8 speed automatic

[Glynp]

I have a 2019 Focus St Line X ,with the 8 speed auto box,I’m interested what other people think of this automatic box,I like it except for one aspect,which is if you drive,then stop,select reverse, and then press the accelerator ,it seems to be in no gear at all and it will suddenly engage not smoothly,I’ve found that  when I stop and then select reverse to wait about 2 seconds before pressing the accelerator and then it will operate smoothly,it’s the same if I reverse,stop and then select drive and try to accelerate,it’s almost as if it’s not engaging from drive to reverse,or reverse to drive immediately.Anyone else experiencing this,if not i may have to think about taking it to the dealers to investigate.

[NortonSS]

Have you got the automatic handbrake turned on ? , as this can take a couple of seconds to function. I'm finding my mk4 Focus the best car iv'e owned , brilliant and relaxing to drive.

[Alex.S]

5 hours ago, Glynp said:

I have a 2019 Focus St Line X ,with the 8 speed auto box,I’m interested what other people think of this automatic box,I like it except for one aspect,which is if you drive,then stop,select reverse, and then press the accelerator ,it seems to be in no gear at all and it will suddenly engage not smoothly,I’ve found that  when I stop and then select reverse to wait about 2 seconds before pressing the accelerator and then it will operate smoothly,it’s the same if I reverse,stop and then select drive and try to accelerate,it’s almost as if it’s not engaging from drive to reverse,or reverse to drive immediately.Anyone else experiencing this,if not i may have to think about taking it to the dealers to investigate.

I’ve got the same car. There’s been a few posts about this.  Mines the same. Takes a second or 2 . I think that must be just the way it is. 

[PLB]

9 hours ago, Glynp said:

I have a 2019 Focus St Line X ,with the 8 speed auto box,I’m interested what other people think of this automatic box,I like it except for one aspect,which is if you drive,then stop,select reverse, and then press the accelerator ,it seems to be in no gear at all and it will suddenly engage not smoothly,I’ve found that  when I stop and then select reverse to wait about 2 seconds before pressing the accelerator and then it will operate smoothly,it’s the same if I reverse,stop and then select drive and try to accelerate,it’s almost as if it’s not engaging from drive to reverse,or reverse to drive immediately.Anyone else experiencing this,if not i may have to think about taking it to the dealers to investigate.

Yes, mines also the same and I have mentioned it in previous threads.

I referred to this in page 2 of the 'Focus ST Line 1.5 Ecoboost 150/182ps' thread back in July.

[Jay035]

Yep mine is the same to. Love the car and mostly use the auto hold. Must be a characteristic of the car this seems to be the concensus. 

That being said its an excellent drive and taking some getting used, this is my first auto 

[Jonny be good]

Yep mine is the same takes a second or two to engage and if you don’t wait and it clunks into gear when tying to move which has happened a few times now it is annoying but other than that love the car and gearbox

[Guy Heaton]

Yes, i've posted about this too.

It is a very smooth box, in-gear changes are quick and it has a nice long top gear for cruising but it is SLOW to initially engage gear, especially going between R and D.

I hold on the brake until I feel it engage.  I personally dont like auto hold as it feels like it also takes too long to release the brake.

[SDHXIII]

Same vehicle, same thing happens in our car, no real biggy. A minor matter on such a brilliant spec car. Auto box is very good in all modes but enjoy the option of manual in sports mode.

[Guy Heaton]

I've had or driven a fair amount of autos down the years and this is the slowest to engage.

It's the same from p to d.  I prefer to put in p at the lights, save having to constantly press the brake but not so much in this car as it takes so long to engage.

[Alex.S]

33 minutes ago, Guy Heaton said:

I've had or driven a fair amount of autos down the years and this is the slowest to engage.

It's the same from p to d.  I prefer to put in p at the lights, save having to constantly press the brake but not so much in this car as it takes so long to engage.

U turn the stop/start off? 

If the stop/start cuts it out at the lights putting in p Sparks the engine back up...I think 🤔 

i keep stop/start on and don’t use auto hold or put it in Park ..unless I’m parking it. 

I’d use auto hold rather than putting it in Park.

[Guy Heaton]

This isn't to do with stop start, that rarely activates for me.

Using auto hold the gearbox is still in D, churning the fluid around.

[Alex.S]

 

I 

[Jay035]

I heard stop start prematurely wears out the starter motor and puts Wear on the engine 

I always use auto hold especially in London driving unless I'm gonna be sat for long periods of time I go netrual and parking brake on

[Guy Heaton]

I dont think that's as true these days.  Components are designed for SS now.

[Jay035]

I hear differently, on hybrids its a good system as its powered differently. however on a petrol I don't see the real benifits other than a small amount of petrol savings 

I remember seeing some tests done on YouTube which showed wear on parts 

[TomsFocus]

The benefit of SS is a reduction in emmisions over the huge number of cars in the road.  Individuals won't see a noticeable benefit, although as a pedestrian I find it much easier to breathe around traffic lights now.

oil tech has moved on massively in the last decade or so, so there's no bare metal contact on an SS start like there is on a first start.  Plus internal bearings shells are made, or at least coated, in slippery compounds etc.  You could argue there's more metal fatigue from the repetitive surge on the crankshaft...but even that's negated by the DMF.

