Ford PowerShift gearbox judder

Which Fords have the dry-clutch PowerShift?

Smaller petrol automatics built from 2011 to 2017: the Focus 1.6, Fiesta, B-Max and EcoSport. Bigger 2.0-litre Fords use a different PowerShift.

Ford sold two quite different gearboxes under the PowerShift name. The one on this page is the lighter version, with dry clutches like a manual car’s.

The quick test is the engine. A PowerShift badge on a 1.6 petrol Focus, a 2013–2017 Fiesta, a 1.6 B-Max or a 1.5 petrol EcoSport means the dry-clutch gearbox. A 2.0 TDCi or 2.0 EcoBoost means the wet-clutch one.

Two cautions. The published sources disagree about the 1.5 TDCi diesel automatics in the Focus and C-Max, so ask a Ford dealer to confirm the gearbox from the registration. And by 2016 the 1.0 and 1.5 EcoBoost Focus automatics had a conventional torque converter gearbox, which is not part of this.

What does a failing PowerShift feel like?

A shudder as the car moves off, then jerky changes, then a transmission warning. In the worst cases the car stops driving.

Owners describe it as the car trying to pull away in the wrong gear. It tends to be worse in slow traffic and once the car is warm.

Why does the PowerShift judder?

Its two dry clutches grip unevenly as they wear, and leaking shaft seals made it worse by letting fluid onto them.

A dual-clutch gearbox is two manual gearboxes in one case. One clutch handles first, third, fifth and reverse. The other handles second, fourth and sixth. A computer, the TCM, tells electric motors when to work each clutch.

In this gearbox the clutches run dry, with no oil to cool them or smooth the take-up. In stop-start driving they engage and release constantly at very low speed, and the friction material wears unevenly. That is the judder.

There was a second cause. Honest John reported in 2014 that the input shaft oil seals were failing and letting transmission fluid onto the clutch pack, and that Ford brought in a redesigned seal that October. The TCM is the third weak point. Owners have reported it being replaced, sometimes before the clutch pack and sometimes after.

How much does it cost to fix?

Ford dealers have quoted about £750 to £1,500 for a clutch pack, around £1,500 for a control module, and £3,500 to £5,000 for a gearbox.

These are quotes owners reported to Honest John between 2017 and 2020. Expect today’s prices to be higher.

• Clutch pack: most quotes fell between £1,000 and £1,500. One was reduced to £750. One, in 2019, was £2,400.
• Transmission control module: one Fiesta owner was quoted £1,500.
• Replacement gearbox: £3,500 for a Focus, £4,500 and “over £5,000” for two Fiestas.

The harder cost is repetition. Several owners reported a second or third clutch pack within a few years.

The wet-clutch gearbox in larger Fords has its own figures. Owners reported £250 to £400 for the three-yearly fluid and filter change, and £4,000 to £5,500 for a replacement when it failed.

What has Ford said and done in the UK?

Ford extended UK cover on the dry-clutch PowerShift to five years and revised the parts. It did not recall the gearbox here, and that extended cover has now expired.

By mid-2016, Honest John reported that Ford was covering dry-clutch PowerShifts for five years. An Ombudsman decision from 2018 records the same thing: Ford extended the UK warranty on the TCM from three years to five. Ford also ran a service action on the TCM, numbered 14M02.

In practice owners reported mixed results. Some dealers said the extension covered the control module but not the clutch pack. Ford paid one B-Max owner’s £1,200 clutch bill in full, and declined others once the car turned five. With the last of these cars registered in 2017, the five years are over.

DVSA’s records show no UK safety recall for the PowerShift. If a dealer mentions a Ford clutch recall, that is a 2018 and 2019 recall for manual EcoBoost cars.

