Automatic Transmission Control Module problems of the 2011 Ford Fiesta - part 2

Driving on interstate 75 in the middle lane at 70 mph my tcm malfunctioned, I knew this because of the customer satisfaction program 14m02 that I received in February 2015. My car abruptly had no power. I feared for my life because I had semi trucks and vehicles coming up behind me at very high speed and I had no power to my vehicle. I had to coast over one lane as safely as possible to the shoulder to safety. I am very thankful me or my family was not in a serious accident. The park and drive symbols on the dash were flashing between p and d and the engine light kept flashing. I turned off my car and called my brother. He said to see if it starts. It did after several tries. I then turned on my hazards and drove to the next exit which was within 200 ft. I got off the highway and took the back roads home. I got within 4 blocks of my home and it did it again, lost power. Let it sit a minute and turned it on again, and pulled into my residence. The next morning I drove the side streets to the dealer but made a stop. Came back out to my car and the vehicle would not start. Called the dealer and they sent a tow truck but I had to wait 1 hour for the truck to arrive. This is a very dangerous situation with the tcm. A very serious problem is since it's not a recall you do not have the option to have it fixed before you're put into a dangerous situation. You have to wait until you have problems before Ford's will fix the tcm. Ford did replace the malfunctioning tcm on my car. A recall needs to replace the customer satisfaction program 14m02, this is a very dangerous and life threatening problem.

In Feb. Of 2015 I received a letter from Ford motor CO. About the transmission control module. The "notice" said my car may experience intermittent symptoms of lose of power while driving,no-start,or a lack of power, among a few other things. When I called a Ford dealer. . . I was basically treated like a stupid old woman and when I ask what I should do, I was told drive it until it happens!. Well, it happened! 5 months later my car stalled, the motor kept running, the car just would not go, I was lucky I had time to get to the side of the road before I was rear-ended. Ford did "fix" my car. Today, 3 months later, my car stalled on a very busy high, 18 wheeler right behind me and once again I was able to quickly turn into a parking lot. Now they have my car and it will take 3 months, that's right 3 months to "fix" it! I'm very happy to be alive to report this. I'm very happy I get to see my family again. Thanks Ford for almost taking my life twice!!!! why is this not a recall!!!!!!! let's not forget about the people I could've died with today. I'm so mad. How can Ford get away with this. Who will die today, tonight or tomorrow because of this? better pray it's not your family member or mine!.

There were two incidents where car lost all power while travelling at 35 and 50 mph, the check engine light came on, the transmission dashboard indicator flashed from p to d back and forth. When restarting and idling, the engine shuddered. After the first incident (5/29), Ford dealership reprogrammed the transmission control module. After the second incident (6/13), two weeks later, the dealership replaced the clutch and the transmission control module (tcm).

While parked with the vehicle running (about 30 minutes in 87 degree weather with the ac on), the transmission felt like it tried to go into drive and rocked forward slightly. I looked at the dash and the check engine light came on. I tested the vehicle and it seemed road worthy enough to try and get home. When driving home and stopped at a stop light, the car's display for park, neutral, reverse, drive, started quickly flashing between drive and park. I could not accelerate the vehicle while this was going on. I placed the vehicle in park, and then met fairly heavy resistance putting it back into drive. After a few seconds of flashing between drive and park, it stopped and I was able to drive again. The same thing happened a few minutes later while I was about to turn into the Ford dealership. This time I tried turning off the vehicle to see if that would remedy the issue. I was unable to start the vehicle for a minute or two after because it was acting as if I was in drive (or the fast park / drive flutter) and trying to start it. It's been two days, yet I haven't heard back from the dealership on what this problem is. I did receive a recall notice that spells out the exact symptoms that I had, yet the mechanic has twice said it is very unlikely that the recall part, the tcm or transmission control module (which is back ordered six weeks), is the actual problem.

