[mr_cassandra]

I really don't want to defend a Ford dealer, but each one is different. Same with every brand. I owned a Mazda RX8 for ~5 years and had shit service from my dealer. The smug condescending attitude I got from the service writer was appalling. This guy was so effing jealous I was young and driving an RX8. In his exact words, it's "an exotic sports car". ROFL! Look bud. I may look young, but I'm in my 30s and paid for the car without daddy money. But none of that is any of your business anyway, fix my damn air conditioner!

But as for Ford vs Mazda, Mazda saw major problems with the RX8 rotary engine. And what did they do? Extended the powertrain warranty for all RX8s to 10 years 100k miles. Now THAT is something to brag about. They stepped up to the plate, while Ford snakes off into the darkness and hides.

The Mazda3 has always had outstanding trade value. It has been jockeying #1 and 2 with the Honda Civic/Accord for years.

This board has more than three years of posts, hundreds of them, showing a definite trend in Ford AND the dealers sloughing this problem off. making it worse are focus owners who have never had some other brand of dual clutch tranny, so they accept and/or promote all the excuses and rationalizations for this one, not knowing what it is supposed to be like. In addition, before Ford made the Focus Facebook page "go away" , you could also see angry owners over there. Point being, its not just one lazy or bad dealer.

 

[Exalky]

...everyone comes back because the repair does not hold.

I guess that highlights the lingering question in my mind. My 2004 drove fine when I purchased it and within a few months developed the horrendous shudder. I put up with it for a long time and finally took it to the dealer and got the new clutch pack put in. That was two weeks ago and now the car drives like a absolute dream. However, assuming for the sake of argument that within a couple of months this problem will once again recur (like it has for many others here), the question on my mind is....

WHY?

1. Why does it work fine for a limited amount of time and then "break" again? Technically speaking, what is going wrong with the clutch system?

2. Why does Ford continue to pour so much money into offering a "fix" to customers that is ultimately doomed to fail?

 

[mr_cassandra]

I guess that highlights the lingering question in my mind. My 2004 drove fine when I purchased it and within a few months developed the horrendous shudder. I put up with it for a long time and finally took it to the dealer and got the new clutch pack put in. That was two weeks ago and now the car drives like a absolute dream. However, assuming for the sake of argument that within a couple of months this problem will once again recur (like it has for many others here), the question on my mind is....

WHY?

1. Why does it work fine for a limited amount of time and then "break" again? Technically speaking, what is going wrong with the clutch system?

2. Why does Ford continue to pour so much money into offering a "fix" to customers that is ultimately doomed to fail?

These are just my opinions based on reading hundreds of posts here for well over 3 years now.

1. it may be a bad design so that no amount of replacement seals and clutches provides a permanent fix.
2. dry dual clutch transmissions themselves may be a bad idea and eventually be dropped.
3. Imo, Ford is trying to skin by this issue with fix after fix because there is NO alternative, IE no other transmission they could throw in.
4. they also issues a memo to explain to everyone why things like "trailer-hitching" were normal and how the drover should drive his car. Sadly, some focus owners who didn't know other-wise actually believed this memo.

I'm just giving an opinion above but I feel this is a horrible way to treat people who have spent 15-30,000 hard-earned dollars and perhaps even worse is trying to tell them its "normal" and/or they are driving it wrong.

I will beat a dead horse here and say, once again, that if all Focus owners had a chance to ride in a wet dual clutch VW, and see the false story they are being given, they would be enraged.

We can discuss wet VS dry dual clutch until the cows come home but if dry has to be this bad, maybe it shouldn't have been built.

Last but not least, there is a tune sold by Tom here at this board that many owners are very happy with, achieving far more good result than some of Fords fixes.

 

[1turbofocus]

I have driven wet clutches and dry , I have to agree that Ford has done a VERY BAD! job fixing this issue , stalling then with back ordered clutches and trying to blow them off by waiting on parts and saying there trans issue isnt bad enough

I like the dry clutch when its working properly and I wish you had the opertunity to try my tune in your Focus mr_cassandra I think it would of given you a different opinion on the questionable dry clutch

I have sent about 15 emails to different divisions of Ford offering what I have found that seems to work very well with the DCT issues but never an answer back , I am just to small a cog in the wheels for them to take me serious and try it I guess

Tom

 

[mr_cassandra]

I have driven wet clutches and dry , I have to agree that Ford has done a VERY BAD! job fixing this issue , stalling then with back ordered clutches and trying to blow them off by waiting on parts and saying there trans issue isnt bad enough

I like the dry clutch when its working properly and I wish you had the opertunity to try my tune in your Focus mr_cassandra I think it would of given you a different opinion on the questionable dry clutch

I have sent about 15 emails to different divisions of Ford offering what I have found that seems to work very well with the DCT issues but never an answer back , I am just to small a cog in the wheels for them to take me serious and try it I guess

Tom

Tom, as I've said before, if I were a Ford exec, I'd hop on a plane with my best techs both hardware and software and you and I would have a financial discussion if my techs liked what they saw.

 

[greencumulus]

Did you end up having the TCM replaced? I had mine replaced yesterday and am still having issues.

 

[sailor]

^^^ this thread is about an update that was avail. to provide TCM failure diagnostic & warning info. better than the original in the system.

"Issues" is a pretty wide range of possibilities, you might want to make your own thread to describe them OR read/post in either a TCM problems or a clutch issues thread where it might fit better.

