Ford rushes to fix gearbox problems

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/10/27/f...ly-enough-for/

Ford rushes to fix gearbox problems, but not quickly enough for Consumer Reports

By Zach Bowman RSS feed
Posted Oct 27th 2011 1:59PM

Consumer Reports recently cited issues with the PowerShift dual-clutch transmission in the Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta as one of the primary reasons behind the automaker's fall from grace in its annual Car Reliability Study, but according to The New York Times, the automaker has already worked to solve most of the problems with the gearboxes. Ford has issued a number of technical service bulletins designed to improve drivability at low speeds. On September 13, Ford sent its dealers a bulletin describing how to reprogram the powertrain control module for "smoother acceleration, reduced hesitation, better low-speed drivability and improved shift scheduling."

In addition, a separate bulletin sent out on September 2 specifically dealt with harsh gear changes in the Fiesta. Like its larger sibling, dealers were instructed to reprogram the transmission for better performance. Still, those fixes come too late for Ford in the Consumer Reports' report. We'll have to wait until next year to see if the changes improve the Blue Oval's ranking.

News Source: The New York Times

[Aussie XB12SS]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Ford has issued a number of technical service bulletins designed to improve drivability at low speeds. On September 13, Ford sent its dealers a bulletin describing how to reprogram the powertrain control module for "smoother acceleration, reduced hesitation, better low-speed drivability and improved shift scheduling."

Yep, ours has been reprogramed. Much nicer to drive now.

[kevino]

Hilarious. Ford bring out an auto which has issues as does VW dsg type-at the same time as the 6 speed manual diesel is not available and only 5 speed manuals are available with petrol focuses.

Ford !!! Make available a 6 speed manual option in both petrol and diesel focuses! Not all of us want a ''funny automatic''.

The 1.6 Focus would probably perform a lot better with a 6 speed manual ditto the 2 litre petrol/diesel models.

Current rides 5 speed manual 2006 petrol focus and 2008 6 speed manual diesel focus. The 2006 gets replaced next year with ?? but has to be a 6 speed manual.

[Franco Cozzo]

Agree, why no manual option?

[kevino]

I cant say in all fairness I have heard any grizzles about the 6 speed auto matched to the 2 litre Focus diesel.

Any automatic diesel focus owners able to share their views on how the auto goes?

[Russ]

The biggest issue with these new boxes is they're missing a main part for precision operation, its called a man pedal

I'll never own another auto or clutchless manual as they like to refer to them Sorry but I'm a human and I like to drive my cars that way if I stuff up it's my fault

It doesn't bother me if you're a second or 2 quicker than me from the lights, I'll be sure and give you a couple of blasts on the horn as I pass by the dealer service dept when your having your reprogramming done, again

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by kevino

I cant say in all fairness I have heard any grizzles about the 6 speed auto matched to the 2 litre Focus diesel.

Any automatic diesel focus owners able to share their views on how the auto goes?

There are only 2 issues that come to mind.

1) Often, there is a lag of 1 or 2 seconds when selecting reverse. I almost hit a car doing a 3 point turn because the road was slightly slanted and after selecting reverse the car rolled forward 1/2 a metre before the gears kicked in. Has happened a few times now, so I either wait that little bit extra till I can feel the gears engage or press the brake and accelerate backwards then release the brake (like a reverse hill start).

2) It drops to 1st way too easily. When in manual mode I will gear down from 3rd to 2nd just before entering a round about and then a second later I hear the engine rev to 3000 and see that it is in first.... This, I really dislike and have to watch the dash to see if it double changes by itself then select up to second straight away. I'm either gearing down a split second before it does it on it's own, or it senses the brake pedal and the slowing down and assumes I'm about to stop.

Getting my new sticker installed from the dealer in the next few weeks, may ask if they know of any software updates I can grab while they have it. Not due for a service till mid next year.

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by kevino

Hilarious. Ford bring out an auto which has issues as does VW dsg type-at the same time as the 6 speed manual diesel is not available and only 5 speed manuals are available with petrol focuses.

Ford !!! Make available a 6 speed manual option in both petrol and diesel focuses! Not all of us want a ''funny automatic''.

The 1.6 Focus would probably perform a lot better with a 6 speed manual ditto the 2 litre petrol/diesel models.

Current rides 5 speed manual 2006 petrol focus and 2008 6 speed manual diesel focus. The 2006 gets replaced next year with ?? but has to be a 6 speed manual.