Issues with car weak performance, car shuddering, grinding noises in engine, stalling when brake is pressed while in drive gear, car lunging forward and not wanting to engage, not wanting to go after a complete stop, not engaging in reverse, and engine light coming on randomly. Almost rear ended by a car behind me came to a screeching stop because of the hesitation to engage in first gear. Took the car to a Ford dealer and was told that I would have to pay a diagnosis fee. Because if it did not test at a certain level of performance the dealer would not pay for the testing or repair. I stated I had a customer satisfaction program 12mo1 letter for the clutch assembly and they said it did not matter. I left the dealer very upset and dissatisfied. Drove the car and the symptoms worsened. I got into my car one day and the car would not engage in reverse. Luckily on was parked on an incline and coasted out of the parking spot. Drove the car to the dealer and they did not have the new clutch assembly in stock. I then asked for a rental until the car was repaired because I felt it was very unsafe to drive my daughter in with the problems it was having, I was told no. So I was forced to drive this car with these problems for a week until the Ford dealer received the new clutch assembly. This car is a very dangerous vehicle to have on the road not only for those driving the vehicle but also for those car that drive behind these cars. Ford absolutely knows they have a major issue with the dual clutch system. Regular clutches are controlled hydraulically but these dual clutches are control electronically by the tcm which has a customer satisfaction program 14m01 that Ford has sent out. Between the leaking transmissions seal corrupting the clutch and the tcm failing that controls the clutch that is a double jeopardy situation. This is a very dangerous car to have on the roads.

Vehicle suddenly began to alternately surge and experience loss of power while driving, slipping badly between gears. Service engine light came on. From a stop, the vehicle nearly stalled when accelerator was depressed. Ford dealership stated engine code indicated a bad clutch actuator. This is a cvt automatic transmission and there are several tsbs on this transmission for a variety of problems with the tcm/pcm, clutch plates, clutch actuators, and seals. Ford has extended the warranty for these transmissions but is apparently only fixing the obvious problem at time of breakdown instead of replacing all known defective parts. The driving characteristics when one of these parts fail is dangerous, causing the car to shudder, jerk, experience loss of power when shifting, or experiencing sudden throttle surges. All know problem parts should be replaced. A recall is in order.

While driving, vehicle shudders and hesitates when accelerating. Lurches forward at times when stopped. Bucks while shifting (transmission is their powershift automatic). One time the transmission completely disengaged while driving on the parkway during a snowstorm, leaving in a very dangerous position. Had to turn the car off and on several times to get transmission to "reset". At times, when releasing brake from stationary position, car would shudder even before applying the throttle. Transmission control module has been changed out twice in the last 15 months of purchasing the car from the dealer as "certified pre-owned". Last tcm change, the car had same issues as soon as I left service department. Called service adviser as soon as I got home and he said I had to drive the vehicle 1000-12000 miles for the transmission to "get used to the way I drive". Needless to say, after 2000 miles, there has been no change in condition. Taking vehicle back for the 5th time for continued problems. I have recently inquired about a class action law suit against Ford motor company being filed in CA regarding these same issues from other Ford Fiesta owners.

Got my car new 2012 it is a 2011 had service work mostly oil change tire rotation ect in 12-31-14 had to take it in sounded like it was flying apart when you drive jerked when you tried to take off felt like you were driving on rocky road speed bumps they installed seals for leak clean clutch and perf test drive upload shudder to hotline for clutch appv installed new clutch and seals/repro pcm/tcm and perf trans adaptive relearn perf test drive vec hotline appv paaxr this done ok for a bit took back in oct 2015 same problem jerking and sounds like it falling apart also had recall on door lock went back to get it I am very unhappy with car still have the problem they have to order parts as of today Nov 6 2015 had to be towed wont even crank and wont come out of gear dont buy one not sure what can be done but I feel like they should have to buy car back thats a lot of money and its hardley over the 36 000 miles. Not a happy buyer the dealership has been very nice but says that they dont know how to fix the problem but the makers wont tell you that so sorry car Ford buy them back .

