Ford Focus, Fiesta, EcoSport warranties extended over dual-clutch transmission shudder

[Yellow_Festiva]

May be of interest to some here:

Ford Australia has extended the warranties of almost 50,000 Fiesta, Focus and EcoSport vehicles equipped with the brand’s six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Dubbed a customer satisfaction program rather than a product recall, the action addresses a defect that may cause the ‘Powershift’ auto gearbox to exhibit “excessive transmission clutch shudder during light acceleration”.

Ford says the condition may be caused by a fluid contamination of the clutch due to leaking transmission seals.

Ford Australia told CarAdvice approximately 47,000 owners have received notifications about the customer satisfaction program, which relates to 2010-2014 Fiesta, and 2012-2013 Focus and EcoSport vehicles.

In a letter to owners, Ford Australia said it had extended the new vehicle warranty to cover “repairs on the clutch and input shaft seals on the transmission, as well as the transmission software calibration, to a total of five years or 160,000km from the vehicle’s warranty start date, whichever occurs first”.

For vehicles that have already exceeded the time or kilometre limits provided by the extended warranty, additional coverage will apply through to January 31, 2015.

The extended coverage is automatically transferred to subsequent owners.

Ford’s regular new vehicle warranty covers the first three years or 100,000km of ownership.

Ford says owners do not need to take their vehicles back to the dealership unless they experience the issue.

Owners who experience low-speed shuddering within the indicated time/kilometre limit for the warranty extension can arrange to have their transmission serviced as necessary free of charge.

Ford says in most cases vehicles should take less than one day to complete the repair.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/321473/f...ssion-shudder/

When will Ford bite the bullet and offer a standard 5yr / 160k km warranty? Even that will soon be obsolete when more 6 and 7yr warranties are offered - but a much needed improvement on the dated warranty they still offer now.

[wombat66]

I got my letter from Ford about this weeks ago. Luckily as yet my transmission is fine.

[Rihannon90]

I haven't received a letter, how would I go about getting help?
I've taken it to a Ford dealer and they wouldn't do anything.

[Top_Ghia]

Originally Posted by Rihannon90

I haven't received a letter, how would I go about getting help?

I've taken it to a Ford dealer and they wouldn't do anything.

Really? What's your issue, exactly?

[Imolator]

Over in the USA Ford have also extended the warranty on the TCM module to 10 year, Ford's DCT seems very trouble prone. It's a safety issue I reckon, intermittent electrical failure causing loss of transmission engagement whilst driving, no start or a loss of power! Will be interesting to see what Ford OZ do.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/m...tter-ford.html

[narooma98]

as of last thursday 1735 clutches on back order for LW FOCUS none available in Australia still waiting on a shipment that still hasnt left the Manufacturers overseas

[JG33]

Yes, it will be several months waiting for some. This was the final nail in the coffin for me, no longer have to wait as it will be someone else's problem.

Be interesting to see how the transmissions will fair while the owners are waiting.

[Imolator]

Originally Posted by narooma98

as of last thursday 1735 clutches on back order for LW FOCUS none available in Australia still waiting on a shipment that still hasnt left the Manufacturers overseas

Looks like I made a wise decision trading my Focus S DCT last month.

I really liked the Focus, but the DCT was rushed to market as evidenced by the numerous TSB's, software updates and clutch revisions which is now at revision F.

I wonder how much testing was really done on the transmission before release?

Customers in the US are waiting for clutches on backorder as well.

The Powershift (dry clutch) DCT is really one big cluster f##k for Ford.

[Rihannon90]

My car had been fixed and warranty extended on that particular part for another year, but it still feels like the car does it at some points.
I can't go up hills sometimes, or I have to plant my foot on the accelerator for it to do anything, which seems annoying, but I figured I don't go up hills that much so I should be ok.
I really considered trading it in, but I've had the car less than a year and I love the car itself, apart from the transmission screw up's and the no centre-console
But I know I won't get anywhere near my $15,000 back if I was to sell it or trade it in.
So I guess I just have to deal with it.
Thanks everyone

[narooma98]

60000 focus and fiestas with this problem 14000 repaired so far

[GTP534]

I haven't received any letter about extended warranty for the transmission but then again we have the extended warranty for my wife's Focus.

I have received a letter from Ford about a potential issue with the drive shafts whereby they might fail during aggressive acceleration. The car is to be booked in to have these replaced.

Overall, we really like the Focus but the transmission is a massive fail in my book. So much so, it ruins the car.

Won't matter, it's going to get the flick when the Mustang gets here!