Ok, this is my Focus 1.6 Auto 2005 dashboard below. Clearly all is not well. The issue is that when accelerating in 2nd it changes up to 3rd but then immedfiately slows. Reverse and everything else seems ok. I have read a fair bit about these gearboxes, from the horror stories to the 'I fixed it for 20p'. Has anyone else had siimilar issues and how fixable does it look/sound?

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It could be a software fault had a mates vauxhall do the same and it was the software ive seen it in a cmax also and ford said it needed a new gearbox so in short you need to take it to a dealer so they can assess whats causing the issue

I had this recently when I was installing DRL's.

Check that you dont have a code reader connected as your starting the car then try disconnect the battery for an hour or so and try starting it up again.

It sounds to me though that the gearbox may be on its way out. I have a known issue on my CMAX where the car puts out too much Torque and the gearbox blows itself, it may be a similar issue on yours if you have the CVT also (pretty much the same car with a different body!)