Hi.  Recently heard a clunk and car seemed to slip out of gear.  Pressed accelerator, Rev's went up but car moved slowly.  Stopped car, turned off engine, waited short while and set off again.  Seemed okay.  Happened again yesterday.  Now orange engine light on and message saying transmission has limited functionality.  Does this mean gearbox is knackered??   I very worried.  Any advice much appreciated. 

Cheers

Alison

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Alison, I see the car is automatic, do you know which type ?

What engine do you have ? @DaveT70 might be able to offer some help with his knowledge of gearboxes

Hi Unofix

 

I'll check out engine type and let you and Luke4efc know.  Thank you so much for replying. 🙂🙂

With those symptoms and that error message it sounds like a Powershift gearbox.

So it may need a gearbox oil and filter change rather than a new gearbox, but I can't be sure of this. If so, that's probably a £300 - £400 job which is supposed to be done every 37,500 miles.

Do you know the service history of the car/have you had it long?

Check battery first, powershifts are very sensitive to voltage.

I had diagnostic done at local garage.  It came up with the attached message. 

Mechanic said battery sounded weak and threw up codes as well. 

 

Sounds like you've done the right thing in getting it diagnosed.

    ...... might just need an overnight charge rather than a new battery, perhaps?

16 hours ago, alanfp said:

Sounds like you've done the right thing in getting it diagnosed.

    ...... might just need an overnight charge rather than a new battery, perhaps?

Powershifts are very sensitive. If you know you haven't fitted a battery in the last 3 years, fit a new battery.

Also, remove the earth strap from the body, remove the paint from the area where the earth strap sits, grease and re-fit. 

There are also two further earth straps underneath the air box, on the chassis legs, remove the air box and do the same to the earth points there too.

When you finally reconnect the battery, start the engine WITHOUT pressing the throttle, leave to run for a couple of minutes, then:

KEEP FOOT HARD ON BRAKE and take off handbrake

Put transmission in "N"

Engage "D" and HOLD FOR 6 SECONDS

Engage "N" and HOLD FOR 6 SECONDS

Engage "R" and HOLD FOR 6 SECONDS

Engage "D" and HOLD FOR 6 SECONDS

Engage "P" and HOLD FOR 6 SECONDS

Repeat this process about 10 times, should take bumps/clunks away. DO NOT TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE BRAKE.

 

 

17 hours ago, Alison Griffiths said:

I had diagnostic done at local garage.  It came up with the attached message. 

Mechanic said battery sounded weak and threw up codes as well. 

 

This means the voltage drop has made it forget it's settings, if you have access to Forscan you can perform a clutch and adaptive shift re-learn, but if you follow my steps it will re-learn itself.

Hi.  Had car towed to main dealer garage.  How much should a new battery cost?  Thanks 

At Ford prices about £140 (plus £1000 to fit - ok I just made that bit up)

15 hours ago, Alison Griffiths said:

Hi.  Had car towed to main dealer garage.  How much should a new battery cost?  Thanks 

Get them to update software in PCM and TCM whilst it's in there then, kill two birds

I'm devastated.  They have said I need a new gear box.  My car only has 68,000 miles on the clock.  They want £5,200.00 to fix it.  I'm truly gutted.  Help/advice anyone? 😭😭😭😭

6 hours ago, Alison Griffiths said:

They want £5,200.00 to fix it. 

They want WHAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

You need to find a different garage and get a second opinion.

 

You say you had the car towed. Was it completely undriveable? Or would it drive slowly? Or not change gear like it should?  

The reason I'm asking is because I'm wondering if a £400 gearbox service (which is essentially a change of the gearbox oil and filter) would be worth trying first, before shelling out £5k (although I'm sure you could get it done significantly cheaper elsewhere).

Might be £400 wasted, though....

 

Hi Alan.  It's a DCT so I don't think there oil to change.  Seems this is a well known issue.  Well known to Ford that is. 

Unofix.  Ford main dealer.  I'm thinking of looking for recon gear box.  😭  Otherwise I'll be buying 🐎🐎🐎🐎😂

30 minutes ago, Alison Griffiths said:

It's a DCT so I don't think there oil to change.

I think there is, actually. Even though it's described as "dry-clutch" the DCT (dual clutch transmission) will have oil in it, which does get very dirty and benefits from scheduled 3-yearly changes. 

PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, somebody ..... or confirm what I've just said!!!

1 minute ago, alanfp said:

I think there is, actually. Even though it's described as "dry-clutch" the DCT (dual clutch transmission) will have oil in it, which does get very dirty and benefits from scheduled 3-yearly changes. 

PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, somebody ..... or confirm what I've just said!!!

Correct.  The gears still run in oil, it's just the clutches that don't.

