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Puffin
the car pulls away ok but then the car over revs at the top of first gear` seems to loose drive then suddenly shoots into the remainder of the gears and then drives without a problem until you again slow down into the lower range or come to a stop can anyone outhere help me please :confuse: d the problem returns.
I did have a 1965 SAAB which had that feature ( actually it was designed to disengage as you lifted off the throttle). The driver had the option of using this or not, in hilly country this was definitly not a good thing to do. I'm not sure why they had this feature, I would imagine that because we were dealing with a 2 cycle engine on the SAAB, and the nature of its throttle action deceleration was a bit wierd with the transmission locked up. Acceleration was not great feature but I loved the engine building from "piddling" torque through screaming revs, similar to the Motorcycles of that era.
Now considering This new Ford tranny, we have a much more sophisticated device, enabled with dual clutches, and a computer doing thousands of calculations. Evidently there are upgrades to the computers' program which are being applied to earlier cars coming off the line. It is possible as well that the programming will also adjust itself, at least this is what one of the reps told me. :confuse:
As some of the contributers to this blog have argued, they do not feel comfortable not being in complete control of the tranny . "Each to their own "
Neutral coast down – The clutches will disengage when the brakes are applied, improving coasting downshifts and clutch robustness as well as reducing parasitic losses for increased fuel economy.
I remember reading on a blog somewhere someone talking about that, tapping the brakes and the engine rpm's going down to idle even if you're coasting at 50 mph, and I guess as soon as you depressed the accelerator again the clutch would reengage and the engine rev.
Over the holidays I spent considerable time looking at vehicles for my grandson. Mazda3, Civic, Subaru Impreza and the new Focus were considered.
I had concerns about the Focus transmission from what I had read. I drove all the vehicles, including three different Focus models and never felt any transmission problems like yours.
Grandson is now driving 2012 Focus, first 1,000 miles have been trouble free and he loves the vehicle.
What did you end up buying?
I am very aggravated but they have assured me that they are doing a thorough cleaning and replacing the original solenoid and a gasket. We shall see.
One thing I did notice, it needs to "warm up" before it acts up in our case.
The shifts (under 50) are always very smooth as are all of the other shifts are always very smooth.
Anyone out there have any ideas or have experienced a similar situation? Thanks, jay80009
I had a similar problem with my 01 ZX3. Seemingly arbitrary electrical events would cause a downshift, or it would downshift hard during decel. Turns out a tranny control module was fried. We replaced the module, which promptly fried again. By a stroke of luck, the electrical guy discovered a bad ground wire in a tail light. which was causing the light to ground through a path of opportunity that included the control module. Fixing the tail light fixed the transmission.
I'll bet you've got a bad transmission sensor or control that may have broken through no fault of its own.
On or about Jan 21, 2012, I removed the battery terminals and cleaned them and the cable clamps with backing soda. I also used a wire brush tool that was made for the purpose and cleaned the clamps and terminals to bright shinny metal. The clamps were put in place and the connections were sprayed with silicone spray...
It is now Feb 4, and the car has been driven on around town trips about 6 times and we believe the transmission problem has not re-appeared yet...
It is now March 4, 2012 and a strange think happened to the Focus today. I was driving... The car started fine, I backed it out of the driveway and made it down our street to a stop sign. The engine died at the stop sign or when I pushed on the brakes, it died, I shifted out of Drive and into Neutral and tried to start it--I forgot that the shift lever had to be in Park before starting. I shifted into Park and tried to start it,...nothing, no response from the starter. Tried to activate the Hazard lights and nothing, My wife looked at the brake lights from outside the car as I pressed the brake pedal, ...nothing, The shift lever would not come out of park, the car could not be pushed because it was in Park-gear. We asked the Lord Jesus Christ to help us because we were headed for Church and choir practice. We could not leave the car dead at a corner intersection. I walked back to the house and got my car, a ford Escort, and jumped the Focus battery. Praise God, the Focus started. My wife drove it back to our garage and we took the Escort to church. When we came home I decided to try and start the car and it if did start, I intended to back it into the garage so that a tow truck could access it more readily. The car started up perfectly and I drove it into the street and turned it around and backed it into the garage, no problem--clearly we have an intermittent problem. We intend to take it to our local automotive repair garage, we trust them. My wife does not want to end up stuck some where, especially on the freeway so she will call AAA and have the car towed to the garage. We will have them run a diagnostic or the charging system and I will ask them to check the replaceable relays for signs of malfunction..and I intend to byy for my wife one of those "Battery Booster" portable things--I will report what the auto guys find out.... carburetor1 signig off
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
That's a lot more effective than trying to find everyone by email. You can file your own report, and also search existing reports.
