Ford PowerShift Trans Campaign Question

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A relatives 2012 Focus trans went out recently. It's acting like it's stuck in gear yet slipping badly. Smoke coming from it. Trans issue warning light on in IP. Left her stranded. Elderly woman recently widowed. 60k miles.

So I googled "focus transmission" and OMFG. This thing has tons news in the press. Big class action suit in the courts. Failures all over the place. What a mess. Apparently a warranty extension was made by FoMoCo on the trans.

I called local Ford dealers and they checked VIN and all said extended warranty ran out in June. "Tough luck" and click. These things are not cheap to fix.

So my questions is - anybody know how to get ahold of a Ford zone manager? I need to escalate this and get some policy help for her. She can't afford $3500 for a reman trans. Anybody else struggle with dealer support on these things.
 
Calling is not the way to deal with this. Have the car towed into a Ford dealer without contacting them first.
Yes, it's a gamble, but the dealer will be more willing to contact Ford Corporate to do a goodwill repair as they do on a case by case bases I bet.
Research the best dealer and make sure the transmission guy isn't overwhelmed with work.
 
This transmission has hurt Ford's reputation tremendously......How can they expect 'brand loyalty' when they
continued selling this GARBAGE transmission for 6 years knowing it was junk.
Ford may 'goodwill' the repair but the replacement will still be junk.....that's why used Focus are so cheap (in an otherwise nice car).
 
As far as getting Ford to help you with a policy adjustment when the warranty time or miles have expired, good luck with that. Ford is notorious about denying even legitimate warranty claims during the warranty period.
True story. I had a mature customer who owned an Explorer with the SOHC 4.0L V/6 that broke a timing chain at only 24k miles, but it was 15 days out of warranty and they refused to fix it or help him out. What he ended-up doing was replacing the engine with a used boneyard engine at his expense (which was the cheapest way to repair it), then he traded it in, and NOT on a Ford product. He was a long time Ford loyalist, not anymore.
 
Originally Posted by skyactiv
Calling is not the way to deal with this. Have the car towed into a Ford dealer without contacting them first.
Yes, it's a gamble, but the dealer will be more willing to contact Ford Corporate to do a goodwill repair as they do on a case by case bases I bet.
Research the best dealer and make sure the transmission guy isn't overwhelmed with work.


This is not a bad idea.

I would think a Ford service department that's slow at the moment (if that's possible) would be most likely to push it through to get some work into the shop. A warranty payout is better than no payout.
 
the story i heard was that ford has NO fix for the trouble. NO FIX. dont EVER buy a CVT trans . no matter the brand.
 
Originally Posted by red7404
the story i heard was that ford has NO fix for the trouble. NO FIX. dont EVER buy a CVT trans . no matter the brand.


????

This has nothing to do with a CVT. The powershift is a manual gear box that has automated shifting and a dry clutch. The shaft seal leaks on them and gets gear oil onto the clutch friction material. There is a revised seal to help this problem but it doesn't solve it.
 
Originally Posted by pbm
This transmission has hurt Ford's reputation tremendously......How can they expect 'brand loyalty' when they
continued selling this GARBAGE transmission for 6 years knowing it was junk.
Ford may 'goodwill' the repair but the replacement will still be junk.....that's why used Focus are so cheap (in an otherwise nice car).


While I do think the DPS6 is a POS and something they should not have done, I don't think the transmission hurt them much. The Focus was still a top seller up until it was discontinued.

It's also not "so cheap". Comparing Sedan models:
2012 Focus midlevel (SEL) with 75k NADA says clean retail is $6825.
2012 Cruze Midlevel (LT) with 75k NDAA says clean retail is $7400.
That's a $575 difference, not that great.

A 2012 Civic EX with 75k which NADA says clean retail is $9225. IMHO that's overpriced.

To the OP - Have her drop it off at a Ford dealer - they have extended the warranty on it so many times and it should be covered under something. Perhaps she could try the selling dealer?
 
Ford Trans Subject of Criminal Investigation? Ep. 6.108
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Steve Lehto
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A grand jury has issued a subpoena to Ford, looking into the problems with the dual clutch transmission.
 