I don't really care about having a manual diesel in the Focus, after they have decimated the car so that they could go downmarket (from a 1 series competitor to a Golf competitor). Just give us a manual Mondeo please Ford! It's pure lunacy that no P-plate legal manual Mondeos have been imported into Australia! Due to a high percentage of UK sales being in manual, it's not like there's a shortage of manual RHD Mondeos being produced.

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by Russ

The biggest issue with these new boxes is they're missing a main part for precision operation, its called a man pedal

I'll never own another auto or clutchless manual as they like to refer to them Sorry but I'm a human and I like to drive my cars that way if I stuff up it's my fault

It doesn't bother me if you're a second or 2 quicker than me from the lights, I'll be sure and give you a couple of blasts on the horn as I pass by the dealer service dept when your having your reprogramming done, again

Don't forget that manuals are often considerably quicker around the track.

I've never understood the point of autos. Why let the car decide which gear you should be in when you can easily do so yourself? I don't particularly like it when autos decide to kick down/up at seemingly random and inappropriate times. In the end, autos will always be 'reactive', as opposed to manuals, which are 'proactive'. As for DCTs, it's simply not the same as a proper manual. Yes, shift times are decreased, but that doesn't change that it's like playing an Xbox, not to mention the reliability issues that started this thread. If one more car salesman starts to feed me the BS about autos being just the same as manuals when in tiptronic, or that manuals are unable to be driven in traffic (as if a manual car is some sort of uncivilised throwback from the past which is unable to be driven in areas of modern congestion), I will go crazy, and not the good kind of crazy.
The auto transmission was obsolete the day it was introduced in my view, at least for serious drivers. The mechanical connection between the engine and transmission provides a magical connection between car and driver. Keep in mind though that all my experience has been in cars making power figures of approximately 200 kWs or less; I sometimes hear things said about, say, a manual F6 being like "a bull in a china shop".
Sorry about the angry rant, but it's just a pet hate of mine. I'd hate to see the manual transmission die (notice how it's only those in Australia and the US saying this) just as I'd hate to see the inline six die.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by 4.0i OHC

Don't forget that manuals are often considerably quicker around the track.

I've never understood the point of autos. Why let the car decide which gear you should be in when you can easily do so yourself? I don't particularly like it when autos decide to kick down/up at seemingly random and inappropriate times. In the end, autos will always be 'reactive', as opposed to manuals, which are 'proactive'. As for DCTs, it's simply not the same as a proper manual. Yes, shift times are decreased, but that doesn't change that it's like playing an Xbox, not to mention the reliability issues that started this thread. If one more car salesman starts to feed me the BS about autos being just the same as manuals when in tiptronic, or that manuals are unable to be driven in traffic (as if a manual car is some sort of uncivilised throwback from the past which is unable to be driven in areas of modern congestion), I will go crazy, and not the good kind of crazy.
The auto transmission was obsolete the day it was introduced in my view, at least for serious drivers. The mechanical connection between the engine and transmission provides a magical connection between car and driver. Keep in mind though that all my experience has been in cars making power figures of approximately 200 kWs or less; I sometimes hear things said about, say, a manual F6 being like "a bull in a china shop".
Sorry about the angry rant, but it's just a pet hate of mine. I'd hate to see the manual transmission die (notice how it's only those in Australia and the US saying this) just as I'd hate to see the inline six die.

Jeeez I'm pleased I'm not a car salesman at any of your local dealers

[In Focus]

Manual transmission is a 20th century hangover, a quaint relic soon to be history...

Unfortunately, so are driver-controlled cars. :(

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by In Focus

Manual transmission is a 20th century hangover, a quaint relic soon to be history...

How can you say that when it's only really Australia and the US that manuals are being abandoned? As well as this, could that be down to the limited choice we are given? No manual diesel Focus? NO MANUAL MONDEO!? Why do manuals command a higher resale (at least in Falcons, which have one of the best auto boxes around)?

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by Russ

Jeeez I'm pleased I'm not a car salesman at any of your local dealers

I just don't like being fed BS.

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

2) It drops to 1st way too easily. When in manual mode I will gear down from 3rd to 2nd just before entering a round about and then a second later I hear the engine rev to 3000 and see that it is in first.... This, I really dislike and have to watch the dash to see if it double changes by itself then select up to second straight away. I'm either gearing down a split second before it does it on it's own, or it senses the brake pedal and the slowing down and assumes I'm about to stop.

Case in point.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by 4.0i OHC

Case in point.

