2007 Focus Transmission Issues

[MaybeaFocus]

I’ve been having an intermittent automatic transmission issue in my 2007 Focus for a few months, and the problem has recently gotten worse.  Occasionally the transmission doesn’t want to shift from first to second gear; the RPMs will jump up and eventually the transmission will harshly shift.  Sometimes the Overdrive Off light will flash orange, sometimes it stays off.  The problem usually occurs when the car has been sitting for 8+ hours, and only the first, 1-2 shift has the issue.  After it makes that initial shift, all other shifts for the rest of the drive are normal.  I have also experienced the issue after driving for 10 minutes or so, but most commonly it happens on the first shift of the day.  I took the car to my mechanic when the issue first occurred, and he found a pending code of P1700 Transmission Indeterminate Failure.  I’ll have to get the codes pulled again to see if there are any new codes.  The fluid level and color look good, although by the maintenance schedule I am due for a fluid change (currently at 130k).

 

Any guesses as to what the issue could be?  The local transmission shop wants to have the car for a few hours to run diagnostics, but I am concerned the issue may not occur while they have it so I am not sure how useful that would be.

[twintornados]

Do a drain and fill on the transmission. I had a 2001 with the same trans issue and a drain/fill with a new filter did the trick. Car shifted and drove "as new"....I had a little over 100K on the clock when I did it too. You cannot drain the torque converter but shouldn't be an issue. 

[YT90SC]

It is VERY odd to set P1700 on its' own. Get the codes pulled again. 

IF it only does it first thing, the best thing is to leave it overnight at their shop so they will more likely see the issue occur. 

When you say that the RPM's jump up, do you mean it acts like it stops putting power to the ground or just has to reach high RPM to shift? 4F27's have a couple common failure points, but with anything it can be near impossible to diagnose on the interweb. 

[MaybeaFocus]

It acts like it stops putting power to the ground.  Sometimes I can get it up to 3000 RPMs and the car barely moves, although usually I back off the accelerator before it gets to that point and just gently push back down and try again.   It will usually shift in 1 or 2 tries like that.

 

My local mechanic and the transmission shop I spoke with also said that the P1700 code was very odd.

[YT90SC]

It must be neutralling in first. Otherwise I would think it would set a P0732. Hard to tell without a scan tool connected to see if the issue occurs during commanded first or second. Does it engage reverse normally when the condition occurs? Does it pull normally in manual low? 

Edited September 7, 2019 by YT90SC

[MaybeaFocus]

It could be neutralling in first.  I haven’t tried manual low.  Normally I start off shifting from P to R backing out of the garage, and then shifting to D, and all those shifts are normal.

[MaybeaFocus]

One small update: I took the car to the auto parts store to get the codes scanned.  No check engine light is active, but once again P1700 was the only stored code.  For what it’s worth, the car drove fine on the way to the store.  I let the car idle for about a minute before driving.

[twintornados]

1 minute ago, MaybeaFocus said:

One small update: I took the car to the auto parts store to get the codes scanned.  No check engine light is active, but once again P1700 was the only stored code.  For what it’s worth, the car drove fine on the way to the store.  I let the car idle for about a minute before driving.

 

You would be surprised at the outcome of a transmission fluid drain / filter change....