Diesel powershift clutch life?

Yellow_Festiva · 06-07-2013, 10:18 AM

Stupid question, but do these things wear out fast?

Got my car getting looked at and have been advised that there may be a fault with this part. The dealership has advised that they have changed quite a few due to driveability issues. Mine drives fine just vibrates to buggery when turned off.

67km and 3 and a bit years old. Has had the most easy life a car could have, driven smoothly on the freeway mostly.

Hopefully Ford are covering the cost as one day it was fine and the next it was not.

What sort of life have people seen out of their factory boxes / clutches?

If they needed to be changed, after how many km and for what reason?

I have a 2010 LV Focus. Will ask this in the Mondeo section as well.

Cheers, Jason

WILDB · 06-07-2013, 08:39 PM

We have a few Mondeo diesels with these in our fleet at work, one has over 100k with no issues whatsoever. But in saying that when I worked in dealership land there was one which was faulty with 13km on it, not engaging any gear - that was a freak occurrence though, normally the wet clutch models are very good. I was almost going to buy one before I decided on the ST.

I do forsee people having issues with them later on due to driving habits however - people driving them as if they are traditional torque convertor autos - full throttle starts, using the throttle to hold the thing on a hill so it doesn't roll back etc.

mik · 08-07-2013, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WILDB

We have a few Mondeo diesels with these in our fleet at work, one has over 100k with no issues whatsoever. But in saying that when I worked in dealership land there was one which was faulty with 13km on it, not engaging any gear - that was a freak occurrence though, normally the wet clutch models are very good. I was almost going to buy one before I decided on the ST.

I do foresee people having issues with them later on due to driving habits however - people driving them as if they are traditional torque converter autos - full throttle starts, using the throttle to hold the thing on a hill so it doesn't roll back etc.

any idea's on the cost to refurbish clutch's/mechanism on these ?

WILDB · 08-07-2013, 07:07 PM

No idea, never had one require it.

Yellow_Festiva · 09-07-2013, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mik

any idea's on the cost to refurbish clutch's/mechanism on these ?

I'll try and ask when I collect the car. At this point in time it is still a guesstimate as they are apparently waiting for a tool from Melb to open the box???

I searched on overseas forums regarding this issue and getting them changed is hardly mentioned.

Yellow_Festiva · 12-07-2013, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mik

any idea's on the cost to refurbish clutch's/mechanism on these ?

I've just been told the new clutch for my powershift fitted is a '6-7 grand job'.

Food for thought when buying for the long term.

mik · 12-07-2013, 09:29 PM

Thanks Yellow Festiva, Ouch, that is a fair old wop in the pocket, a little better than the bmw mini apparently, this is one reason i like the old proven simpler style conventional gearbox, no doubt the fancy shifting ones are nice to play with, but i think i would be steering away from the fancy ones unless they came with a massive warranty.
can you even opt the conventional gearbox these days??

Chicka · 13-07-2013, 03:01 PM

Unfortunately not....The Diesel is only available with the Powershift....
I dearly wanted to upgrade my 2007 TDCI 6 speed...but I am getting more concerned about this Powershift transmission..particularly reading about some of the horror stories..
Chicka

Franco Cozzo · 13-07-2013, 04:37 PM

Long time no see Chicka

Those DSG transmissions are junk, and it just reinforces my thinking that all auto trans are pieces of ****, slush box, CVT, DSG, driven them all and they're all crap.

At least with a slush box people know how to fix them.

Maybe they should leave the DSGs to the high end sports cars.

Yellow_Festiva · 13-07-2013, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mik

Thanks Yellow Festiva, Ouch, that is a fair old wop in the pocket, a little better than the bmw mini apparently, this is one reason i like the old proven simpler style conventional gearbox, no doubt the fancy shifting ones are nice to play with, but i think i would be steering away from the fancy ones unless they came with a massive warranty.
can you even opt the conventional gearbox these days??

Funny you say that. There were 2 main reasons why I got the Focus over the i30 when buying. 1) The badge 2) The new fangled transmission.

Talking to the dealership was interesting. The whole clutch assembly is sealed, and besides Ford service centres there is only 1 trusted transmission specialist in North Sydney the service department would use for the Powershift if they were swamped with work.

Sure, the unit makes for economical driving, but there is little scope for investigation if you want to do any sort of maintenance. They are trying to fix a violent shudder at shut down and are not even certain if this is the right fix for the problem.....

The 6 gears are most efficient at lower speeds, the thing still spins above 2000rpm on the freeway at 100, which is around 300rpm more than the manual apparently, and a waste of fuel when most of the usable torque starts at only 1500rpm.

If you look into it further, I read recently that NA markets are actually really not liking the high tech direction Ford is going, (Powershift, Ecoboost).

Great when it works, but look at what it costs when it doesn't.... specialist repairers, overly expensive replacement costs, costly, high-tec oils, computers in gearboxes that can fail etc etc etc. Not something you think about when buying. I know I didn't.....

You can see these being sold with problems in several years time when the owner gets a quote that is as much as the car is worth! (Much like I was tempted to do).

I guess the good news is, Ford are covering the costs bar the oil.

I'm in the market for another city car to replace my wifes Mirage and it will only be a traditional 4sp tranny.

kevino · 13-07-2013, 07:06 PM

Yet again I ask why we cant buy a Focus or Fiesta (excepting higher cost ST,s) with a 6 speed manual gearbox.
The long term cost of these autos is very high.

Yellow_Festiva · 13-07-2013, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevino

Yet again I ask why we cant buy a Focus or Fiesta (excepting higher cost ST,s) with a 6 speed manual gearbox.
The long term cost of these autos is very high.

Especially when other cars in the same segment sell with 6sp manual boxes...

Have people crossed brands due to this? I would assume yes!

mik · 13-07-2013, 07:37 PM

i certainly would cross brands if i was not convinced some part of car x was a big chance to cost me $$$ down the track, and i think there plenty out there that think this way to.

Spinner77 · 14-07-2013, 11:35 AM

Quote:

I read recently that NA markets are actually really not liking the high tech direction Ford is going, (Powershift, Ecoboost).

Very interesting, Yellow Festiva.

Got a reference to this on the Web? Or was it in a print magazine?

Not a lot you can buy these days without a turbo at least.

Yellow_Festiva · 14-07-2013, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spinner77

Very interesting, Yellow Festiva.

Got a reference to this on the Web? Or was it in a print magazine?

Not a lot you can buy these days without a turbo at least.

No worries. I did find a recent one saying that buyers were cautious about ECOboost after dozens of reports of engine problems / stalling but could not find it now.

These are other ones I found:

http://wardsauto.com/news-amp-analys...shift-problems

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...1#.UeH6yG09Xy8

http://www.dailytech.com/Consumers+N...ticle21954.htm

I found these when trying to see if other people had the same issue as me.

Spinner77 · 14-07-2013, 01:51 PM

Thanks, YF. Amazing reading.

Maybe Fiat knew something in keeping to a single-clutch auto - universally criticised in reviews!