Concerns over automatic problems

[Jonro2009]

@ShamusUK I had no problems with the wet clutch powershift, I really liked it. In fact I rate that one over the 7spd auto in the Merc A Class

The gear indicator does indeed show which gear you are in on the instrument panel on the wet and dry clutch PS

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[Thoric]

So the presence of the +/- buttons could be either Powershift or new torque converter, as proven by ShamusUK. To note, my wife's Powershift shows the gear you are in on the console if you press the buttons.

 

So I'm still not clear how to figure out whether any particular car is a torque converter.[mention=106043]ShamusUK[/mention] how are you certain yours is not a Powershift?

 

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[karlbbb]

3 hours ago, ShamusUK said:

2.0 diesels came with wet clutch Powershift - robust and reliable (for this type of gearbox). In fact this Peugeot engine is also said to be reliable. Not a bad combination. Gearbox oil changes are required to keep things reliable and smooth. Every 35k i believe, at around £300.

1.5 petrol from very late 2016 onwards came with Torque Converter automatic - ultra reliable, but thirsty (due to being 6 speed and a torque converter). This is the safest combination, if you can tolerate 25-30mpg. I have this engine and gearbox. It's brilliant.

Everything else on mk3 and mk3.5 was dry clutch Powershift - reliability and smoothness improved as the years went by - and reports of big bills become more rare. Early ones are best avoided, although many would have had clutch packs replaced under warranty, and software updates applied (2014-2016 seems to be low risk, especially with <30k on the clock).

Everything on mk4 is torque converter 8 speed.

The above is what I learned when looking for my Focus last year. After having a DSG Passat in the past, I did not want a Powershift - although the (dry clutch) DSG problems seem far more prevalent and catastrophic and expensive, compared to (dry clutch) Powershift.

I would never touch another VW Group DSG or S-Tronic car again (unreliable, jerky and dangerous hesitation/lag). I would take a chance on a 2.0 Diesel Powershift though (wet clutch), as fitted to a heavy 2016 Kuga for example, where the car is more suited to a Diesel, and economy would just be too bad with the old 6 speed torque converter.

Hope that helps.

 

My 1.0 Mk3.5 is a torque converter automatic too, came in in 2017 apparently (see my earlier post).

Regarding paddle shifters, the 2017 Focus price guide suggests these were always an option only - if you didn’t get the option, it was the thumb switch on the gear stick as standard. Mine happens to have that option ticked too.

[Thoric]

My 1.0 Mk3.5 is a torque converter automatic too, came in in 2017 apparently (see my earlier post).
Regarding paddle shifters, the 2017 Focus price guide suggests these were always an option only - if you didn’t get the option, it was the thumb switch on the gear stick as standard. Mine happens to have that option ticked too.

Hi. How can you be sure yours is a torque converter? The 2018 MK3.5 1.0l Focus I linked to above has been identified as a dry clutch Powershift by two posters on here. I'm struggling to understand how owners are sure theirs is one or the other type!

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[DaveT70]

4 hours ago, ShamusUK said:

1.5 petrol from very late 2016 onwards came with Torque Converter automatic - ultra reliable, but thirsty (due to being 6 speed and a torque converter). This is the safest combination, if you can tolerate 25-30mpg. I have this engine and gearbox. It's brilliant.

That's the 6F30 box on the 1.5

On the 1.0, around the same time, they introduced the 6F15 torque converter which is what's fitted to our 2017 ST-Line and my daughter's Fiesta 2018 ST-Line X

[DaveT70]

35 minutes ago, Thoric said:

Hi. How can you be sure yours is a torque converter? The 2018 MK3.5 1.0l Focus I linked to above has been identified as a dry clutch Powershift by two posters on here. I'm struggling to understand how owners are sure theirs is one or the other type!

You can look on ETIS, that tells you what transmission is fitted

A 2018 should be 6F15 unless it was left sat around un-sold for a long time

[Jonro2009]

So the presence of the +/- buttons could be either Powershift or new torque converter, as proven by ShamusUK. To note, my wife's Powershift shows the gear you are in on the console if you press the buttons.
 
So I'm still not clear how to figure out whether any particular car is a torque converter.[mention=106043]ShamusUK[/mention] how are you certain yours is not a Powershift?
 
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Do you have a particular car in mind? If so why I the reg and I can check it for you.

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[Thoric]

At the moment I haven't found one car that I'm keen on, so I need to be able to perform my own checks if possible. How can you do it from the reg alone? Is it privileged info you have access to?

Earlier, I referenced SG67 YVV in a link, it is a model I was interested in potentially, but two folk have said it's the Powershift dry clutch type [emoji3525]

Can you absolutely confirm it?? [emoji848]

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[Jonro2009]

At the moment I haven't found one car that I'm keen on, so I need to be able to perform my own checks if possible. How can you do it from the reg alone? Is it privileged info you have access to?

Earlier, I referenced SG67 YVV in a link, it is a model I was interested in potentially, but two folk have said it's the Powershift dry clutch type [emoji3525]

Can you absolutely confirm it?? [emoji848]

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2017–present 6F15—6-speed transaxle (designed for use with the 1.0 Ecoboost to replace the DPS6 Powershift transmission)

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[Jonro2009]

It's not privileged access but not strictly allowed lol.

If you go on to fordetis.com and register as an IO (independent Operator) then select 'single garage' and agree o the T&Cs. Then enter your details of your garage (don't need a VAT number) I called my garage Ford and entered an old home address and phone number, clicked to make the invoice address the same and that's it, create a username and password.

Once you login select 'vehicle' and enter the reg and search. 2 boxes wil pop up with + signs, expand the first box and it will tell you the transmission type. Then use https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_transmissions to identify the gearbox.

