Clunking From Ford's New 2015 Focus Six Speed Box

[Cleaner]

Well personally if it's new I would tell them I want it fixed,, they have a legal obligation to warranties and all that,,,if they still say can not do any thing trading standards my friend,,,or tell them you want a new car or your money back,,,,if it's under 6 months old I believe you can demand a refund if not happy.

You are familiar with the old saying I assume,,,has to do what it says on the tin,,,,,,it must be fit for purpose.!!!!!

Paul

[alexp999]

Well personally if it's new I would tell them I want it fixed,, they have a legal obligation to warranties and all that,,,if they still say can not do any thing trading standards my friend,,,or tell them you want a new car or your money back,,,,if it's under 6 months old I believe you can demand a refund if not happy.

You are familiar with the old saying I assume,,,has to do what it says on the tin,,,,,,it must be fit for purpose.!!!!!

Paul

Ah but it depends if it is characteristic or a fault.

Believe me I have been there with Ford...

[fordkuga]

Aha! Another 1.5 TD owner.. Mine doesn't 'clunk' it just feels, wrong?

Second gear feels too long and if you change 'early' then yeah, mine clunks too.

It's weird, I've driven focus's with 6 speed boxes before and its never felt bad, or clunked!

[MichaelCorbett]

@fordkuga I'm not sure if that's the same problem I'm having but its good to hear that others are having issues. I was starting to feel that I was going mad.

[Linds]

MichaelCorbett you are not going mad ... I have a 2015 Mk3.5 1.5 TDCI and it does just the same ... clunking up to 2nd (not, in my case, down). Doesn't do it every time but at least 50% of the time. Otherwise, brilliant little motor!

[Celticfan]

I test drove a Focus S last year. Less than six months old. Long story, but basically I pointed out a 'clunk' on the test drive. The stealership told me the gears had been damaged and they would rebuild the box under warranty. They basically lied to me and I walked away. I imagine some poor owner is complaning about his clunky gearbox. My present Focus S with a six speed box is beautiful. Smooth as silk. (Better than the Alfa I'm hiring in Tuscany!! )

[Focu5]

Apologies for the essay but I don't know how they get away with this stuff. Either 6-Speed boxes are supposed to clunk and EcoBoosts are supposed to rattle or they're not, right? And if they are both supposed to do that as standard as people have been told and it's completely normal and expected, does that mean it's the people who own cars where that doesn't happen that have the fault?

Surely at the point the gearboxes/EcoBoosts roll off the production lines they are identical. How is it by the time they make it into a car, some make noises and some don't? Could it be because a part, or bearing or screw or something somewhere isn't up to scratch and is failing?

What are they saying is the actual benefit of it being clunky because if they did it on purpose then there has to be a reason. Are consumers these days crying out for clunky gearboxes or something?

My old car was a 12 year old Citroen C2, it was a clapped out banger but the gearbox was as sweet as a nut, even with 80k miles on it. Are Ford really happy with the fact that some of their brand new 2015 Ford Focus has a worse gearbox then a 12 year old French car?

It's almost like they know and are covering it up.

[MichaelCorbett]

@focu5 - I think Ford are covering it up. There's not much we can do individually - we need to get a long list of us who are experiencing this problem and then maybe Ford will listen. We need to encourage Focus-Clunkers to post on FordOwnersClub.com. We need to find other ways of getting the story out there too.

Anyone got any ideas?

[Linds]

You might start off a Mk 3.5 common problems topic which (as for Mk 1 and 2) could be pinned to the top of the forum?

[Linds]

For those who might be interested here is the note I kept following my visit to my dealer to report the clunking issue:

"Took the Focus into **** ***** because this morning when driving **** to work I heard distinct clunks from the gears particularly on changing up from 2nd to 3rd. The Focus has 3,875 on the clock and has been exhibiting this behaviour since it had about 1,000 on the clock. ***** from the service Department kindly volunteered to come out and drive round ******** ******** with me. Initially no clunks – indeed I was a bit jerky making the first change from 1st to 2nd but there was no clunk at all – the gears performed perfectly. ***** said there was absolutely no trouble with my driving style and he could tell I was an experienced driver. Then we had a clunk. ***** called it a slight “clonking”. He said I have to remember that with a 6-speed gearbox there have to be tolerances and the slight clonking we heard was, as far as he was concerned, completely normal and acceptable … he said, “to be honest, I have heard far worse.” I said to him that I had never experienced this clunking before and was there an way I could alter my driving style to avoid the clunks – he did not give me a clear answer, referred again to tolerances, and asked if I would like him to do some driving – which I agreed to. On his first change up from 2nd to 3rd there was a distinct clunk … no, he confirmed, that was absolutely nothing to worry about. I asked him if there was any need for a check or adjustment and he said no. He confirmed I should relax and enjoy the car and accept the occasional clunk as normal."

Incidentally I got it wrong in an earlier note ... it is on changing up from 2nd to 3rd I get the clunk ... not 1st to 2nd.

[Cleaner]

Built to a tolerance,,,what a !Removed! all mechanical things are built to a tolerance that's how they work,,,a constant mesh gearbox is just that it has a constant mesh.