On 3/4/2022 at 11:45 AM, Alison Griffiths said:

I'm devastated.  They have said I need a new gear box.  My car only has 68,000 miles on the clock.  They want £5,200.00 to fix it.  I'm truly gutted.  Help/advice anyone? 😭😭😭😭

You DON'T need a new gearbox.

Fit a new battery, perform a clutch re-learn, update the software AND call FORD CRC and see what part of your transmission is still under warranty.

Your Ford dealer SHOULD know all this.

If all that fails:

At best you have a broken comms wire running from the gearbox to the TCM, they should investigate that first, because if they don't, they'll stick a new transmission in and you'll still have the problem.

Possibly the TCM has gone down, they should investigate that first, because if they don't, they'll stick a new transmission in and you'll still have the problem.

AT worst the clutch pack has disintegrated, they should investigate that first, because if they don't, they'll stick a new transmission in and you'll still have the problem.

Your Ford dealer SHOULD know all this.

But, it probably just needs a new battery and a relearn

If you get no further help from the dealer, or Ford CRC, pull the car and pay the £80 diagnostics fee and take it to a specialist AFTER you've changed the battery, cleaned the earth points AND performed a relearn.

DaveT70.  Thank you so much for your reply.  Ford dealer put it on "a machine" but couldn't tell which part of the gearbox "has gone" but you need a new one.  I've arranged for a local gearbox specialist to take it away and run a diagnostic.  Days wanted £280.00 for battery.  I nearly fainted.  That was before the £5,200.00 for a gearbox, when I did faint.  They said that from their records the gearbox oil had not been changed.  As the car was bought from them from new, then sold back to them by the previous owner who also had a service plan with them, I was very surprised to hear this.  When I bought the car from them, surely they should have ensured the gear box oil had been changed since not during so is one of the major causes of Powershift gearbox failures.  At no time when I bought it was this told to me.  Having said that, nobody agrees how often the transmission oil should be changed.  One mechanic said every year, another said every 3 years, another 3 years or every 30,000 miles.  I'm so fed up and confused but still determined to get to the bottom of it.  

15 minutes ago, Alison Griffiths said:

Days wanted £280.00 for battery

That's "Day" light robbery 🤣

A good quality battery for your car should be £140 - £160 max. Go to somewhere like Halfords and they will fit it. Join the Ford Owners Club here and you even get 15% off

 

When I first got my 2nd hand Powershift, I'm sure I saw that the recommended interval was 5 yrs/62500 miles (but don't know where, now) ..... which was about when mine started playing up!

But I've since heard 3 yrs/37500 miles, which seems to be generally accepted on this forum. I'd love to say "ask the manufacturer" but I'm afraid I don''t know if you'll get an official answer from them.

Gearbox oil change wouldn't be included in the 'service plan'. They tend to be "pay £x per month for two years and we'll do one major service, one minor service and two MOTs".

Is the car driveable? (even if it says Limited functionality)

10 hours ago, Alison Griffiths said:

DaveT70.  Thank you so much for your reply.  Ford dealer put it on "a machine" but couldn't tell which part of the gearbox "has gone" but you need a new one.  I've arranged for a local gearbox specialist to take it away and run a diagnostic.  Days wanted £280.00 for battery.  I nearly fainted.  That was before the £5,200.00 for a gearbox, when I did faint.  They said that from their records the gearbox oil had not been changed.  As the car was bought from them from new, then sold back to them by the previous owner who also had a service plan with them, I was very surprised to hear this.  When I bought the car from them, surely they should have ensured the gear box oil had been changed since not during so is one of the major causes of Powershift gearbox failures.  At no time when I bought it was this told to me.  Having said that, nobody agrees how often the transmission oil should be changed.  One mechanic said every year, another said every 3 years, another 3 years or every 30,000 miles.  I'm so fed up and confused but still determined to get to the bottom of it.  

Alison, please read and listen to my advice on previous posts.

Your clutches are dry, the oil only runs the gears, as a manual, not so crucial to change so often.

You've changed the battery, ok, should've got one from halfords, but.

PLEASE, clean the paint and grease the earth points like I mentioned

Then, get Ford to update the software in the PCM and TCM

Get Ford to perform a clutch relearn

Get Ford to perform a shift drum relearn

Get Ford to reset the adaptive learning strategy

And it'll be OK.

If it isn't THEN start stripping the gearbox down

10 hours ago, Alison Griffiths said:

Ford dealer put it on "a machine" but couldn't tell which part of the gearbox "has gone" but you need a new one. 

That's because NOTHING has gone and they are useless, it's just lost all of it's settings due to the battery dying.

I'm trying to save you money here

Take a look at this for reference

https://forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1672

Like I said before, at absolute worst you need a new TCM, not a gearbox, FORD should pay for this, contact FORD CRC

At best you have a broken CAN connection somewhere, usually under the battery area, but I doubt it.