Automatic Transmission Torque Converter problems of the 2013 Ford Focus

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. The transmission warning light then became illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the tcm failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the tcm and catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the clutch failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 144,247.

While driving 40 mph behind a pickup truck, I came over the top of a hill and down to bottom where road is flat and was able to pass the truck. I slowed down to 30 mph when attempting to make the pass (I had my foot off gas and brake both). I could start the pass without pushing on gas at this time. I was beside the truck when I started pushing on gas to speed up then instead of up shifting, the rpms went up and acted like I was in neutral. I kept letting off gas and slowly pushing on gas. The truck ended up stopping in the road behind me. I almost had to stop with foot off gas till the transmission caught and I was fine the rest of the way home. This was not the first time it happened but this was the first time that it affected another driver and could have caused an accident. Luckily for me, the driver stopped and gave me the room to slow way down. Reading in the book from car says when foot of gas it shuts gas flow of for fuel economy. Saving money on gas is not worth getting in an accident. It looks like the torque converter clutch did not unlock to allow fuel to flow. I have only got 28,643 miles on this Ford Focus and I am not happy with this problem.

After purchasing this vehicle in 2013 we found out the transmission does not have a torque converter. Therefore, the transmission shakes, makes noises, and seems to grab, feeling like the vehicle might stall although it never has. We have had it in to the local Ford dealer two times and both times we were told that the transmission is "within specs". The vehicle seems to be better when the vehicle is cool. Once it warms up the issues seem to occur regularly when driven on city streets. We were told at the car dealership that one half of these models for this year vehicle have transmissions like this. The other half of vehicles have regular transmission that have torque converters.

My performance concern started within the first week of ownership. I had reported what I perceived as a performance issue to the dealer but opted to give a new car time to "break in". 4 weeks into my owner experience, the service department held and drove the car for 5 days and had determined that a transmission component was the cause of the issue I was experiencing. I now have over 10k miles on the vehicle and have had the same experience. The service department has since told me that the rough idle in park or in gear with brake applied is the result of the "direct injection" technology used in this vehicle. The hesitation experienced during 0 to >0 acceleration (gradual or hard) is also the result of the "direct injection" technology coupled with electronic clutch technology used in place of a torque converter. This combination has yielded numerous "almost stalled" conditions during normal driving manuvers including acceleration during the completion of a left turn crossing oncoming lanes of traffic. I raise this concern as I understand there is an investigation of f150 vehicles with "direct injection" technology as a potential cause for the loss of power. My experience with the Ford Focus has not resulted in an accident. My goal is to raise awareness to a similar condition from the same manufacturer utilizing the same technology. I also have a second vehicle (1fadp3f20dl206792) that is leased and has the same performance issue described above.