My car has malfunctioned and been "repaired" three times. Each time the car malfunctioned, the gas pedal stopped working and the car began to slow. The gear indicator light switched from d to p and back again, over and over. The check engine light started blinking and later turned solidly on. Since it was just coasting, I had to pull over the car and in each case I was lucky enough to be in an area with a decent breakdown lane. At one point when the mechanics were pulling the vehicle into a bay, it started doing this and the reverse lights also started blinking. In addition, it jerked back into drive, jumping forward. Thankfully no one was close to it. So far the repairs have included an ignition coil pack, spark plugs and wires, replacing two bolts and reprogramming, and replacing the transmission control module for a grand total of over $2,000.

Car made horrible grinding noise, lost power and went into neutral while driving down highway at 55 mph. Luckily there was a place to pull off the road before I was creamed by a semi truck. Turned car off and back on, check engine light came on, car would not start. Let sit for 10 mins or so, finally got car started, drove straight to dealership. They said it needed a new transmission control module. Been waiting for over a month for one as there are 3000+ on back order. This is a huge safety concern and I do not understand why there is not a recall for these transmissions!!!! I've been without transportation to work for over a month and have had to bum rides from friends and family.

I was driving home at around 55 mph when the car shifted out of drive and into neutral. I was able to pull over on the side of the road. I tried putting the car in park but it would not go, kept going back and forth into different gears. Finally got the car in park and turned the engine off. When I turned engine back on, and tried to put it in gear, made a clicking noise and would not engage into a gear. Finally after about 10 minutes of waiting, car finally clicked into gear. Two days later my wife was driving the car. She was only going about 25 mph when it did the same thing, however she wasn't able to pull over to the side of the road and was almost rear ended with 2 kids in the car. I had to go pick her up. The car was doing the same thing it had to me 2 days prior, however this time it took much longer for a gear to engage. I took the car down to autozone to see if any codes appeared on their computer, but there were none. I had done some research on this transmission and read multiple posts on tranny problems but no recall or fixes. The following day I took it for a drive to see if I could figure out when the problem happens so that I could get it into the shop. The car did the same thing 3 different times within a 10 mile span, each time taking longer to engage in a gear. Finally the check engine light came on and once again I took it to autozone and the code read: p06b8 indicating a pcm problem. I am now currently waiting to get it into the shop to have this fixed, however I feel this is a huge safety factor. My wife and kids could have been seriously injured had they been driving at faster speeds and were not able to pull over. The car literally goes out of gear while you are driving it and all different speeds. Serious safety hazard!!!.

On, 04/08/14, my car was losing acceleration as I was driving 45 mph on a major road. The acceleration slowed and eventually completely stopped in the middle of the road. The gear display was flashing from p to d, over and over. I towed my car to cal worthington Ford of anchorage. They called me on 04/11/14- verified cel. Self test =p06b8, p0884, ran oasis=found TSB 13-11-2. And they reprogrammed pcm, tcm and performed transmission clutch adaptive learn, clear codes and retest=pass. I picked up my car and 3 days later 04/14/14, my car experienced the same symptoms on on 04/08/14. My car could not accelerate and stalled in traffic on a major highway. The gear dispay was flashing again p to d, over and over. I towed my cr back to cal worthington Ford. After having my car over a month, on 05/09/14 it was ready. They replaced the clutch supposedly but I did not receive any paperwork saying so. On 05/13/14, the acceleration shlowed and the gear display switching from d, p, r, l over and over. I towed it back to cal worthington and they had my car until 05/21/14. Self test=p06b8, tested charging system and batt= batt pass end charges at 14. 3v constant, no updates avail. Cleared code and retest =p06b8 comes back. Replace pcm, programmed pcm, keys and preformed trans clutch adaptive strategy. Clear code and retest=pass. Tert drive = run and drives fine, no light. Next day, my engine stopped on my street, gear display flashing d,p,r,l over and over. Towed back to cal worthington and they had my car until 06/05/14. I do not have the paperwork for that repair.