Abroad, more was done. In the United States, Ford extended clutch cover to seven years or 100,000 miles and TCM cover to ten years or 150,000 miles, and a court approved a settlement in 2020 that included buying some cars back. In Australia, a court fined Ford A$10 million in 2018 over how it handled owners’ complaints about the same gearbox. None of that applies to UK cars. It still matters here: the Ombudsman has treated Ford’s warranty extensions as reasonable evidence of a widespread problem.

Who pays for a PowerShift gearbox fault?

Ford’s UK help was a five-year warranty extension that has now run out. Your rights sit with the dealer who sold the car, and with the lender if it is on finance.

Ford

Extended UK cover on the dry-clutch PowerShift to five years and redesigned the seals and clutch parts, but never recalled it here. Goodwill after that has been uneven: paid in full for some owners, refused for others.

The dealer who sold it

Responsible in law for the car being of satisfactory quality when sold, and that includes a gearbox lasting a reasonable time. A dealer who says judder is how these gearboxes drive has not answered that.

The finance company

On hire purchase or PCP the lender supplied the car, so it carries the same responsibility as the dealer. The published Ombudsman decisions on this gearbox were all made against lenders.

Your warranty

Used-car warranties vary. One buyer’s would have left him paying 40% of a gearbox repair, and an insurer refused another because a fluid change had been missed. What a warranty will or will not pay does not change what the dealer owes you.

Goodwill from the manufacturer and your rights against the seller are separate. Asking for one does not give up the other.

Is a PowerShift fault covered under warranty?

Ford’s own cover has lapsed on these cars, and a used-car warranty may only pay part. Neither settles what the dealer owes you.

Ford’s three-year warranty and the five-year PowerShift extension have both run their course. A replacement clutch pack fitted by a Ford dealer carried 12 months’ cover of its own, so check the date on any earlier repair.

A used-car warranty is a separate contract with its own terms. Your rights against the dealer under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 do not depend on it.

Can you hand the car back?

It depends how long you have had it. The Act sets three windows, counted from the day you collected the car.

What has the Ombudsman decided?

The three published decisions we found on this gearbox all went the buyer’s way, each on early symptoms, a failed repair or durability.

A Ford Focus that juddered within weeks (DRN4411199, March 2018). The buyer took a four-year-old Focus on finance and reported judder and a slipping clutch in the first month. A Ford dealer replaced the clutch pack and the fault returned. The Ombudsman said the supplier gets one opportunity to repair, noted Ford’s extended TCM warranty as evidence of a widespread problem, and told the lender to take the car back.

A gearbox that wore out at about 65,000 miles (DRN-3049570, September 2021). An engineer put the fault down to in-service wear in the “powershift gearbox unit” and could not say it was there at sale. The Ombudsman upheld the complaint anyway. The manufacturer had said the gearbox should last 100,000 miles or more, and the car had a full service history. The lender had to repair or replace the gearbox and refund a £360 gearbox service.

An older car with an early fault (DRN2789562, August 2020). An eight-year-old car was booked in for a “very jerky” PowerShift within weeks. The buyer’s warranty would have left him paying 40% of a repair quoted at nearly £3,000. The lender had to take the car back and refund the deposit.

The last two decisions do not name the make or say which PowerShift was fitted. Three decisions are not a forecast.

What should you do now?

Work out which gearbox you have, get the fault recorded in writing, and gather the car’s gearbox history before you write to anyone.

1. Confirm the gearbox. Ask a Ford dealer to tell you from the registration whether it is the dry-clutch or wet-clutch PowerShift.
2. Ask the same dealer for the car’s repair history: earlier clutch packs, TCM replacements, software updates and any open service action. Repeat repairs before you owned it are strong evidence.
3. Get the diagnosis in writing with the date, mileage and fault codes. If the judder only shows when warm, say so and ask for a longer road test.
4. Keep the service record together. Honest John reported that Ford’s extended cover depended on fluid changes every three years, and the Ombudsman gave weight to servicing.
5. Write to the dealer, and to the finance company if there is one, setting out the fault and what you want done. If the cause is disputed, an independent inspection that addresses durability is worth having.