2017 Ford Focus: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Sep 5, 2024 · Transmission · KY

I bought this vehicle brand new, and shortly after purchase it started to shutter when I accelerated. I had the clutch replaced three times while under warranty. The vehicle is no longer under warranty and recently, it has been having trouble starting and it's been having shifting issues. It's revving and taking longer than it should to shift gears, shifting hard when it does shift, and doesn't act like its going to shift at all. I was on a busy roadway turning right. I made the turn and accelerated to the flow of traffic and the vehicle revved loudly and wouldn't move. I turned on my hazard lights and made my way to the center turning lane. I came to a full stop, put it in park, then back in drive, and proceeded to get back into the driving lane. It delayed shifting and shifted hard the rest of the way, but thankfully I made it home safely. It is at the mechanic shop right now and I'm being told it needs a new transmission. The mechanic also told me that he cannot find a transmission for this vehicle because as soon as they come in, they are bought up due to this reoccurring issue. I have to get this vehicle back to my house to just sit in the driveway until I can figure something out. This vehicle is only 7 years old with 120K miles on it. I just paid this vehicle off last year, and now I have to find a new vehicle. Ford really needs to recall these transmissions!

Filed Jul 3, 2024 · Engine, Transmission · 142,000 miles · TX

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20-25 MPH, there was a loud clunking sound coming from underneath the front-end of the vehicle. The contact stated that the gear shifter was shifted into reverse(R); however, the vehicle failed to respond. The dashboard displayed the message, "Default of the Transmission". The vehicle had been taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission and catalytic converter had failed and needed to be replaced. The transmission was replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was 142,000.

Filed Nov 29, 2019 · Transmission · 22,000 miles · VA

Power loss to drive wheels starting from stops makes vehicle feel unsafe in traffic. Dual clutch powershift transmission shudders, slips, and sometimes clunks in first & into second gears under nominal acceleration. Vehicle has only 22,000 miles. Ford focus dual clutch powershift transmission problems remain. And this is the second transmission replaced by ford at only 17,000 miles.

Filed Jul 10, 2019 · Transmission · 17,000 miles · WA

Upon coming to a stop (such as at a traffic light or stop sign,) the vehicle makes extremely loud "clunking" noises when shifting down in gear. The sound seems to come directly from the transmission area and is in sync with the changing of gears. Upon acceleration from a stop, the transmission will make grinding sounds and stutter the entire car in a jerking-type motion. When this happens, the entire car feels as if there is a loss of power and makes it hard to accelerate properly in high-speed/high-traffic areas (such as freeway on-ramps or state highways.) I personally believe that this could be a dangerous thing because if I were to pass someone on a dotted line, or even pull out onto a roadway, the car may either stall or stutter so slowly that I wouldn't be able to get up to speed correctly, resulting in a possible collision. Lastly, I would like to mention that on 3 separate occasions now, when I am trying to park the car in a parking space, the transmission would not switch it into reverse at all. My gear shifting stick was in reverse, as well as the gauge-cluster displaying I was in reverse, however, my car acted as if it was in neutral. I would have to place the car back into park or drive again, and then try again for the transmission to successfully switch into reverse. I did contact my local ford dealership, however they said they were many weeks out and I never could get ahold of anyone there to schedule a time to look at it. I will add on that my car only has 17,000 miles on it as of july 2019. From my research, I have seen many others post complaints or worries in regard to the 2017 ford focus and its transmission. I hope that the federal safety agency will look into this further and can find answers as to why many, many of these cars are having issues with stalling, stuttering, and grinding noises and motions coming from the transmission.

Filed Jun 21, 2019 · Transmission · 37,000 miles · MI

6-speed dual clutch automatic transmission slips while accelerating from a stop, clunks and rattles while slowing down to a stop. Has happened every day since I've had the car.

Filed Jun 6, 2019 · Transmission · 27,000 miles · VA

I have had this vehicle since october of 2017, and have already had to get the clutch replaced once. This is the select shift automatic transmission and even though ford has replaced the clutch once already, I am still having the same problems with what seems like the clutch slipping which is causing the vehicle to shudder/jerk when going from first to second (accelerating). It has started occurring more often than not and I have taken then vehicle back into to ford many times for them to just tell me there is nothing wrong with my vehicle, and the slipping is 'normal' for this transmission. I drive this car on a daily basis to and from work and what it is doing does not seem normal. You can also hear it clunk when decelerating when approaching intersections.

Filed Mar 13, 2019 · Transmission · 14,380 miles · IN

Transmission clutch slips, car stutters on accelerations, clunky sound. (google it) well known problem with these cars, ford is aware, but been to dealers twice, they won't fix, because ford won't pay! Dangerous if car stutters & you need to go!

Filed Jul 6, 2018 · Transmission · 23,300 miles · MO

My 2017 ford focus se has a really bad hesitation when shifting through gears, it will roll backwards on hills after coming to a complete stop. Very horrible shuddering and vibration in front end. Clunking and chattering when driving. Slow response when accelerating. I feel like my car has to search for the gear sometimes. Rpm will rise and lower weirdly when shifting. There is no recall on this particular model and year yet but I think there should be just like the older focus's. This was all in motion under normal driving conditions. I've tried taking to dealer but they say no recall yet!!!! It has been happening for quite some time, feels to get worse.

Filed Apr 23, 2018 · Transmission · 5,000 miles · IN

2017 ford focus shudders and clunks when accelerating from a stop. Car shudders so hard that it feels like transmission is falling out of car. Took it back to bill estes ford where I purchased car at 5000 miles and they kept it for two days and said it was normal and operating within specifications. Car continued shuddering problems and then I took it to tom wood ford and was told it was normal and to just keep driving it. Then took it to don hinds ford and was told there was nothing they could do because all focus models have the problem. I then took it to pearson ford with about 10,000 miles on it and they reprogrammed the learning module. I was told again that they all focus have the problem and their options to fix it is limited by ford corporate. Car continued to shudder and clunk on accelerating. Took it back to pearson ford with 13000 miles and they reprogrammed transmission control, PCM and adaptive learning module. Car shuddering was less for about 4 days. Now with 15000 miles the shuddering and clunking is worse than ever and shuddering is occurring at accelerating from a stop or while accelerating at highway speed. The problem seems to be that the dealers are being told by ford corporate to say it's normal to shudder and clunk. Class action suit for ford focus transmission/clutch problems did not include 2017 models only up to 2016 even though the 2017 models have the same transmission/clutch.

Filed Mar 23, 2018 · Acceleration, Transmission · 5,900 miles · MD

Stopped at traffic signal, began acceleration and vehicle became sluggish and clunky, revved high and would not shift properly. Shifted in and out of gear with periods of prolonged hesitation. Transmission fault service now warning sound and display. Came to a stop at the next signal and car lurched forward in several jumping motions and was difficult to control before coming to a complete stop. Car has 5900 miles when this occurred. Car towed to dealer where purchased, service "cleared codes, performed adaptive learn and test drive, code p2701-TCM states to remove clutch and inspect for wear" which was not done. Service found vehicle now is "operating as designed" at this time. If code returns tech will remove clutch for further diagnosis. Picked up vehicle and within 20 miles driving same code returned and symptoms were worse than 1st time, now with 5980 miles on vehicle. The vehicle was in motion when these problems occurred and was very dangerous while driving as there was no control over acceleration, shifting or stopping. Vehicle was towed back to the dealership for service at time of writing this description.