Engine mil turned on after car was started, driving was fine at speeds under 45mph. Once over 45mph the vehicle started to shake violently. The engine code indicated that it was the natural vacuum leak detection (nvld) service kit, that had failed or a fuse in the fuse box. The vehicle was turned into a dealership and the part replaced, the engine mil turned back on before I claimed the vehicle and has been sitting with the dealer for 4 days, as they have no idea how to fix the car. This sensor failing is a known issue on this vehicle as there is a technical service bulletin dated Feb 13, 2013, this replaced a previous bulletin dated may 21, 2011. This sensor failing is dangerous and has been an issue since 2011. And it seems that there is no real fix, at least with my vehicle. The wording in the TSB states "some 2011 Fiesta vehicles may exhibit a malfunction indicator lamp (mil) with diagnostic trouble code (dtc) u029f set in the powertrain control module (pcm) and/or a no crank condition with no communication with the pcm. " this leads me to believe that the engine could fail at anytime with this code, creating a hazardous condition especially if traveling on the freeway when the mil comes on and the part fails. This is a wide spread issue based on the abundance of forums and internet posts discussing this exact engine code, and the various symptoms associated with it.

On 29 may, 2013 my family and I were driving on the highway when the car stalled. The rpms went up and the car just kept losing speed until it would no longer go with no trouble lights, which it gave the impression the car had slipped into neutral. A tow truck came and brought the car to the nearest Ford dealership. The dealership service representative started the car as soon as it arrived and it started up right away and stated since there were no trouble lights that they could not properly diagnose the car so they returned the car to us. On 5 June, 2013 my family and I were driving on the highway when it stalled again, but we turned off the car and let it sit, then restarted it and it was able to make it to another Ford dealership where they did an inspection. They drove the vehicle for 27 miles and could not recreate the issue and no trouble codes were present so they could not diagnose it. They gave us back our car and on our way home it stalled four more times nearly causing accidents with a semi-truck. It was brought back to the first Ford dealership where it was kept from the 7th-11th. The problem could not be created and the car was released back. On the way home it stalled again. On the 14th it stalled again while waiting at the right turn lane at an intersection and I brought it to the dealership where it was kept from the 14th-19th for further diagnosis. They were finally able to get a code that required the powertrain control module (pcm) to be updated and recalibrated. On the 20th it would not start and a tow truck was called and they gave it a jump start. I then took it to auto zone and the battery tested fine and the dealership later had the same results. A pen light tester showed power was being drained from the battery. The car stalled again on the 22nd requiring it to be pushed off the road twice. Now the dealership says the battery is bad. Recall?.

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. While driving 20 mph, various warning lights illuminated and the vehicle came to a complete stop. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the automatic transmission control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 28,000.

While accelerating to get on the highway, the car lost power and I had to coast to the shoulder. Turning the car off and restarting it got it to re-engage the transmission again. The dealership told me that it is a bad transmission, that I was loosing one of the clutches (this is an automatic, dual-clutch transmission). While Ford offered me $600 off a new transmission, I didn't have the money to put a new transmission in, and I continued to drive the car. On March 4th, while driving about 40 mph in town, the car again lost power. I coasted to the shoulder, parked the car and attempted to restart it. This time it would not start and could not be shifted out of park. After about an hour, the car made some mysterious clicking sounds and I was able to drive the car to the dealership. The dealership could not determine the problem, but decided to reprogram the transmission control module with an update. Exactly a week later (March 11th), the car lost power while at a stop light, leaving me stranded in the middle lane of a 3-lane major city road at rush hour. I put it in neutral and pushed the car out of the street. Once again, it refused to restart and once I placed it in park, the transmission was stuck there. It never did recover and had to be dragged onto the tow truck bed. This time the dealership tells me that not only are the transmission clutch plates bad, but now the transmission control module is also done. The car has 92,000 miles on it now, the majority of which (85% or so) are highway miles (I live over 70 miles from where I work). I am waiting for a new transmission to come from the factory. I was told yesterday (3/20/2013) that the transmission is on backorder. I can only conclude that either the new transmissions are being retooled before being released, or there are so many faulty transmissions, they can't keep up with the demand.

