Hey everyone 

so I just purchased a 2014 Ford galaxy 2.0 power shift.

bought as faulty no crank issue (£800)

first time owning an automatic and will be first time doing work on one

so I’ve solved the no crank issue which was immobiliser issue ( pulled relays and reset fault codes) that’s been fine 

but then it immediately became apparent there was a lot more wrong with it than advertised.

so wasn’t getting any drive in any selection with the gearbox limited function popping up.

Fault codes saying shift for a and shift fork c stuck the S selection showing 7 on display no movement.

So after some useless diagnosing and testing my conclusion was the transmission has some serious issues and have proceeded to remove the TCM, mechatronics and valve body as a first point of call.

upon removing the plastic cover it became apparent that the know problematic plastic clips on the clutch have broken up and were nicely deposited over the internal filter and pretty much everywhere else! 

so I’ve now got the TCM out and separated from the valve body

i have cleaned and then checked the ohms of each solenoid which all were 3.2/3.3 ohms so that’s in spec!

Going to use an endoscope to see if I can see anything inside the related to the stuck forks.

I know without a doubt I’m gonna need to do the clutch springs (probably gonna change the whole clutch)

but this is where things get a bit crazy this is the first time ever working on this box… everyone seems to hate working on it but I’m not a defeatist and have the time to fix this but I’ll be doing it singlehanded..

what’s the chances of me stripping the valve body and cleaning, replacing the clutch but leaving the gear side of things as is… and successfully getting it working? I’d love some genuine advise on this it would be much appreciated also feel free to take the p*ss too I realise what I have got myself into 🤣

Cheers 

mathew

 

Hi welcome

Hi Matt. Blimey you've done some work on your galaxy 👍.

I'm no expert but I've had a mondeo titanium x sport ecoboost and knew that the gearbox Needs it's oil changing every 37.5k miles or 5 years. Looks to me your cars been neglected badly.

From memory, reading up on it some years back, changing the clutch is quite easy.

As for stripping the gearbox to check the solenoids. I think the solenoids are under a removable cover which is an easy job, for those who are mechanically minded.

Hey tazzman

Haha 😂 you’re right there I got stuck right in mate… worked on a lot of fords over the years just not ever a power shift…

totally agree with you there mate someone has definitely neglected the gearbox (the rest of the car is pretty good) 

I’ve checked the solenoids, removed the TCM and valve body cleaned up the solenoids and checked the ohms on each which are testing perfect at 3.3

as for being mechanically minded I have the skills all self taught though from years of repairing my own cars and other things lol and I am determined to fix this issue no way am i paying a mechanic 2300 plus vat rather fix it my self or at least attempt to.

I’ve changed more than a handful of manual clutch’s by eye with no alignment tools but have no idea on the power shift can I wing it by eye or is the alignment precision accurate 

 

I'd get an alignment tool. They're cheap enough. You've been dead lucky so far to do those clutches by eye. You've got my respect for your self taught skills. 👍

UPDATE

so its been a while since i updated my post... I have been working on and off on the powershift due to other things taking up my time but I rebuilt the box a while ago changed torque converter springs and retainers, replaced both filters and the main oil cover. also removed mechatronics and disassembled and cleaned valves and solenoids. 

yesterday I refitted and filled with oil, charged up battery over night and today i connected to forscan cleared all stored DTC an reset the TCM module using the option in service option tab. 

I am pleased to say the gearbox is now fully functioning, selects all gears up and down in S mode, has reverse and in D happily transitions each gear!

no TCM faults are now present and no warnings displayed!

I hope this encourages you if you are in this situation because I am not a gearbox technician or a qualified mechanic! Don't be fooled into spending 1500+ on repairing this the parts and oil cost me less than 200 and is much easer to work on than most believe! 

sadly there was little help online for me when I undertook this project which can be very daunting! 

I setup a facebook group for discussing the 6dct450 repair and I am willing to assist anyone who needs help!

Not sure if anyone reads this lol

so an update

the 2014 Galaxy powershift rebuild was technically a success but unfortunately the car decided to develop multiple other problems not powershift related with these on top of existing problems prior to rebuild the final one being a leak forming somewhere along the roof rack  rail.

it wasn’t all doom and gloom though! 
 

I reference the galaxy as the dead frogs you’d dissect in school. In the past year it taught me a lot, it opened a door for me which led to the formation of the powershift repair discussion group on Facebook.

we now have 1.4k members and growing, I’ve met many new friends and formed close connections to many powershift specialists. As a collective we are changing the face of powershift, it may be 17 years too late for some but in the past year we have helped so many people solve their powershift problems, we have identified root cause of powershift 450 failures down to the exact point where failure occurs, we have uncovered the reasons why it happens and linked this to bad harmonics caused by the 2.0 tdci along with badly designed retainers.

we are developing a modification kit to eliminate the problem and provide a reliable and solution. This is currently in late stage development with proof of concept kits available. 
 

i personally am determined to not just fix powershift but solve it for good while simultaneously stamping out the scammers and con artists selling bad cars or doing bodged repairs.

 

 

 

All Hail @Krispyduckz1! (seriously, I mean it 😀)
As a lucky Powershift owner (117k 14 years, we love it) I respect your work and ideas to improve this transmission.
We have always changed the fluid at 3 years (definitely not the 5 mentioned above and more often, is much better than leaving it?)

Oil and filter from Westway Lubricants off e-bay is "cheap" and had no problems.

There are quite a lot of You Tube videos that give an insight into various aspects of repairs and fitting.

With a bit of mechanical empathy i.e. we'd never treat it badly, we hope it will last beyond the next 5 years when we are likely to be finished with towing - time will tell.
Thanks for the detailed posting.

So another follow up. This is hopefully the solution for the 450 powershift.

I designed the springs and liner myself. It’s took a lot of hard work and many sleepless nights but they are ready and the first sets are being fitted, results and feedback are due soon. 

I was determined to bring a reliable and cost effective solution for everyone! 

Life span of the kit is still unknown but I can say with confidence that the spring liner will not wear and block the valve body! With a liner lifespan of at least 200k miles.

I am hoping to achieve initial goal of at least 60k miles on the springs with the aim of improving them until they reach 100k miles based upon feedback received.

The modification kit is available via eBay with worldwide shipping.

 

photos showing the springs fitted with a prototype flat liner, custom curved liner is shown in photo and is the finial liner design. Material used in the liner is not any of the ones being used in the extortionate European type of solution it far exceeds anything tried before.

So, it is an idea involving only 2 springs (does away with the dreaded separators) with what I think is a plastic, of special nature, shell liner that presumably reduces friction between spring and shell?

The exact tribological wear life of both springs (issues with fatigue cracking and the damage that would result) and liner wear and any residue from that would need to be established by long term testing ideally with many kits in use?

I have seen other ideas replacing plastic with metal (brass/bronze?) which is a bit more related to the original, however a worthy concept.

Why not give the sales link (if that is allowed?)