If you feel comfortable, PM me the last 8 of the VIN and I can see what I can dig up. Ford did have extended coverage on these the clutches and TCMs but there are time and mileage limits.
 
Originally Posted by red7404
the story i heard was that ford has NO fix for the trouble. NO FIX. dont EVER buy a CVT trans . no matter the brand.

Originally Posted by red7404
the story i heard was that ford has NO fix for the trouble. NO FIX. dont EVER buy a CVT trans . no matter the brand.


This is not a CVT. It is a dual clutch automated manual.
 
Originally Posted by wag123
As far as getting Ford to help you with a policy adjustment when the warranty time or miles have expired, good luck with that. Ford is notorious about denying even legitimate warranty claims during the warranty period.
True story. I had a mature customer who owned an Explorer with the SOHC 4.0L V/6 that broke a timing chain at only 24k miles, but it was 15 days out of warranty and they refused to fix it or help him out. What he ended-up doing was replacing the engine with a used boneyard engine at his expense (which was the cheapest way to repair it), then he traded it in, and NOT on a Ford product. He was a long time Ford loyalist, not anymore.



I call shenanigans sorry Tiger there are many examples this isn't the case. There are more than a few examples of Goodwill warranty repairs.
 
Originally Posted by dave1251
I call shenanigans sorry Tiger there are many examples this isn't the case. There are more than a few examples of Goodwill warranty repairs.


I do have to say that as long as we have been doing these, and as many as we have done, which is probably 5-600 at my small dealer, maybe 1 or 2 have ended up being customer pay.
 
So has there ultimately been a fix for this trans? Or are replacements (new or OE reman) just as bad as the original? And are the revised control unit software updates working or are these still problematic?
 
Originally Posted by BBDartCA
So has there ultimately been a fix for this trans? Or are replacements (new or OE reman) just as bad as the original? And are the revised control unit software updates working or are these still problematic?


The transmissions themselves very rarely have the issue. The issue is the input shaft leaking and contaminating the dry clutch. Also the TCM has issues, we replace those fairly often as well. Very rarely do we replace the whole transmission. Occasionally the actuators are replaced as well when doing the clutch when needed.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal


The transmissions themselves very rarely have the issue. The issue is the input shaft leaking and contaminating the dry clutch. Also the TCM has issues, we replace those fairly often as well. Very rarely do we replace the whole transmission. Occasionally the actuators are replaced as well when doing the clutch when needed.


This is what amazes me with the powershift and I know we've talked about it a bunch of times here. It's basically a manual gearbox. How often do you hear of an input shaft seal leaking bad enough to get on the clutching lining material of a manual transmission, rendering it useless. Pretty much never. Why is it an issue with the powershift? I just cannot be the seal itself. Heat? Too much internal pressure building up in the case? Flexing of the case? It's gotta be a combo of those.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by JTK


This is what amazes me with the powershift and I know we've talked about it a bunch of times here. It's basically a manual gearbox. How often do you hear of an input shaft seal leaking bad enough to get on the clutching lining material of a manual transmission, rendering it useless. Pretty much never. Why is it an issue with the powershift? I just cannot be the seal itself. Heat? Too much internal pressure building up in the case? Flexing of the case? It's gotta be a combo of those.


Excellent observations JTK...well any experts here want to comment,

Also need to add that the "wet clutch" DCT that Ford used in the Focus and Fiesta in ROW/Europe had no such problem at all.
 
Originally Posted by JTK
Originally Posted by bdcardinal


The transmissions themselves very rarely have the issue. The issue is the input shaft leaking and contaminating the dry clutch. Also the TCM has issues, we replace those fairly often as well. Very rarely do we replace the whole transmission. Occasionally the actuators are replaced as well when doing the clutch when needed.


This is what amazes me with the powershift and I know we've talked about it a bunch of times here. It's basically a manual gearbox. How often do you hear of an input shaft seal leaking bad enough to get on the clutching lining material of a manual transmission, rendering it useless. Pretty much never. Why is it an issue with the powershift? I just cannot be the seal itself. Heat? Too much internal pressure building up in the case? Flexing of the case? It's gotta be a combo of those.


It is the seal itself. The original ones were black and IIRC the "fix" ones are brown. It is a different design or material. They have the different color so a tech can quickly see if it has an updated seal or not.
 
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