Ford Focus bad transmission

[Old Rally fan]

My son was given a 21013 Ford Focus, his uncle paid for a new transmission. My uncle was given a recall the Power Module.
So my son went to the dealer to have the work performed prior to the car turning 10 years old and less than a 100K miles on it, the dealer told him that they would not perform the recall work on the car. He was driving back at night and the warning light came on for an Over Heating on the Transmission. The car now is over 10 years old and had more than 100K miles.
Any tips or suggestion would be appreciated. Former owner of a FIST that was stolen. Regards

 

[SteveS]

Recalls are required to be covered free for 15 years. Here's what Consumers Reports says:

Are Recall Repairs Free?

Most of the time. Federal law requires all safety recall repairs to be provided free of charge on cars that are up to 15 years old. That’s counted from the time the car was sold to the first owner, rather than based on model year or the date of manufacture. But if your car is older than that, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re out of luck, says Wallace. “For cars more than 15 years old, automakers and dealers will often voluntarily provide a safety recall repair free, so we encourage you to ask,” he says. For example, a large airbag recall in 2020 included millions of Honda, Isuzu, and Mitsubishi cars from as early as 1998.
If your car is 15 years old or younger and a dealer refuses to perform a recall repair or tries to charge you for the fix, Wallace says you should contact the car’s manufacturer and let it know.

 

[Dpro]

That used to happen in my 2012 Focus if I was sitting in a traffic jam too long . It would go away if you sat for like 5-10 minutes and the transmission would just function like it always had. It did not happen all the time just occasionally . I just chalked it up to a quirky trans as I had already had the TCM replaced once under the recall and it was my Lyft/Uber car so I considered it disposable. I bought it with 33k on it for $7200 in 2017 drove it for two years made a shit ton of extra cash with it and put 40k on it and sold it for $5600 lol in 2019.

 

[Old Rally fan]

We have an appointment for tomorrow at our local Ford dealer for the transmission. They stated that they have to have a check engine light on, and it will take 3 days to do the diagnosis, and they want 250 dollars for that.
Does this sound correct? Or should we wait for the check engine first. Thanks again

 

[XR650R]

We have an appointment for tomorrow at our local Ford dealer for the transmission. They stated that they have to have a check engine light on, and it will take 3 days to do the diagnosis, and they want 250 dollars for that.
Does this sound correct? Or should we wait for the check engine first. Thanks again

See the above quote. They're trying to rip you off.

 

[Old Rally fan]

Ok thanks, I think they used the term Customer Satisfaction Recall.
Is there an illusive engine code they. need to see before they will do the service?

 

[Jabbit]

Is it a Fusion or a Focus? Run the VIN in a recall checker and see what's open. They just extended the Focus TCM recall for a few more years, my 2012 was covered.

 

[SteveS]

I just looked up all the Ford Fusion recalls. There is no recall for transmission overheating problems. There were a number for things that had to do with selector pins breaking, transmissions shifting out of park and stuff like that.

 

[Old Rally fan]

Quote:
Is it a Fusion or a Focus
Answer It is a Focus.
I just looked up all the Ford Fusion recall

Key Word OLD, me
I just edited my original post, I am sorry for the confusion.

 

[Jabbit]

I have a 2012 Ford Focus sedan with the DCT. Did they say WHY they wouldn't do the work? You should be covered for a TCM at the very least. They did tell me I had to pay $100 diag or something if it wasn't the TCM, they should be able to check for stored codes. To be honest it's a junk car, don't invest too much $$ into it. If you are feeling adventurous you can do a manual swap for under $1k and the car will last forever.

 

[scooter123]

Folks may want to read this web page. It is from Australia but the problems apply worldwide and both Canada and the USA implemented similar warranty requirements. As in for 10 years or a minimum of 150,000 Miles Ford had to replace these transmissions when they failed. The lesson to be learned here is to NOT PURCHASE A USED FORD FOCUS. Take note, if your Focus is 2014 or later with less that 150.000 miles on it that NHTSA mandate should still be in effect. And of course a Ford dealer won't tell you about it, you actually have to demand replacement of the transmission.

