gas coming out of a stop. I hope this is just from the relearning process.

Overall, I am pretty happy with my car.

 

[suss6052]

The explantion is even simpler: 90% of people complaining about the DCT don't want to learn how to drive it. For different reasons, they expect a DCT to act as a slush-box and that's it. I say to them, go buy a Corola!
The rest of 10% complain for a good reason and I say to them to not give up and take it to Ford and don't stop till the problems are solved. There are here more persons happy with their DCT, even though they had their part of "troubles". I have my Focus since a year almost and I love the DCT. If it wasn't the DCT, I would have gone for a MT, but not for a slush-box.

I concur, had there been a choice between a 6MT and a 6F35 or even lighter duty version of the 6F I would choose the Manual every single time. I love my DPS6/DCT250 and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Corolla still uses a four speed automatic, so you better get one soon before they update it in a few years.

I have had no real issues with the dct, sure it can behave more like a manual, but that's why I love it so much. I don't get rough jerky shifts no matter how I drive it. I've got just over 3400 miles on it as of now and its been perfect just like the first day.

To those with issues I say I wish you the best of luck in getting it resolved, but if its a matter of not being able to adapt then perhaps you should have gone with a Fusion instead, or a Corolla, or a Civic, or even a snuze, but don't trash that which you do not understand.

 

[rp3583]

Theres nothing to "learn"

If I wanted my car to drive like a manual I would have bought one, as a matter of fact, I wanted a real manual but of course you cant get the one in anything but the stripped down model. Unless you live in a different country.

All you have is a gas pedal, you're at the mercy of the computer to shift properly. Acceleration is completely unpredictable. Sport mode with the shifter is a joke, manually shifting takes over a second to respond.

Driving this car is like perpetually riding shotgun with a kid who has no idea how to drive a stick and never will learn. All you can do is say go (hit the gas) and find something to hang on to while it bucks and grinds through the first 3-4 gears.

This is by far the worst car I have ever driven.

 

[VOLDAR]

rp3583, next time you buy a car, test drive it and get the most of the information possible about it. I am sure you didn't do this when buying your Focus, so blame yourself for your stupidity, not everyone else.

 

[Gary_C]

rp3583, next time you buy a car, test drive it and get the most of the information possible about it. I am sure you didn't do this when buying your Focus, so blame yourself for your stupidity, not everyone else.

I did test drive the car, i also did much research and found that the focus was top rated. What i should have done and will do in the future is find a complaint forum and see what owners are saying rather than consumers magazine and motor trend. All the commercial print support a product without extensive evaluation.
Lets address learning how to drive the DCT.
I drive 3 to 4 different vehicles in any given day. i shouldn't NEED to learn to drive the DCT. It should act like an automatic or a manual, either one i would be happy. The DCT has a mind of it's own and it is scary if you live in an area that is not FLAT terrrain.
Where do you live VOLDAR? i am guessing in an area of flat terrain.
I don't consider myself to be stupid, nor everyone else who is having an issue.
By calling people stupid you are only showing your immaturity and narrow mindedness.

 

[craigsfocus]

If I wanted my car to drive like a manual I would have bought one, as a matter of fact, I wanted a real manual but of course you cant get the one in anything but the stripped down model. Unless you live in a different country.

All you have is a gas pedal, you're at the mercy of the computer to shift properly. Acceleration is completely unpredictable. Sport mode with the shifter is a joke, manually shifting takes over a second to respond.

Driving this car is like perpetually riding shotgun with a kid who has no idea how to drive a stick and never will learn. All you can do is say go (hit the gas) and find something to hang on to while it bucks and grinds through the first 3-4 gears.

This is by far the worst car I have ever driven.

I did test drive the car, i also did much research and found that the focus was top rated. What i should have done and will do in the future is find a complaint forum and see what owners are saying rather than consumers magazine and motor trend. All the commercial print support a product without extensive evaluation.
Lets address learning how to drive the DCT.
I drive 3 to 4 different vehicles in any given day. i shouldn't NEED to learn to drive the DCT. It should act like an automatic or a manual, either one i would be happy. The DCT has a mind of it's own and it is scary if you live in an area that is not FLAT terrrain.
Where do you live VOLDAR? i am guessing in an area of flat terrain.
I don't consider myself to be stupid, nor everyone else who is having an issue.
By calling people stupid you are only showing your immaturity and narrow mindedness.

How many miles do you all have on your cars? I am going to guess not many. The only time I find that my Focus bucks, is when I am coming to a quick stop and come off the gas pedal fast then the brake pedal and then back on the gas really fast and that has to do with the computer disengaging the clutch as I was braking then re-engaging after I let off the brake and by that time I am already on the gas, therefore creating the bucking issue, so technically its my fault.

You need to let your cars break in. 500 miles isn't broke in for the clutches. These are dual clutches and you would know, if you have ever driven a manual with dual clutches, that dual clutch setups can be very touchy. I have over 11,000 miles on my car and my DCT shifts very smooth anywhere from day to day driving and the occasional romp around. I climb several hills daily, a good majority of them are fairly steep especially for Texas (being from Maine I know steep) and I have never experienced any bucking. I usually hold a steady speed going up the hill and it will downshift smoothly.

If you really wanted a Manual transmission then you should have shopped around some more or should have told your dealership that they needed to find you one. Its not true that a Manual only comes in a stripped down car, the 2012 model year you could get it in a fully loaded SE Sport, the 2013 model year you can get it in the Titanium.