general problems of the 2014 Ford Focus - part 1

Here’s an overview of the transmission issues with the 2014 Ford Focus — and how many owners feel Ford motor company has repeatedly failed to properly fix them. ?? what’s wrong with the transmission the 2014 Focus (and many models 2012–2016) came with a dual-clutch automatic transmission system (powershift transmission). That system used “dry” clutches — rather than a traditional, fluid-cooled torque-converter — which turned out to be a flawed design in real-world use. Dry clutches tend to overheat, wear out prematurely, slip, and fail, especially under common driving conditions. [xxx] +2 [xxx] +2 as a result, owners of 2014 Focus vehicles reported a long list of recurring symptoms: rough or jerky shifting, shuddering when accelerating from a stop, slipping gears, delayed or harsh gear changes, grinding or clunking noises, hesitation before accelerating (especially dangerous when merging or pulling out), and in some cases failure to shift properly or unexpected behavior like popping out of gear. [xxx] + [xxx] m + [xxx] m +3 for many drivers, these issues didn’t appear once — but kept happening repeatedly. In some cases, transmission control modules (tcms) were replaced; in others, clutch/seal assemblies were replaced. Yet—even after repairs—the problems often resurfaced. Ford transmission settlement +2 carcomplaints +2 some complaints describe serious safety and reliability concerns: jerky or unpredictable acceleration or deceleration, failure to downshift when braking (in one complaint the car “lurch[ed] forward into intersections at red lights”), slipping unexpectedly — all of which pose danger to drivers, passengers, and others. [xxx] +2 ?? why many owners and lawsuits say there was a systemic defect according to class-action complaints, the problem isn’t just “bad luck” — it stems from fundamental design, manufacturing, and programming flaws in the powershift transmission. The dry- information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I keep getting denied for warranty tcm had the code I did a report after it was I would be covered had proof of the codes and deny me for another service that’s under warranty pretty much just take my money send me out the way and then I get stuck on the highway from the problem in having to fix it myself.

I’m pretty sure the tcm went out because the check engine light is on and it is shuddering and losing power randomly. Also will not go into reverse unless I shut car off.

On June 10th 2025 the engine light came on in my 2014 Ford Focus and I lost transmission function. The car was slipping out of gear, completely losing power and speed between first & second gear and third & fourth gear. I pulled into traffic before realizing the issue and almost got hit by two oncoming vehicles - one locked up their brakes to avoid hitting me, the other swerved into another lane which thankfully was empty. Slowing down was difficult, it was very hard to stop and I lost reverse gear. The overall driving experience was very rough and jerky. Driving 3 miles home I almost got rear ended two times due to loss of power between first & second gear. Driving 6 miles to the Ford dealership I almost got rear ended 1 time & 1 time I could not completely stop until I was halfway into a busy intersection. I had no ability to backup and traffic was completely blocked in one direction until I was able to safely cross the other 3 lanes of the intersection on a red light!! prior to this incident & since I bought the car with 12,000 miles in 2020, it always had rough transitions between gears & sputtering/brief loss of power when accelerating from stopped. I formerly had a 2013 Ford Focus which had these same issues so I figured that’s just how these cars drive with the powershift dual clutch transmission. I had no idea that I should have been extremely concerned about the hard shifts & sputtering. I never received a single customer satisfaction program letter from Ford about the clutch, leaking seals, or tcm warranty extensions and issues. If I had I would have brought my car in for service a long time ago. I am disappointed & dismayed that a recall has not been forced by the NHTSA. Ford has gotten away with putting unsafe vehicles on the road with little to no accountability. I, and dozens of others, could have been killed or severely injured while I was on the road in this unsafe car.

I have a 2014 Ford Focus. For years, the car has been shaking when I slow down and speed up. I never really cared because it got me from point a to point b. But now it stalls and won't shift gears unless I go to high rpms. The check engine light is on and a mechanic told me the transmission needs replaced. I have a dps6 transmission and discovered that it is part of the class action lawsuit and extended warranty. I called Ford and they told me to write a letter to their office of general counsel. I am worried that is a stall tactic so I want to report it here. I no longer feel safe driving this vehicle.

My car rpm get stuck on 3 and begin to jerk while driving on the highway.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 15 mph and while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The contact stated that a dealer was contacted. The contact was informed that a driver from Ford valet service drove the vehicle to the dealer for the vehicle to be diagnosed; however, the contact was unaware of the diagnostic result. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.

Unknown, the car refused to turn on one day and then started up again once I popped the hood. The car refused to go into reverse, I tried some reboot steps and the car started driving like normal, drove the car all the way from nv to nv, husbands new military station, took the car to the Ford dealership and they assessed it was the tcm and that the car would be fine to drive again but they recommend another part for up keep, as soon as they replaced the clutch aculators the car started to have more issues than before letting me know it's worse than they thought something about the engine going out and they mentioned its why Ford discontinued the dual clutch engine bc it was failing.