Seems to be a software problem. I was like you, and would prefer a 3 pedal car over anything. That was fine when an auto box had 3 or 4 ratios and consumed more than a manual.

Now we have 6,7 and 8 speed auto boxes that perform better than manuals, use the same or less fuel and can be self shifting or driver shifted with no clutch.

Would take the 6 speed auto over a manual any day now. Traditional manuals are soon to be a thing of the past I'm sorry to say.

Also, how many people really understand the mechanics behind HOW exactly a manual transmission can best work with the engine it's mated to?? I have sat next to some SHOCKING manual drivers who just don't understand how to marry up gears / revs and speed based on conditions. They drive a manual because it was cheaper to buy....

Sure, you can understand a manual box, as can I. My wife and mum on the other hand will probably kill a clutch in 6 months if they were forced to drive manual. They don't car for superior driver control, they want to start the car and press the go pedal.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by 4.0i OHC

How can you say that when it's only really Australia and the US that manuals are being abandoned? As well as this, could that be down to the limited choice we are given? No manual diesel Focus? NO MANUAL MONDEO!? Why do manuals command a higher resale (at least in Falcons, which have one of the best auto boxes around)?

Because they were not the norm. These cars (large family sedans) are generally sold as an auto and a manual needs to be optioned.

In most other cars it's the opposite, and then the auto is worth more in resale.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by 4.0i OHC

I just don't like being fed BS.

Most people don't, but unfortunately BS and sales people go together like stawberries and cream and it's not just in the motoring industry

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

hear the engine rev to 3000 and see that it is in first.... This, I really dislike and have to watch the dash to see if it double changes by itself then select up to second straight away.

I also find the diesel is extremely loud when you go above 2500 RPM, you can really hear it inside the car, i hold 3rd gear going down steep hills to keep me at around 60-70km/h without touching the brakes and its bloody loud lol.

My hate from autos stems from when I was working at Honda, they used to make me be the courier picking up parts from other dealerships and customers cars in Port Melbourne, so they'd give me one of the new Demo cars they had around the dealership, all of the time they where autos, they gave me this Civic "Sport" one time, wth the bigger 2L engine instead of the 1.8L and it was matched to a slushbox, my god it was horrible, you'd go up a hill and it'd be in the wrong gear, then drop down eventually, then it'd rev up, then shift up, then drop down eventually and shift back up again, and it was freakin' slow to change gears.

The only good thign about it was it survived me accidentally smashing it into park at nearly 50km/h, I got sick of its crap so I wanted to change my own gears, it was just the normal 1, 2, D style shift, so I put it into first, when the light went green I gave it to it, come up to redline and went to shift up to 2 manually, but I had my finger on the shift button, being excited I pushed really hard upwards on the shifter and I rode it from 1, 2, D, N, R and finally into P LOL, locked up the front wheels when we came into R and onto P with a nice big grinding sound, brown underwear there for a while when I put it back into D and never touched it again hoping it was fine, I feel sorry for the person who bought that car off us.

[dannyhilton]

An automatic isn't really an automatic as such. It doesn't do all the thinking by reading your mind, it does what it thinks is correct. So like all transmissions, the way you drive it plays a large part in how it works. A decent automatic will drive wonderfully, providing you know how to command it. Just because you don't change gears doesn't mean you can drive it without thought.

In saying that, do love a decent manual. Have a Focus titanium on order, and if we had the ECOBoost engine, hands down would have gone manual. But the PowerShift worked really well in the test cars I drove. Hopefully Ford can rectify these issues and shoot back up in the consumer reports area.

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Seems to be a software problem. I was like you, and would prefer a 3 pedal car over anything. That was fine when an auto box had 3 or 4 ratios and consumed more than a manual.

Now we have 6,7 and 8 speed auto boxes that perform better than manuals, use the same or less fuel and can be self shifting or driver shifted with no clutch.

Would take the 6 speed auto over a manual any day now. Traditional manuals are soon to be a thing of the past I'm sorry to say.

Also, how many people really understand the mechanics behind HOW exactly a manual transmission can best work with the engine it's mated to?? I have sat next to some SHOCKING manual drivers who just don't understand how to marry up gears / revs and speed based on conditions. They drive a manual because it was cheaper to buy....

Sure, you can understand a manual box, as can I. My wife and mum on the other hand will probably kill a clutch in 6 months if they were forced to drive manual. They don't car for superior driver control, they want to start the car and press the go pedal.