BTW, I am a Ford Stockholder and the crap that Ford is producing today has me angry enough I will be attending the nest Stock Holders meeting where I will request that all of the top engineering management be fired. Because right along with the Focus mess (2 Billion down the drain) they have also designed the Ford V6 engines to fail at 100,000 miles unless the owners pony up nearly 3000 dollars to replace the internal water pump on the 3.5 engines or replace the WET timing belt driving the oil pump on the 2.7 V6.

 

[Dpro]

heh sold any Ford stock I still had 6 months ago and I am not looking back at this point Farley is a fool who can’t seem to manage his way out of a paper bag. The company is a mess right now.

 

[Intuit]

I have never owned a vehicle that wasn't a manual shift. I fear that I may some day be forced into an automatic due in part to a lack of availability for the alternative. There are fake manual shift transmissions... don't want those either. Having an automatic transmission is like having a second engine to maintain, except far worse in too many cases. I like being able to drive however hard I want and not have to worry about wearing out my transmission. LLTM! Long Live The Manual! 🤘

WET timing belt

Did I read that right? Belts benefit from constant scalding HOT lubrication almost like chains? Wonder how they're constructed? I'll have to read more about this curious engineering decision...

 

[Old Rally fan]

Quote your Focus is 2014 or later with less that 150.000 miles

So the rub is it is a 2013 model and my son brought it in to the dealer and they refused to do the work, the other problem is my son did not get a receipt from them, Yes he did not listen to me, weird right, so now the car is past 10 years old, the transmission has already been replaced.

 

[Old Rally fan]

I have a 2012 Ford Focus sedan with the DCT. Did they say WHY they wouldn't do the work? You should be covered for a TCM at the very least. They did tell me I had to pay $100 diag or something if it wasn't the TCM, they should be able to check for stored codes. To be honest it's a junk car, don't invest too much $$ into it. If you are feeling adventurous you can do a manual swap for under $1k and the car will last forever.

Is this DIY pricing?

 

[Jabbit]

Is this DIY pricing?

Yes that's what I meant by feeling adventurous. It's a no-brainer swap if you can do it yourself; to pay a mechanic to do it, not economical. It's fairly advanced and not everyone has that comfort level, I understand that. No fault at all in trying to get the auto trans functioning again.

 

[scooter123]

I have never owned a vehicle that wasn't a manual shift. I fear that I may some day be forced into an automatic due in part to a lack of availability for the alternative. There are fake manual shift transmissions... don't want those either. Having an automatic transmission is like having a second engine to maintain, except far worse in too many cases. I like being able to drive however hard I want and not have to worry about wearing out my transmission. LLTM! Long Live The Manual! 🤘


Did I read that right? Belts benefit from constant scalding HOT lubrication almost like chains? Wonder how they're constructed? I'll have to read more about this curious engineering decision...

You read that right. The real kicker is that it's on the crankshaft between the timing chains for the forward and rearward cylinder heads. A location where there is plenty of room for a timing chain. So in order the change the belt you have to lock the crankshaft into the TDC position with a special lock screw, lock all 4 camshafts in position using special locking screws and only then remove the crank pulley bolt. BTW that crank bolt is a one time only Torque to yield fastener so that just more dollars going down the toilet because Ford didn't want to put a keyway in the crankshaft because of "tolerance stacking". What keeps that particular set of pulleys in place are diamond grit "crush" washers. Note those "crush" washers also have to be replaced. Anyhow it's probably 12-16 hours of labor time to get down to the front timing chains and likely another hour of two to replace that belt. All because Ford wanted to save perhaps 2 dollars per engine. In the meantime I expect that the 2.7 and 3.5 v6's will destroy the F150's reputation for durability.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Did I read that right? Belts benefit from constant scalding HOT lubrication almost like chains? Wonder how they're constructed? I'll have to read more about this curious engineering decision...

The 1.0 turbo three banger offered on the Fiesta SFEs also has it's timing belt swimming in oil.

 

[daloonie]

The 1.0 turbo three banger offered on the Fiesta SFEs also has it's timing belt swimming in oil.

Indeed it does have a lubricated timing belt and a seperate one for the oil pump. Both driven off the crank with a tourque to yield bolt. That bolt requires 300nm +90 degrees. Without the special tourque multiplier I can't imagine what a pain it would be to do. Ouch.

It does run good for a 1.0 3 cylinder. Mine is going on 205.000km and still going strong. 150hp and 250nm on a simple flash tune.