Vehicle engine hesitates, runs rough and stalls at low speeds between 1st and 2nd gear. The passenger door latch isn't working properly and the door sticks and is unable to be properly opened from the inside of the vehicle. The vehicle was inspected (diagnosed) by virginia tire and auto who found no codes and that the transmission is not the issue and advised during the call that there was an "open recalls" on the vehicle for these issues and to take it to Ford. I received a letter in the mail from Ford for this exact issue prior to me even setting up an appointment since I am the vehicles new owner. The vehicle is now with Ford and once driven (I was told that they did test drive the vehicle although its not stated on the receipt) are able to replicate the issue since you only need to push the gas pedal (every time you press the gas) to discover these issues but have refused to fix the issue because there are no codes/indicator lights on the dashboard even though the issue is easily replicated and is the exact recall issue. I was told that the door latch was working (its not) despite the open recall on NHTSA for the latch and I was told that their sssc (special service support center) was called for approval however my understanding from Ford customer support is that when you call the sssc its a simple yes or no question. If the issue is able to be replicated when driven the answer should be yes there is a problem, so that they can get approval to proceed. However my ticket/receipt from Ford does not state any of the above. They want me to pay for another diagnosis, $200 because there is no code/indicator light. If the issues are able to be replicated and are on Fords customer satisfaction program 24n07 they should be fixing the issue. This is a major safety issue and the vehicle should not be driven in this condition as well as I should not have to pay Ford to fix a recall (multiple recalls) which they have refused to fix, stating no repair per recall.

This tcm issue is a known issue with Ford. They issued recalls on this in 2015 and 2017 and extending the coverage in 2023. Please put this on the recall list as it has affected many people.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and then decelerated independently, surging several times before returning to normal functionality. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the clutch. The contact was informed that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to customer satisfaction program: 19n08. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 84,000.

The vehicle is a 2014 Ford Focus equipped with a powershift dual-clutch transmission-named dsp6. The vehicle exhibits a faulty automatic transmission/shift malfunction and is unable to shift properly; causing intermittent engine deceleration coming to a stop; this indicates there is a shift malfunction and a faulty transmission. This problem has been confirmed by the dealer.

Transmission programming recall, clutch recall, fuel cap recall and many more recalls were not performed at Ford dealership! had to pay out of pocket at dealer for “labor” task was never performed at dealer for all recalls!.

I know it’s the transmission because it gears just goes and the car doesn’t go anywhere. Now I have my car parked.

Car jerking and started to not move forward when step on gas pedal then had to pull over and stop car. Was on local road. Brought car to dealer and they found it was due to tcm mail notice saying this car year / model needs replacement, but they have ordered parts 6 months ago and none has been received nor do they know when they will receive. This would be covered by Ford. Dealer also said clutch needs to be fixed, around $5,000, which dealer will not pay, we will need to pay. Dealer did not provide paperwork. My car is only 9 years old, 30,000 miles, and dealer warned us not to drive car till the 2 problems are fixed because they are unsure when car is going to suddenly be volatile and cause major unknown problems.

I was driving the 2014 Ford Focus and it slipped out of gear no warning lights when accelerating only rpm’s would go up the vehicle still out of gear I immediately put on my flashers and pulled to the side of the highway with cars going by and the vehicle would restart no go in or out of gear. I had it towed to the nearest dealership after pulling over and turning car off after I turned key back on the engine light was on red and stated transmission fault, repair immediately. It was very dangerous situation I was in four lanes of traffic doing 65 mph when the vehicle slipped out of gear with no acceleration. It completely stalled at 65 mph.

The rpm of the car all of a sudden felt like it was being forced just to accelerate. When I get to certain velocity the cars rpm shuts up and then come down again. After that it started saying that the transmission was getting over heated and that I needed to stop safely.

Transmission control module faulted out. In 2018 a recall for the dual powershift clutch was repaired, now the tcm faulted out in the car while I was driving, I had an infant in the car and it died in the middle of a busy highway almost causing us to crash! I had to be towed, I called Ford motor company to be told it was not under recall, only to find out that in fact it is, and their in a lawsuit currently for these problems. I work 2 jobs, latham Ford refused to even look at my vehicle for 2 months, I work, I cannot go without a car. The tcm is currently on a national backorder for thousands of people. I had no means of transportation for an entire month, it cost me hundreds of dollars for taxis and ubers. I found a replacement part on my own and had it installed yesterday. The manufacturer stated in the description, that the part was already programmed, it was not. It was misrepresented, and it cost me an extra $400. 00 to have it programmed, and also the software needed to be updated to clear error codes in the tcm for it to be relearned. So far im out about 2 thousand dollars for a known manufacturing issue that could have ended fatal. I want to be reimbursed for every dime I spent, and the inconvienience! I have reciepts for the part and labor! I will never buy a Ford product again after this. I could have died, along with my passenger. Something needs to be done!.