You may need to re register each time as once the account is checked and found to be a bit liberal with the truth it will be deleted. There is no risk to you for doing it though, and no charge either.

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[Thoric]

2017–present 6F15—6-speed transaxle (designed for use with the 1.0 Ecoboost to replace the DPS6 Powershift transmission)

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So this is a 6F15, not a PS. Great news! I might just enquire [emoji41]
Thank you@Jonro2009 !

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[ShamusUK]

5 hours ago, Thoric said:

So I'm still not clear how to figure out whether any particular car is a torque converter.[mention=106043]ShamusUK[/mention] how are you certain yours is not a Powershift?

I checked on ETIS and confirmed it was 6F35 (or similar). The 1.5T 182bhp was never available with a Powershift (unless someone tells me otherwise). I travelled 300 miles to buy my car (had never even owned a Ford before), so I did as much homework as possible.

Also, confirmed by Honest John website:

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/ford/focus-2014/data/

... the Torque Converter options are listed as Auto, rather than Powershift.

It is a complete minefield though.

ps - I'm looking for an automatic 2015 Fiesta 1.0 - all I can say is that it will definitely be a Powershift in that car (and bit of a gamble).

[ShamusUK]

5 hours ago, Jonro2009 said:

@ShamusUK I had no problems with the wet clutch powershift, I really liked it. In fact I rate that one over the 7spd auto in the Merc A Class

 

That's good to know. To be honest there's not that many horror stories relating to the newer Powershift boxes. I think Ford had them sorted by the end. You only get concerned when you browse the USA forums and read about the Class Action law suits etc.

Seems to be less of a problem in the UK.

There's 2 aspects to consider: 1) reliability and 2) driveability.

If you are happy with the way they drive, and go for a fairly recent model (at least 2015), and do the gearbox oil changes, you should be ok 🙂

 

[karlbbb]

6 hours ago, Thoric said:

Hi. How can you be sure yours is a torque converter? The 2018 MK3.5 1.0l Focus I linked to above has been identified as a dry clutch Powershift by two posters on here. I'm struggling to understand how owners are sure theirs is one or the other type!

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I can tell by the way it drives, it’s not a dual clutch transmission.

The 2018 can’t be a dual clutch, as has been stated many times since 2017 it’s been a torque converter box. You can see this by the car being listed as “Ford Focus Auto” rather than “Ford Focus Powershift” too.

[TimJ]

While we're on the subject of Powershift, does anyone's selector light up at night (like the rest of the dashboard)?  I'm not sure whether a bulb's gone or its just not supposed to light up, it seems strange that its completely dark.  I prised off the selector surround but couldn't see a bulb inside though.

[Paulius55]

The selector on my S-Max does not light up. I expected it to, but as it's echoed on the screen it doesn't really need to.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, TimJ said:

While we're on the subject of Powershift

I thought with the Fiesta 8 and Focus 4 going torque convertor, Ford had ended their flirtation with dual clutch gearboxes. However it seems the new Puma is to get a 7 speed DCT which will no doubt find its way into other models, to confuse us all a bit more in the future!😀

[Alex.S]

Would’ve thought they’d put the 8 speed in the Puma. Ford must’ve found a cheaper alternative. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, Alex.S said:

Would’ve thought they’d put the 8 speed in the Puma. Ford must’ve found a cheaper alternative. 

Surely not!😀 Apart from the bean counters at work, I wondered if it might be more suited to the mild hybrid system in the Puma?  

VW seem to have decided mild hybrids will be DSG only, no manual option. I saw a comment somewhere from a VW bigwig that although mild hybrid works with manual (as Ford, Honda, Suzuki and others have shown), accounting for the different manual  gearchange techniques of drivers  is, in effect, too much trouble to programme into the system when most VW customers are going auto anyway. (Though, as I commented earlier in the thread, VW aren't giving them the choice on many models!)

[Guy Heaton]

7-speed DCT was supposed to be going into the Focus ST auto.

I like the 8-speed auto, it's smooth, I would not want a jerky DCT.

 

[AutoX]

I have a mk4 1.0 8 speed auto, seems like a decent match and more than nippy enough for day to day driving. Average 36.2 mpg at the mo but that’s with a lot of traffic and town driving. 

[Alex.S]

2 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Ford must’ve found a cheaper alternative.

I’m still bitter about the multi link. And the one reverse light...also the paintwork and the sat nav graphics and the mpg and the yellow halogen headlights apart from that it’s alright. 

[Jonro2009]

4 hours ago, Guy Heaton said:

7-speed DCT was supposed to be going into the Focus ST auto.

I like the 8-speed auto, it's smooth, I would not want a jerky DCT.

 

The wet DCT is not jerky at all, only the dry boxes. 

8 hours ago, TimJ said:

While we're on the subject of Powershift, does anyone's selector light up at night (like the rest of the dashboard)?  I'm not sure whether a bulb's gone or its just not supposed to light up, it seems strange that its completely dark.  I prised off the selector surround but couldn't see a bulb inside though.

I've had the centre console sat on my drive before now, there are no LEDs there for the selector. I would have liked it if there was though. 

[ShamusUK]

11 hours ago, TimJ said:

While we're on the subject of Powershift, does anyone's selector light up at night (like the rest of the dashboard)?  I'm not sure whether a bulb's gone or its just not supposed to light up, it seems strange that its completely dark.  I prised off the selector surround but couldn't see a bulb inside though.

The PRNDS by the gear lever does light up in blue on the TC 6 speed.

[karlbbb]

10 hours ago, ShamusUK said:

The PRNDS by the gear lever does light up in blue on the TC 6 speed.

Yep likewise, my Mk3.5 conventional auto has those lit up in the same blue as the rest of the dash and radio etc.