You have a very good point there. I failed to even consider that. All the manual drivers I know drive manual because they want to; the drivers that you've described have just gone and bought autos. There are certainly some applications where an automatic/DSG transmission would be favoured.

I must admit, though, as much as I favour manuals, I love the sound the old Falcon 4 speed auto makes when changing from first to second!

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by dannyhilton

An automatic isn't really an automatic as such. It doesn't do all the thinking by reading your mind, it does what it thinks is correct.

Got it in one.

Originally Posted by dannyhilton

So like all transmissions, the way you drive it plays a large part in how it works. A decent automatic will drive wonderfully, providing you know how to command it. Just because you don't change gears doesn't mean you can drive it without thought.

Maybe that's something I just need to get the hang of. I guess you can make the most of a bad situation in that respect. I still wouldn't own one though, and Ford have lost a Mondeo customer. Does anyone know if any Ford representatives read this forum?

[Russ]

Originally Posted by 4.0i OHC

. Does anyone know if any Ford representatives read this forum?

I'm pretty sure there was another thread recently where someone was having a fair bit of trouble trying to get warranty issues sorted and a Ford representative stepped in to try and help resolve it

[dannyhilton]

Originally Posted by 4.0i OHC

Maybe that's something I just need to get the hang of. I guess you can make the most of a bad situation in that respect. I still wouldn't own one though, and Ford have lost a Mondeo customer.

There's truly some shocking automatic transmissions out there. Been driving a Triton Turbo Diesel Automatic the past few weeks for work. OMG. Once you figure out how to drive it, it gets better, but it's bloody awful and pales in comparison the the ZF auto in the Falcon. That's a bloody good transmission.

[sysh]

Originally Posted by Aussie XB12SS

Yep, ours has been reprogramed. Much nicer to drive now.

Did ya have to go back to the dealer/service center to do that? or did they do it before they delivered the car to you?

[Aussie XB12SS]

Originally Posted by sysh

Did ya have to go back to the dealer/service center to do that? or did they do it before they delivered the car to you?

We had the car before the dealer was aware of the issue. To they're credit they were quick to respond when we mentioned the issues we were having & frigged around with one on the lot to make sure everything with the "reprogramming" worked out then got ours in.

[sysh]

"smoother acceleration, reduced hesitation, better low-speed drivability and improved shift scheduling."

.. pardon me asking, but would it be easy to "detect" if the car has been reprogrammed or not? I'm just afraid I might not be able feel the difference whether they done it or not (or the dealer just passing it off as being done, but in actual fact had not done it at all)

[ConradP]

Originally Posted by sysh

"smoother acceleration, reduced hesitation, better low-speed drivability and improved shift scheduling."

.. pardon me asking, but would it be easy to "detect" if the car has been reprogrammed or not? I'm just afraid I might not be able feel the difference whether they done it or not (or the dealer just passing it off as being done, but in actual fact had not done it at all)

Well from what I've read about it it seems quite rough without the reprogramming, so I'm fairly sure you should be able to tell, i mean if the car is stuttering and seeming as if it's going to stall at low speeds before and not after I don't see any reason why you won't see the difference...

[Aussie XB12SS]

Why the dealers didnt see it - I dunno. If they knew about it then they would have known I was going to say something cause they know I'm a bloody fussy customer.
I rang them the next day about it.

[blatchie]

No such problems in a "real" car.mines just great

[Russ]

If I had purchased a vehicle with the Powershift transmission (which personally I never would anyway, my choice) but I would have to ask the question, why is it that after what would have been many months at least of testing the vehicles with this transmission that they still release it to the public for purchase knowing fine well that it still has issues to be sorted It's a bit like a baker putting loaves of bread on sale that are not cooked properly, some people will just eat it, accept it and not worry about it or simply throw it in the bin, others will take it back and ask for a refund or replacement. In this situation of course we are talking about a motor vehicle which is basically the second most expensive purchase (after a home purchase) most people will make in life and it's a little expensive to just throw away and on most accounts as we've seen throughout this thread people are not happy to accept it as it is. As far as a refund or replacement is concerned, they, (the manufacturers) have all the legal bases covered by offering people a warranty, it may take them 3 years or 100,000 km to sort the issues out but hey at least we have the peace of mind of knowing that we only need to be inconvenienced for as long as it takes them to sort it out and if after 3 years they haven't been able to resolve it then it's no longer their problem and can only be assumed to be an integral part of the vehicles character, what a crock of $%#t