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On a certain other forum for Focus owners, many report that they LOVE the tranny and quite a few others have gripes with it. Some who had gripes had the updates applied and it was successful.
I have problem with my tranny, this problem is shoving only when it is really hot outside. When i ride in traffic or at low speed ride on 3rd gear and speed is going up but suddenly i need to brake, transmission is going on 4th gear (i suppose it should stay at 3rd). There is jerk and pulling. There is no souch problem when it is not hot or when riding continousely. This is my first car with auto transmission-what can cousing problem? Overheating, soleniods or internal elements, mileage is 133000 miles, oil was replaced in october 2011.
Went back to the car 30 mins later started it put into reverse, nothing! The lever moves but does not select D or R. Does anyone have any ideas?
We were QUITE surprised when starting up on a slight hill to find that our Focus IMMEDIATELY started to roll backwards when I took my foot off the brake! I expected it to behave like any other "automatic" tranny but what I experienced was more like a manual transmission where I still had my foot on the clutch or had been popped into neutral. I was doubly surprised given that the literature talked of an automatic hill-holding feature. Whe I read the manual, the feature was explained for models "...if equipped..." But at no time had the dealer warned me or informed me that my car might not have this feature and, if not, what that meant!
Only by browsing etc did I stumble on the fact that, apparently, Ford includes the hill-holding feature on the BASE Focus S and the slightly upscale SE, but discontinues it for reasons entirely unexplained on our SEL or the top-of-the-line Titanium model.
Now that I know this, I will either use the very handy handbrake on a hill or resort to left foot braking. Either will work, but Ford should not blindside it's customers like that!
I researched the Focus before buying. I had a manual shift Fiesta that no one else in my family could drive but me. I knew that the Focus was not a traditional automatic. It is an automated manual As far as the hill assist feature I think you will find out that your Focus has this feature but you have to know what triggers it into action. 1. you have to be stopped with your foot on the brake. 2. you have to be on a hill of 20% or greater. 3. when you take your foot off of the brake the hill assist will hold the brake on for 3 seconds or when you push on the gas. I love my Focus because It a manual that anyone can drive (after I explain it) But I was shocked that my Ford dealer told me nothing about this car being an automated manual so I can see if you have never driven a stick and you purchase a Focus you are going to be very disappointed.
The dealer seems to still know very little about the Hill Assist, which I am now noticing as a feature on a number of other vehicles. By the way, I thought I read in the manual that the hill has to only be a 5% for the assist to kick in.
But I also read that the assist comes on the S and SE models and NOT on the SEL and Titanium. It seems to make NO sense tying this to any trim level, given what it does, and even less sense when it's apparently not available on the more "upscale" models. If someone could clear that up, I'd appreciate it.*
My wife, who uses the car mostly, drives with both feet, using the left to brake. In fact, she does not even need the hill assist by driving this way. Because I am kind of long legged and the steering wheel sometimes interferes, it's often more difficult for me to get my left foot onto the brake. But I am working at changing this longstanding habit.
In the meantime, now that I know about it the behavior of the Ford transmission (which does not pay the fuel penalty associated with having torque-converter drag when standing still), I am making more use of the handbrake on the Focus as I would on any car with a manual transmission and easy-to-access handbrake.
*I am reminded of my 1989 Ford Probe, with its large, sloping rear window. Ford has always, IMHO, tied features to models and option levels in a very mysterious way. In this case, one needed to buy a supercharged GT model in order to get a rear wiper, a feature needed on ALL the Ford Probes. Even in a rainstorm, rear vision was severely hampered without a rear wiper. Made NO sense to me!!
Sometimes when i accelerate the speedometer stays at 0 then jumps up to my current speed without any shifting problems. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!
You should never drive with both feet on the pedals. This transmission should be operated similar to a manual transmission except there's no clutch pedal and the computer shifts for you. But you don't drive a manual with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake, do you? That's a recipe for disaster (foot/pedal confusion), or at least increased manintenance (brakes, clutch, etc.).
Again, a car with a manual transmission rolls back on a grade before taking off, and this one will too sometimes. It's perfectly normal. Just quickly move your foot from the brake to the gas and you'll be fine.
It's no worse than a manual car and there are plenty of those on the roads. And you don't hear about tons of accidents due to manual cars rolling backwards. As long as you don't lollygag between taking your foot off the brake and applying the gas (and assuming the HSA hasn't engaged for some reason) the most you'll roll back is maybe 6 inches (from my 5,000 miles of experience with the car). If someone has stopped less than 6 inches behind you at a light then you've got other problems.
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