For a VERY general description, shifting/starting failures are TCM related while "shudder" and other similar drivability concerns are clutch/seals/programming related.

 

[joefromchicago]

Traded in the Focus a few weeks ago. The irony about this all is that I had to go to a non Ford dealer to get a good trade in value because my dealer knew the problems and didn't want the car to sit on their lot... which I understand... who the heck would buy a car that has a shudder and has a rap sheet of repairs longer than a repeat offender?

I have to say the Reps on this forum did a great job trying to help me with getting the dealer fix the problem. It did take the Reps for the dealer to even order the clutch pack, which is pathetic. The pack was on back order and took a while to get in.

The trade in was probably the best decision I have made. I bought the car because it got good gas mileage and should've been a dependable vehicle. But having to keep dropping off the car and getting a loaner (Which the dealer was never too happy to give me) was never going to work out. How many more clutch packs would my Focus have needed? A new one every year? No thanks.

I have a brand new Chevy Malibu comparable to the Focus Titanium trim... and I couldn't be happier.

I will never buy a Ford again. I feel bad for whoever purchases my old Focus but hopefully search Google beforehand...

 

[greencumulus]

^^^ this thread is about an update that was avail. to provide TCM failure diagnostic & warning info. better than the original in the system.

"Issues" is a pretty wide range of possibilities, you might want to make your own thread to describe them OR read/post in either a TCM problems or a clutch issues thread where it might fit better.

For a VERY general description, shifting/starting failures are TCM related while "shudder" and other similar drivability concerns are clutch/seals/programming related.

My mistake - my thread is located here:
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/mk3-tsb-recall-problems-archive/678161-tsb-15b22-replaced-tcm-didnt-work.html#post9916305

 

[firebirdude]

The trade in was probably the best decision I have made. I bought the car because it got good gas mileage and should've been a dependable vehicle. But having to keep dropping off the car and getting a loaner (Which the dealer was never too happy to give me) was never going to work out. How many more clutch packs would my Focus have needed? A new one every year? No thanks.

I have a brand new Chevy Malibu comparable to the Focus Titanium trim... and I couldn't be happier.

I will never buy a Ford again. I feel bad for whoever purchases my old Focus but hopefully search Google beforehand...

Ford ---->

Ford on this issue specifically ----> [shhh]

 

[mr_cassandra]

Traded in the Focus a few weeks ago. The irony about this all is that I had to go to a non Ford dealer to get a good trade in value because my dealer knew the problems and didn't want the car to sit on their lot... which I understand... who the heck would buy a car that has a shudder and has a rap sheet of repairs longer than a repeat offender?

I have to say the Reps on this forum did a great job trying to help me with getting the dealer fix the problem. It did take the Reps for the dealer to even order the clutch pack, which is pathetic. The pack was on back order and took a while to get in.

The trade in was probably the best decision I have made. I bought the car because it got good gas mileage and should've been a dependable vehicle. But having to keep dropping off the car and getting a loaner (Which the dealer was never too happy to give me) was never going to work out. How many more clutch packs would my Focus have needed? A new one every year? No thanks.

I have a brand new Chevy Malibu comparable to the Focus Titanium trim... and I couldn't be happier.

I will never buy a Ford again. I feel bad for whoever purchases my old Focus but hopefully search Google beforehand...

I hope you have smooth sailing and I did the same thing.

 

[drifter2000]

My 2013 is back in the shop for the 2nd time in six months to get fixed. The first time, the TCM and clutch needed replaced. This time the TCM needs replaced. After a lot of yelling at the dealer, and the salesman that sold me this pile, they are trying to get me into another vehicle. They want to sell me a C-Max, which I am really not impressed with, and don't think that I will even consider once they get my car finished.

I most likely will be going your route and looking into other dealers. I've owned several Ford vehicles in the past, and I'm sad to say that this will most likely be my last. The poor vehicle quality, the poor customer service by both Ford and the dealer to correct their product or correct the fact that the car is obviously a lemon, proves to me that they don't care for customers.

 

[mjb457]

I agree the Ford Reps on this site were very helpful...has anybody heard or seen any posts from them lately?hmmmmm

 

[sailor]

There were quite a few from them this week, stop in long enough to look around.

Like every other thread on the transmission, this one on a particular program is way off topic as a catch all for comments now.

If you expect your posts to be seen, it's better to put them in an area that reflects the subject. Otherwise opening the window and shouting out the issue would be almost as effective.

The update program discussed in this thread is OVER, though it may still be avail. by request or when other work is being done. The official free offer ended. Posting trans. issues in a thread NOT on that subject makes them much less likely to be seen by a Ford rep if that was the intent.

Looks more like a couple random comments as posted.

P.S. - check this response from tonight:http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/mk3-tsb-recall-problems-archive/692609-soooo-just-happened-5.html#post10120529

 

[stayboogy]

i had this field service action performed on my car by request for free without any other work being done at a Ford dealer in my city back in June.

i have to say that whatever is included in the update "fixed" all the issues i was having with my trans--it is obviously more than just an update to cause a dtc quicker when the trans is malfunctioning. i've once done a relearn, and this is more than an adaptive relearn. my car no longer double downshifts when i want to accelerate to overtake a vehicle, the car no longer stumbles when trying to take off like when making a turn into traffic, car does not roll backward at a stop any more, etc. car trans wise has never ran better.