hello all, my friend has an 05 focus with the mtx75 trans (manual) in it. so here is the scoop ( ford forums are no where near as active or intellegent as this forum haha) he bought this focus from a ford dealer, 95,000 kms (60,000 miles) took it home and the next day he got in it, started it and STILL holding the clutch it would go through every gear. he let the clutch out and let it warm up for a few minutes and put the clutch back in and it wouldnt go, it wont even enter the gates. he adventually got it into 5th and once he did it cycled through all the gears fine, let the clutch out and same thing. driving it is extremly notchy in every gear until it warms up, then it gets better but still notchy. sometimes it wont want to come out of gear smoothly but its not terribly hard. he took it back to the dealer where he bought it and left it with them to fix. he got a call a few days later saying the clutch was faulty and they would be replacing it.. a week went by with no word so he called again. they had to order a new dual mass flywheel because it was so bad they couldnt machine it ( or it couldnt be machined because the fact its dual mass) so they replaced clutch disc, pressure plate and throw out bearing,slave,pilot (all one) buttoned it back up and he picked it up and it was fine for a day or two then back to the way it was. he called again and took it back, this time they adjusted the shifter linkage, but as soon as he got in it was just as bad, but could notice a difference in how the throw felt when it was shifting properly. so he left it there.. again.. these cars originally had problems with the pressure plates being faulty and wearing the clutch prematurly in them and now have an upgraded clutch kit which is what they put in. so this time they decided to put a new master cylinder in it thinking maybe with the new pressure plate and slave the master isnt doing its full job because its the only old component left for the hydraulics and maybe has a bit of bleed back, replaced it and its the same only, now he can get into every gear with alot less fight other than first and reverse. it shifts great when the car is off, there is no grinding when its on and struggling, and if he starts it holding the clutch in and doesnt let it out it goes into gears fine, if he does let the clutch out even for a split second it struggles to go into gear, once he does find a gear it goes into all the other ones until the clutch is let out again. if it struggles and he just holds it at the gate with the clutch down after 5-10 seconds it kinda wiggles into gear. we have eliminated the possibility of it being syncros and forks because the notchy shifts is every gear but not always there( i dont see how 1-2, 3-4, 5-r syncros would all be bad.., and the fact that holding the clutch in starting it and keeping the clutch in it goes through gears fine. we really think its air thats stuck in there. do you guys have any light to shed apon us?

the other thing is, if he starts the car, lets the clutch out, pushes it back in and pushes it into the start of the gate in any forward gear the car has a slight pull forward (R does it to but obv. rolls backwards), but once its put right into gear it stops( its not a big rool forward but its noticable) if you quickly shift it into gear when its difficult it has kinda a slight thud feeling. its ALOT easier hot or cold to get it into first if its slightly rolling as he pushes it into the gate.

i think when they originally did the clutch they bled the whole hydralics ( slave cylinder is located inside of the trans on this mtx), the master was allowing air to get into the system because of a faulty rear piston seal (probably why the clutch went bad so fast in the first place) but slow enough it didnt pop up for a few days. when they did the master the bench bled it and didnt have to do a complete bleed of the system. its easier now because its not letting any MORE air into the system but still has some trapped in there.

he still has a bit of warranty left but there telling him, at this point we have done everything we can, its just the way this paticular transmission works. f*ckers!

 

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HAHAHAHA @ thats the way this tranny works. Give me a new tranny then.

I guess I may be to aggressive but I would be creating a HUGE scene. Give me my money back I will go elsewhere.

 

Check the Lemon Laws in your state. Usually if you have to take the car back three times for the same issue and it's still not resolved then they will have to buy the car back.

 

Don't know much about the 5 speeds, but I had an SVT Focus with the 6-speed Getrag transmission, and it was awesome. I did drive a 5 speed Focus, and I hated it. The shift throws were twice as long, and it felt like I was churning butter instead of shifting gears.

I say upgrade to the 6 speed.

 

Thanks guys, he likes the car so I dont think he really wants to return it although he should... stubborn lol. Yea the getrags are nice gearboxes until something goes wrong with them, parts are reduliculous for them amd apparently hard to find. Plus, the bellhousing is totally different.

We will try and bleed it tomorrow if it doest work ill tell him to look at the lemon law regs here in canada.
Thanks guys

 

Here in Florida, the Lemon Law only applies to new cars under factory warranty. Let's say it's a transmission, since that's what we're talking about. Under the new car warranty, if the car has to go in for warranty work for the transmission more than 3 times, the car can be lemon-lawed.

 

Yea I just looked and there is no lemon law here in canada, there is a consumers affair but thats it. He bought it a month ago and they said he has a 90 day warranty so if bleeding doesnt work he will just have to ride them. They are a reputable shop so they should stand by the cars they sell.

 

I know! Oh thats how it supposed to operate, its supposed to not let you engage first when its cold and you have hit a light, everyone is supposed to start honking at you and flipping you off because you cant get this normal operating tranny into 1st.

Its a normal function for you to have to turn the car off, put it in gear and turn it back in.. thats totally normal....

What isnt normal is a transmission that shifts like a hot knife in butter.. what is normal you ask? Well a dull knife cutting through a 12 pack of frozen hotdog wieners DA DA DA DA!

 

I've heard those clutch systems are horrific in design! a mechanic's nightmare. In some regards the problem sounds like a leaky hydrolic slave cylinder. Yet, they have appearently replaced most everything. The only other conclusion is something is bent or binding which is resulting in inconsistent clutch operation. May not explain everything though.

So nothing funky in the clutch or hydrolic setup on this car? This a completely hydrolic clutch system? Has anyone checked the clutch pedal to see if it is twisting, damaged, broke/cracked, and/or binding when pressed?
Maybe you need to be looking at even the simplest of things that have not been replaced. Go check that pedal!

 

They spent more money working on the car than it's even worth LOL.

How about a recall for every focus made for the North American market? That would be productive vs the new air bag (yeah I'm still ranting).

 

the system is a stock hydraulic system. nothings binding in the peddle area, its kind of a funny setup this hydraulic system, brake and clutch resovior is shared, clutch master behind pedal, line to slave inside bellhousing, all hydraulics have been replaced, no leaks. Apparently the hydraulics are very hard to bleed because the bleed nipple is in the slave which is lower than the master, so if air gets in there it rises up and lingers in the master and its hard to get out. I think tomorrow I will jack up the front end of the car, pump the clutch up and force it all to the highest point which is now the slave a bleed the sheite out of it.

 

haha I know, too bad they didnt make them as they did with the european versions , and with an optional deisel. I would drive the euro focus