This transmission bucks, shakes, and at time falls completely down on quick acceleration. Upon acceleration it just comes out of gear, and rev the engine. It is has been rebuilt several times, flashed tcm's at $120 a pop, but it is so dangerous it needs to be crushed. This model also has a poorly engineered negative ground wire that has cost time and money hunting 'ghost' sensor problems related to the transmission and engine. Drive this car as the evidence of failure! as a responsible owner I'm hoping it will not go to another victim.

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. While driving between 35-45 mph, the vehicle jerked and would not accelerate properly. There was also a metal on metal sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission control module failed. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 4,000.

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. The contact stated that while driving at 30 mph, the vehicle shutters and hesitates as if it were to stall while the accelerator pedal was being depressed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the tcm module failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,600.

Transmission shift erraticly when slowing down or while driving in heavily congested traffic. Sometimes it will make vehicle lunge forward with very light fuel pedal application. Transmission is also making an audible "clunk" when this happens. Maybe a pcm re flash could correct the problem? this has been an ongoing issue since day one starting in December 2010.

At crossroads Ford,prince george,virginia: this 2011 Ford Fiesta. . . Service engine soon light came on. . Dealership checked car TSB(power train central module-for transmission) only re-set/re-programmed transmission computer. (April 25,2011. On November 4,2011. . . I took vehicle back to morganton n. C. Ford dealership. . My Fiesta would not start and after 4 attempts to start the car it hesitated and started it jerked and sounded like it was badly missing. . . . When driven to dealership the vehicle service engine light came on. . . It would not shift gears properly and the rpms went to 3000rpms before shifting into any gear. Dealership stated vehicle didn't have a problem and again re-programmed and up-dated the transmission computer. I was very upset. In December 22,2011: transmission gears not shifting properly. I took vehicle to local morganton,n. C. Ford dealership. . . They tested the pcm. . It passed. Tested tcm passed all controls. Then tried to tell me. . . It was only a low-battery problem. . . But had to re-set the transmission computer a third time. Then on February 25,2012. . . Fiesta hatch-back lock would not lock to stay shut. I promptly took vehicle to morganton,n. C. Ford dealership and the car is still there to be repaired and a part is on order. To fix this lock. I was given a rental vehicle. I intend to sue Ford motor corp via n. Carolina lemon law I am a very-dissatisfied customer>. . My car is a piece of crap.

Occasional clunking noises when starting and slow to crank. After starting car, it refused to engage in any gear--either reverse or drive. Turned car off, re-started and was then able to find a gear. This happened on numerous occasions. Would try to reverse or drive and it would rev like it was in neutral. Lacked power on hills and avg. Mpg dropped. Check engine light came on. Dealer service department diagnosed it as a defective transmission control module (tcm). Ordered part and replaced today. This seems to have completely fixed the problem. Runs great now, with much more power and better gas mileage than since the first day I drove it off the dealer lot.

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. While driving approximately 65 mph, the engine began to roar and the vehicle exhibited an abnormal clicking before stalling. The engine warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel during the failure. The vehicle restarted after repeated attempts. In addition, the contact stated that when driving at various speeds, the transmission would exhibit hesitation. On a separate occasion the gear was shifted into drive when the transmission failed to operate. The failures recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer four times for the failure. The tcm and pcm modules were replaced and later, the computer system was updated. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 85. Updated 10/17/lj the consumer stated the vehicle would not move forward. The dealer replaced a cable. Eight months later, the check engine light illuminated. On another occasion, the vehicle would not start and when it did start it would stall, or just rev. The transmission module was replaced. Updated 10/18/12.