My car keep stalling while driving on the freeway with my daughter in the car skipping and jerking than it slow speed down extremely low no pressure at all very dangerous.

On January 14, 2022, at approximately 5:20 p. M. My wife was traveling southbound on pleasant hill road in lafayette, California towards the freeway entrance when the Ford Focus electric she was driving displayed a stop safely now message and almost immediately thereafter lost motive power at the busiest intersection in the city of lafayette. She was able to steer the car to the shoulder since she was in the right hand lane. The vehicle would not move and the steering wheel locked up. She called for assistance and I drove down and exchanged cars with her within approximately 15 minutes. After approximately 10 minutes of trying, I was able to get the vehicle to turn off and to turn on again without the stop safely now warning and was able to return the approximately 1. 5 miles to our residence. The sudden unexpected loss of motive power and loss of ability to accelerate is extremely dangerous and frightening and that danger can be extreme when traveling on roads without shoulders or in any lane except the right lane on a freeway.

The components and systems that failed are my engine and gas tank, they both are available for inspection upon request. My safety was put at risk, approximately two minutes before my vehicle slowed down enough to stop my brakes wouldn't work. Yes I have called the dealership and the problems that the representative listed explaining a recall; is what I have been experiencing with my vehicle. Yes, 6/15/2022 the day after my engine failed my car was diagnosed by all 4 u auto and he confirmed that the engine had blown and along with the gasoline tank both needed replacements. No, there were no warning lamps nor messages prompting alerts of my vehicle. There were several symptoms of the problem prior to the failure that occurred before and after the Ford recall; 18s32. I completed the recall fuel tank deformation 1/3/2019. I am still experiencing issues with my gas tank, which are listed on the official Ford website. I can only pump approximately 80 miles worth of gas or 1/4 full worth of gas. If I pump anymore the vehicle will stall and require for me to restart it multiple times 2 - 10, the more I "over pump" the more I will have to restart and longer it will stall. During pumping even 1/4 worth of gas my entire vehicle will shake and make a loud sound, and with re cranking causing engine malfunction. The website mentions; "owners are advised to maintain at least a half tank of fuel until their vehicle is serviced for this issue. " although I can only pump 1/4 full worth of gas at a time. Another issue is I cannot leave the vehicle idle over 5 minutes, even when in traffic if I do not keep driving up 6 inches every five minutes it will turn off. This problem has negatively affected my battery, on a few occasions leaving the vehicle idle has caused my battery to need to be recharged and replaced. Lastly the vehicle does exactly what the recall mentions; "inaccurate fuel gauge readings". While pumping gas the mileage on the dashboard sometimes does not increase.

When driving the car will just shut itself down. We took the car to a Ford dealership in sterling colorado in October of 2021 and was told that there was a recall on the electronic control module, transmission control module and that due to covid it would take up to 8 months for the part to come in. When we contacted the dealership at the end of the 8 month wait they stated that they couldn’t repair the car to take it to a different dealership in wray colorado . We were again told that it could take several months to get the part in, we waited for several months for the part and it still didn’t come in. We contacted Ford about the issue and they told us to take the car back to the first dealership and have them put it on the computer just to confirm that it was the electronic control module, transmission control module and it would be taken care of. We did that and now Ford is telling us that they won’t fix the car because they can’t get the part, they want us to pay for a new transmission at the tune of $8000. 00 and said that since the car was over 80,000 miles and out of the original warranty they won’t cover the repair for a new transmission. The dealership said the only way to fix the car is to have a new transmission control module or a new transmission. The recall on the transmission module covers the car up to 150,000 miles and our car has under 127,000 miles on it. We have tried since 2021 to get this taken care of.

When I accelerate it keep stalling, speed won't change it takes like 10 seconds to pick up speed.

Transmission doesn't work correctly.

Ford dealership would not repair my transmission control module/ shudder even though it is covered under warranty, because "it had not failed bad enough yet". They are aware of the issue and said the part was failing. If the part had not failed bad enough yet, then I would be responsible for the fees.

The car want start it will turn on then when trying to go the car stalls out and the car keeps acclerating. It reads engine failure and I havent even had this car two years yet and aint even finish paying I off. I had to get tolled off the highway with my kids do to the car want start and when got it home it started but keeps accelerating. I need this car to get checked or something this is unsafe for my toddlers when I have to use that vehicle to get back and forth to work and take my kids to daycare. . What am I suppose to do with a vehicle im still paying on and want start. I have been researching and seen that multiple people been having problems with there Ford Focus the same problems im having.

