Focus transmissions..

[Conrad]

A family friend of mine has a focus hatchback with the 4 speed auto, i think its a 2003. So before these new new focus'.

Now about half way through this year he had to get a brand new transmission costing $3000 because the factory one had a huge clunk in it when changing from 1st to 2nd. It developed as just a little clunk but he left it for 6 months until it became a huge clunk. He took it to an auto transmission specialist and he said he needed a brand new one. The clunk wasn't just a noise either it was a complete jerk of the car.

Now my mum has also has the same kind of focus only a sedan (but that doesn't matter really) and we are starting to notice a similar clunk in the change from 1st to 2nd. Both cars have less than 65,000km's on them, my mum's only has 40,000km's max (estimate) It would be mid 35,000's and our family friends had about 55 or something.

My mum took her car to a mechanic for a service and she told him about it and he said it was nothing.

Is this a dedicated focus thing or have they both bought duds?

Have any of you had this problem?

[Uni]

clunks in gearboxes (particularly in a car like the focus, which has a small engine driving a 4 speed gearbox with big ratio gaps) can be caused by lifting of the throttle as the gearbox changes gear. my first suggestion is give it a run along a nice straight road with no traffic and see if it occurs then

if your answer is no, then the gearbox is fine. if yes, then there is more than likely something wrong. don't take it to any old ham-fisted mechanic. if your car is as old as you say it is, there is the possibility that it is still under warranty or just out of it. take it to a ford dealer, take the guy they assign for a drive and show him, so there are no arguments about "we couldnt replicate the problem". if the clunk is only minor then you might have caught it early and may get away with not needing to replace the whole g'box


Uni/.

[Conrad]

I already know its not because we lift the throttle off while changing gears. Because it happens everytime. Taking off from lights, even though we are the first there.

[amlohac]

You'll be happy (and yet at the same time very upset) that i had the exact same problem. And yes the first gen focus's have dud auto transmissions (Very first build dates). Within 35,000km My transmission had gone from slight clunk, to big bang, to not getting out of first at all.

My clunk though was chaging from reverse to drive and back the other way, it was very scary considering i had spent $30k on the car new.

It took me 6 months of taking it back to Ford to get the fault recognised. But then again the fault was only recognised when the transmission had droped its guts totally (horray for ford service......) Mine was fixed under ford warranty, it was actually boxed up and shipped back to germany for repair then total replacement, took a whole month to get the parts sent, then sent back and re-fitted.

They aren't cheap if your car is out of warranty, and the problem is if you dont get it fixed properly the first time it will cost you thousands more than you think.

Basically your transmission will eventually die in the bum, be it tomorrow or a year from now, if its clunking, its rooted.

My car has now done ust over 90,000kms and runs pefectly fine. Hope that helps.

[Conrad]

Mum's not going to be happy..

How longs the warranty on the first generation focus'?

[zetec]

3 years or 100,000km, whichever comes first.

[amlohac]

Yeah, sorry mate, but someone had to tell you. Its a bugger but oh well