When the engine is running the imput shat is rotating through the gearbox and the gears are moving on their individual shafts,,,when you put the vehicle in gear the gear mesh the selector forks some times refer added to as dog legs shift the cogs smoothly not with a clunk,,,a clunk is not a characteristic or normal it has a fault and needs to be rectified.

Ford know about many of the problems with the focus range not just the newer 6 speed ones but the cost of doing the recal work is massive so they are chosing to fob ppl of.

Same with the Ti VCT engines,,there is a pin in the units that under oil pressure moves into an opening to look the VCT of so normal ignition timing and running at a certain rpm can continue,,,,but they no that the pin some times sticks and the VCT then rocks back and forth making the engine sound like a diesel,,,,it won't hurt it but a petrol engine should not sound like a diesel even when badly worn.

Don't take no for an answer be persistent and make them take note,,,keep complaining and write to ford customer service keep doing it....

Paul

[suddste]

Look I'm with Ford with this one. I don't think the noise is that much of an issue. I've driven other similar Ford cars such as s-max and it makes a similar clunk sound if you are rough with the gears/clutch.

[iantt]

More stuff in life to worry about than a occasional clunking gearbox. Lol

[Linds]

I'm inclined to agree with the "more in life to worry about" view ... I tell myself, it is, after all, only a Ford.

That said, I do love driving the car between clunks (and ac failures) ... and for that, well done, Ford!

For the record, I'm not "rough with the gears/clutch" - FCOL!

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

Ford =

Fix

Or

Repair

Daily

:)

[Cleaner]

Well I suppose to some extent your right,,,,there is more in life to worry about,,,even more so if you have saved your hard earned for a while to buy that new car you wanted,,,,,,and you drive it only to discover it has developed a clunk and the dealer you got it from has fobbed you of,,,,,,you can still say to your self oh well there's more in life to worry about than a clunk,,,,then your whacking down the road at 70 mph and that funny old clunk you got just turns out to be some thing serious and bugger me wouldn't you know it,,,,,your gearbox has just gone !Removed! up locked up the front end and just put you in the barrier,,,,,never mind you can just say to the emergency service.

Never mind there's more to worry about than. My serious accident

Paul

[ant thrumble]

my 1.6 ecoboost is silky smooth in all 6 gears it has done 34000 and its like brand new i am well happy with it i know that thats no help to you guys with clunky gears but there must be a fault some where

[MichaelCorbett]

@Linds - a pinned thread sounds like a good idea but I have no idea how to go about that. Does anyone else know?

Thanks to everyone for contributing to this thread! It really helps to know that I'm NOT crazy and that other people have this issue too.

[Linds]

Michael

I don't know how to get a thread pinned.

When the car was in on another matter I asked the dealer to have another look at the clunking issue. He did a visual inspection and found nothing wrong. He had the same car as mine sitting on his forecourt so he took it out and assured me it clunked just the same as mine. When I drove my car home I found it now clunks from 3rd to 4th (as well as from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd) so I guess I should have kept my ****** mouth shut!!

Is it acceptable? I have reflected on the comments of the "more things in life" brigade, and while I am inclined to agree I wonder if I would if I was about to sell my car!! Would I buy a car that clunks? Not ****** likely! I therefore believe that this is a fault that Ford should put right and one that we should all advertise as much as possible in the public domain until they do (eg write to all motoring journalists/magazines).

The problem seems to be 6 speed gears on 1.5 TDCI's ... am I right?

Linds

[alexp999]

Believe me when I say you will get nowhere with Ford trying to say it is a fault with this type of issue.

It will only ever be classed as characteristic.

I'm never buying a car off spec without test driving again for this reason...

[Linds]

Hi Alex

Sure you are right ... they're too big to be moved by concern about a few customers.

Incidentally I test drove the car ... no clunks ... and it did not clunk until after I had done at least 1,000 miles.

Linds

[alexp999]

I have only ever heard mine clunk if I change from 1st to 2nd at a really low speed.

Nothing I'd be concerned about though.

[Jeff Cooper]

My focus 1.6 has 116k on it - I've replaced all the gearox/engine mounts, and the car drives very differently now - the biggest difference is over big speed bumps, which just seem so much smoother without the engine weight pulling the front of the car down !! - but my gearbox clunks just like on everyones descriptions, so you should be good for at least 100k on a new one !!!! :)

[Steve Hanson]

I have just taken my 2015 C-Max 1.5 DCI back to my dealership because the gear box clunks like mad around gears 1 to 3. I hate it! I previously had a 1.6 (pre face lift) and the gears were as smooth as silk. They also told me there was nothing wrong with it and they all make that sound.

[DJ_Andy_M]

I can say my 2015 Focus 1.5 TDCi 120ps was noticeably clunky through 1-3 yesterday, and I do often have a bit of a shudder going into third like I've pulled the clutch up too quick (probably my driving tbh). I've got 15,500 on the clock. It is still however smooth most of the time in all gears despite that noise (again I put it down to me and not the car).