Back at the end of June, first part of July I had a check engine light on and then the next day it was off but some stupid "my key came on and not it regulates my speed and volume. I am not paying over $200 to have it removed. But the most important thing is the clutch on my transmission is out and Ford won't replace it for free and I dont have the money to fix it. I believe Ford should fix it for free since they can't build good transmissions.

My dps6 transmission again had a severe shuddering incident when pulling out into 55 mph rush hour traffic on a 6-lane highway. After the shudder discontinued and speed was increased to approximately 50 mph, while attempting to navigate into another lane, I had a significant loss of power after engaging the accelerator to the floor with zero response from the transmission. Due to this defect, my vehicle was struck in the rear by an oncoming vehicle.

My car jerks when I stop and start. Had sparks plugs replaced becsuse I thought they were day. It will not back up when engine light comes on. When going up hills it seem to hesitate on switch gears. Car cuts of at times when driving and had to get coolant and heater hose replaced. When engine light is on sometimes the car will not start.

While driving on highway my rpm will fluctuate up and down. Rpm's will raise high while my speed doesn't increase. My steering wheel pulls to the left. Car wants to stall periodically. It has a hard idol.

The car slipped to neutral without any warning while driving 65 mph. I was lucky that no one was behind me or I would have got rear ended and get killed or maybe the other driver would have been killed.

The vehicle was purchased on August 11, 2019 from ourisman Chrysler Dodge Jeep ram of bowie. A few days after, I started noticing issues with acceleration, deceleration, and fuel gauge issues with the vehicle. I went back to the dealership and I was told that fixing the fuel tank recall and transmission warranty extension on the vehicle will fix the issues. I took off a day from work and took to ourisman Ford & Lincoln in alexandria, virginia. After several hours of waiting, I was told that I will have to drop it off another day because some part(s) will be ordered. About a week after, I dropped it off and it stayed for over 3 days. I was told that everything was okay. Perhaps, just about 1000 miles of driving in about 6 weeks after the repair, I almost had an accident due almost sudden stop on the highway on Friday, November 1, 2019. I was driving at about 60mph when the vehicle almost stopped with the alert �transmission fault service now�. I managed to pull off the road, turned of the engine and turned it on after about 20 minutes and the alert came up again. I drove at no more 20mph with the hazard lights on to my home. I scheduled appointment with darcars Ford in lanham MD to drop it off on Monday, November 4, 2019. I am complaining because I have owned this for less than 90 days but I have gone through a whole lot. Now it's becoming clear that the dealership knew, concealed and sold a severely useless vehicle that almost took my life. I am frustrated because the absence of a vehicle will obstruct my work, my son's school and all our medical appointments for the week. I sincerely need help. . .

I started my car the check engine light came on, I put it in gear and it hesitated to accelerate. It also when I had it in park and went to put it in drive, it started going in reverse. Had a diagnostic test done and it came back: p0902 clutch actuator circuit low. I only drive the city streets.

Car stalls at will, gas gauge & miles to empty always wrong, low fuel indicator light never comes on and has huge problem w/ acceleration. It often shakes violently when I hit gas pedal, also takes forever to get up to speed. If it's not shaking violently then it just stalls, literally dies, will not restart. Forget fuel gauge. Not only is it always wrong, it changes at will. I go up or down a hill, gauge & miles to empty changes. Low fuel indicator never lights up so who knows how much gas I have. Last two times it stalled on highway at 65mph. Engine just cut out, died & would not restart. Has been to dealership 3 times in 3 weeks for same issues. First incident, kindle Ford in cape may court house, NJ had it 9 days over labor day holiday. Finally advised repairs eligible under recall however waiting for parts, specifically fuel tank, which according to fedex was in transit. �lucky for me� he said, finally had loaner available. I'm walking to get loaner when suddenly tech yells over that my car is done! what? he just said tank was in transit! reluctantly took my car only to have it die again. Had it towed to kindle again and he said car started right up for him after he put gas in it. He implied I ran out of gas because gauge was pinned on empty. I had put gas in it that morning. Gauge indicates it was low but it was not pinned on empty (see photo). And if that was the case, warning light never came on (see photo). Now they are saying they can't fix it until they replicate problems for themselves. As if I was lying! car doesn't do it when they drive it so what do I do? I'm afraid to drive my own car but I have to go to work, etc. I just hope my son & I aren't killed when car unexpectedly stalls again while we are on the highway.

Tl-the contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 mph, the vehicle did not respond when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The contact merged to the shoulder, kept on driving until the desired speed of 65 mph was reached. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic for a diagnostic. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000. Bp.