cal50 Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Purchased a new 2012 Focus for my daughter with the DCT transmission. The car was running great until I had a bad vibration and slipping in the transmission. A google search came up with several complaints about the DCT transmission. In my case it was a real issue because of leaking seals that trashed the dry clutch plates. The dealer had the vehicle for around 4 day to order and replace parts. Transmission dropped and seals, clutches and slave cylinder replaced. The car is back in action and hopefully no more problems. This was a major repair for a car with very low miles. Hopefully no more surprises or issues of this nature arise. Anyone else have an issue or complaint with their 2012 with the DCT transmission? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldd Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 There are a number of complaints that I've seen. Definitely a piece of equipment that doesn't get the praise for the Focus in general. Ford needs to do better here. - make sure to get the transmission reprogrammed with recent software. There have been a number of software issues fixed - If you have shuddering at low speed, try turning off the traction control. There's some interaction there, and I've seen a number of reports that the tranny behaves much better with the TC off. - leaking seals as you describe is a known issue, and even has a TSB, I think. Check for leaks at the bell housing, and have it fixed under warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fireman9027 Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Sounds like a lot of problems with this transmission, I think I'll have to go with a manual if I ever get mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Purchased a new 2012 Focus for my daughter with the DCT transmission. The car was running great until I had a bad vibration and slipping in the transmission. A google search came up with several complaints about the DCT transmission. In my case it was a real issue because of leaking seals that trashed the dry clutch plates. The dealer had the vehicle for around 4 day to order and replace parts. Transmission dropped and seals, clutches and slave cylinder replaced. The car is back in action and hopefully no more problems. This was a major repair for a car with very low miles. Hopefully no more surprises or issues of this nature arise. Anyone else have an issue or complaint with their 2012 with the DCT transmission? Looks like your service techs did tsb 11-12-13 dated 12/28/11 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID LEAK Some other TSB's related to the Powershift (DCT) 12-1-4: 2.0L GDI AND MANUAL TRANSMISSION - CALIBRATION UPDATE - VARIOUS DRIVEABILITY IMPROVEMENTS - BUILT ON OR BEFORE 2/29/2012. Some 2012 Focus vehicles equipped with a 2.0L gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine, manual transmission and built on or before 2/29/2012 may exhibit diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) U0422, P00D2, P068A, P0850, P2610, P2832, P286F, P2877, P00C6, P0607, P0457 and/or P06B8 and may be accompanied by engine driveability concerns. Refer to the calibration content for additional calibration details. 12B37: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM 12B37 - REPROGRAM THE POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE (PCM), TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE (TCM), AND THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM (ABS) MODULE In some of the affected vehicles, the customer may experience rough or jerky automatic transmission shifts. In addition, the vehicle may experience roll back when the driver is transitioning from the brake pedal to the accelerator pedal while on a slight incline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal50 Posted May 7, 2013 Author Share Posted May 7, 2013 (edited) Today the car is back at the dealer again with transmission problems, again. The service agent told my daughter when she dropped off the car that it will be up to two (2) months for parts due to a nationwide shortage of needed parts or a widespread problem. If there ever was a candidate for lemon law or a buy back this car is quickly approaching that mark. Nothing like buying a new vehicle to have it more unreliable than your old one and in the repair faclilty more often. Its embarassing as a Ford Motor employee and as a consumer it does not give me a warm fuzzy about Ford's engineering and build quality. If someone asked me if I would recommend a new Ford Focus there is no way I could say "yes" with a straight face. Edited May 7, 2013 by cal50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I have slightly more than 25k on my odometer and something has begun making a loud almost like scraping or rubbing sound. I'm dropping the car off tonight. The sound only occurs intermittently and when the car is in motion. It sounds as if its on the drivers side but definitely under the hood. I am a bit nervous of what they'll find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal50 Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 I have slightly more than 25k on my odometer and something has begun making a loud almost like scraping or rubbing sound. I'm dropping the car off tonight. The sound only occurs intermittently and when the car is in motion. It sounds as if its on the drivers side but definitely under the hood. I am a bit nervous of what they'll find. If its under warranty I hope they find a lot....and replace all of it! My vehicle is on fix number 2 for transmission issues and so far its playing and working nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Last night I received word from the dealer that they believe the problem is in the DCT but there were no details. They stated they would be further communicating with us today on it. This transmission is clearly a piece of junk. I'm not at all happy. I should've gone for a 5 speed manual on this car. The thing about this is okay fine, it'll be fixed under warranty but its no secret about this issue now. People aren't going to want these cars in the future so I'm sure I'll be saddled with it till it dies. In the meantime how many times will I need to spend significant $ to keep it on the road. I hope we see a class action on it so they're responsible for it through the life of the vehicle. That is the only way I'm going to feel comfortable now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal50 Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 My car is on major repair #2 and thus far its been working fine. I was told a redesigned replacement part/s was installed so we shall see if this "fix" works or not. If something else goes wrong with the transmission I will see if I can lemon law it back to Ford. I think its 3 repeat failures of the same major component. I am hoping it really is fixed and time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 (edited) Does your work order show what parts were replaced? If so can you post the part numbers? Edited July 24, 2013 by MKII Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Latest update on mine is they are working back and forth with Ford to get clearance to order a brand new transmission. There were metal shavings in the fluid so the dealership service managements take is they don't want to mess with this trans. They'd rather put in a fresh new one. I'm with them on this, I don't want the old unit back. They're hoping to hear about an approval for replacement today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Replacement approved, now we wait. Wait for it to be ordered, wait for it to arrive and wait for it to be installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal50 Posted July 28, 2013 Author Share Posted July 28, 2013 I cant find the paperwork but the 1st failure was reported as a bad seal that contaminated the clutches.New seal ,clutches & retainer ring. 2nd failure happened about 6 months later,grinding and bad shifting.I was told a redesigned clutch assy. and other parts installed. Its working well thus far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT90SC Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 The DSP6's clutch assembly cannot tolerate any contaminant on the clutch. 95% of the time the input seals fail causing the contamination. I had one that someone had improperly repaired the coolant adaptor on the cylinder head, resulting in a bellhousing full of coolant. There is also a very very specific torque sequence for the clutch to the engine, If not followed this can lead to shudder or engine imbalance vibration. There are very few actual failures of the transmission assembly, but they do happen. Honestly, if they would not try to make it feel like a conventional automatic most if not all of the shudder issues would be non existent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal50 Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share Posted July 29, 2013 The "up" time thus far for my Focus and tranny has not been great. I actually purchased it for my daughter that is going away to finish up her degree so I did not have to worry about vehicle repairs,lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 No Focus this week. I was hoping to have it back tonight but I was just informed that they're still working on it and are targeting Monday for completion. Patience wearing thin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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