I really don't think anyone buying new cars should be worried about SS, it's only going to be 100k/10 years later when things like the DMF wear out...but by that point the clutch will be done anyway.   

My Golf is still on the original DMF and starter at 105k btw.  I wonder how many SS actions it's performed in that time!

[M N at MK]

I have a 2019 focus st line x 182 with the 8 spd box.It has only clocked 10000 miles but I have noticed it has the same problem as many of your cars with this box.I was curious as to wether any of you who posted reviews about this box back in 2019/20 still have the cars ,what sort of mileage the cars have clocked and does the problem changing from d to r still exist. and vi's versa still exist has it become worse ?.My car has recently been to Evans Halshaw at Milton Keynes and they said it is working correctly and they did,nt think there is a problem. It has on about 6 occasions engaged drive to reverse with a real jolt,it is intermittent and so if it didn't do it when the fitter looked at the car then I totally respect their view and I'm grateful to them for looking at my car ,but it does do it !!,just very rearly so I'm interested to know if you people who have had this issue still have the cars and has it become worse in any way. 

[Botus]

servicing components is a great way to get them to operate correctly and last longer

some auto gearboxes create quite a bit of wear in early life (see later for a good reason) and the trans fluid becomes contaminated with what is effectively brake dust (auto's work like your cars brakes - multiple multiplate clutches operate lots of miniature brake discs applying on and off for the various gears, the friction material and the wear on the "disc" creates metal and other brake dust type rot that can interfere with the smooth operation of lubricity, clutch behaviour and in other cases cause sluggish movement of the solenoids operating the clutch packs

where its a newish design thrown together before full development was satisfactory completed - early iterations suffer more problems, often part alleviated with changes to the software / changes in fluid spec and in fundamental design changes on later builds

99% of owners will be getting NONE of those fixes...   If it were mine I'd have the trans fluid changed with the exact fluid your box should now have (note100% of main dealerships employing sacked McDonalds workers [no one else wants] will have no idea what this is).... and then get any software updates applied to the the vehicles EPB, Gearbox and Engine management as a minimum - NOTE software need to be done by a very good main dealer not a kwik bodge outfit

 

 

[Alex.S]

On 8/23/2021 at 6:34 PM, M N at MK said:

I have a 2019 focus st line x 182 with the 8 spd box.It has only clocked 10000 miles but I have noticed it has the same problem as many of your cars with this box.I was curious as to wether any of you who posted reviews about this box back in 2019/20 still have the cars ,what sort of mileage the cars have clocked and does the problem changing from d to r still exist. and vi's versa still exist has it become worse ?.My car has recently been to Evans Halshaw at Milton Keynes and they said it is working correctly and they did,nt think there is a problem. It has on about 6 occasions engaged drive to reverse with a real jolt,it is intermittent and so if it didn't do it when the fitter looked at the car then I totally respect their view and I'm grateful to them for looking at my car ,but it does do it !!,just very rearly so I'm interested to know if you people who have had this issue still have the cars and has it become worse in any way. 

I’ve got 22k miles on mine. Had it since new summer 2019, only issue I’ve had (I think yours is different) is it taking 2 seconds when changing to reverse or reverse back to drive. Definitely get a bit of a jolt if I don’t give it a second though. 

[M N at MK]

Actually Alex I think having read your reply that our cars do have the same issue with the gearbox . I also have tried as you have suggested by waiting the extra second aas you said it seems to stop the problem. 

[Alex.S]

On 8/28/2021 at 10:34 PM, M N at MK said:

Actually Alex I think having read your reply that our cars do have the same issue with the gearbox . I also have tried as you have suggested by waiting the extra second aas you said it seems to stop the problem. 

It’s definitely not just us. Seems all with a dial gear selector have the same ‘characteristic’ . Maybe it’s cause it’s a dial 🤷‍♂️. You’ll get used to it. Not really a big inconvenience IMO 

[JackVee]

Possibly Hill Start Assist? Not the same thing as Auto Hold. My 1.0 Titanium does this if I am on a slope. It holds the brakes for "a few seconds" to give the transmission time to start moving the car. If you are trying to reverse uphill close to an obstacle (e.g.the boss's £80,000 car) the car lurches backwards when the brakes come off. Very unnerving. According to the manual, Hill Start Assist can't be turned off.

[Alex.S]

I’m pretty sure I don’t have hill start assist. Auto hold does it all . 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

10 hours ago, Alex.S said:

I’m pretty sure I don’t have hill start assist. Auto hold does it all . 

Lol, I baffled myself a while ago looking up HSA on the Fiesta and Focus in the online handbooks to see if there was any difference.

Anyway, if I remember right, on the Focus auto, it said HSA is activated automatically with the ignition and can't be turned off, so presumably there is no switch. Auto hold is switched on by the button on the console but remembers the last setting, so you can leave it on permanently. 

Can't see why you would need HSA if you have auto hold anyway?

[Alex.S]

10 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Can't see why you would need HSA if you have auto hold anyway?

Exactly. 
Auto hold in the automatic focus is a cracking feature. Only complaint I read here about it is it turning itself off. This happens if you turn the ignition off then back on 2 or 3 times. I think that’s battery saving 🤔 

Anyway next car criteria now includes auto hold. 
 

*edit 

remote engine start is a must!