Ford Focus 2018 Transmission (Problem)

[Stefan Stojkovski]

Hi, I own a 1.0 125 hp 2018 Ford Focus with manual transmission. I have the car for 3 weeks, and have about 800 km on it.

Last week, when I got back from my first trip with it, I put my foot down in the city. I was doing full on first gear, hitting it at round 4000 rmp. At one point when I was shifting gears, i din't press the clutch all the way down and heard a grinding sound. 

Since then, I've been noticing, the gear transmission being harder to change between 1st and 2nd gear (more prominenty 2nd to 1st). It seems to me that is harder to switch from 3rd to 2nd and from 2nd to 1st than it used to and sometimes even gets completeley jammed for a second or 2.

My friend suggested that there is a possibility that there is a lock mechanisn on the transmission system and that it doesn't let you switch down gears when you're driving at a higer speed. With my previous car, it was my habbit to switch to 2nd gear and decelarate that way.

I've been testing this for a while, and it indeed seems to be easier to switch to 2nd at lower speeds, but I am still not assured that this is the normal behaviour of the transmission. Still it seems to me that it wasn't like this when I got the car. Also, the shifting is very smooth when the car is stationary or moving at very low speeds, much much smoother than what I described now.

There seems to be a known issue with the ford trasmission as suggessted here:

https://www.vehiclehistory.com/questions/does-the-2018-ford-focus-still-have-transmission-problems-11730

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a27438193/ford-powershift-transmission-problems/

 

I intend to call the car shop where I have the warranty, I just wanted to consult with you about this first. Thanks.

[Comares2001]

Not sure about the "known issue " but you wont have done any good doing such high revs on a new car and not declutching fully . Sounds almost like you may have damaged the synchromesh on 1st or 2nd gears

[Stefan Stojkovski]

On 12/18/2019 at 3:18 PM, Comares2001 said:

Not sure about the "known issue " but you wont have done any good doing such high revs on a new car and not declutching fully . Sounds almost like you may have damaged the synchromesh on 1st or 2nd gears

I checked with my car dealer, they did a thorough examination and found nothing wrong with the gear shift. Concerning the sychromesh, they said that if it was the sychromesh it would have been difficult to move the knob horizontally too, not only vertically, which wan't the case. Then they compared another st-line and another Focus with different trim and found that all were the same. Finally they did something called "SBT" (a standard online test by Ford) and said that if there are many complaints Ford might take action, other than that, they cannot do anything, because the shift is like that straight out of the factory. 

But, by driving the car for a while, I am getting used to it, and I changed my driving style. The gear is not hard to shift if you are at low enough speed, so if sometimes I am unable to switch to second gear, I know that I should get to lower speed before I try again. 

[alexp999]

Fwiw, both of the links to known issues are for automatic transmissions, and you've said you've got a manual, so they don't apply.

[Sffordf]

Hello, after run in.. New readjust the cable with the Orange Button on the gearbox...