A friend's 2008 Focus diesel auto (powershift) is causing problems at 87,000 miles - yes, she does a lot of miles and was hoping it would last to 150,000 (and retirement). It was serviced by Ford for first 3 years, more recently by a local garage - who don't seem to know what they're doing. For example, at a December service, they didn't know why a warning light was on on the dash, but said not to worry about it. It turned out to be the DPF... The owner carried on driving it like this until..... the gearbox started playing up, shunting up and down the gears, as if the car was short of power. Local garage diagnosed a throttle problem, changed something at a part cost of £190, and of course it made no difference.Meanwhile gearbox issue was getting worse.Time to go back to a Ford dealer. They said DPF might be permanently damaged (£1500), but would do a £300 job to see if that would rectify it (DPF oil change?). Meanwhile, it might need a new auto box at £2000.....Car is still driveable, and no changing gear quite as much as it has been.Honest John recommends seeing an auto specialist - nearest one is Faversham in Kent (not close to work or home for her).What do you advise she does with this car?I didn't anticipate DPF probs as she does a lot of motorway miles - failing to realise that high gearing means the engine revs very low at mway speeds.ThanksMC
Country: United KingdomMake: FordModel: Focus Titanium diesel autoYear: 2008Engine: 1.6 diesel
Hi, the problem with the dpf is that most people dont realise its actually a serviceable item on the 1.6 focus, it should be replaced at 75000 miles, most die at around 80-90000 miles and unless its replaced you will continue to get problems, the other issue i see often is the egr valves fail and soot the dpf up, again this seems to happen at around that mileage. You can get pattern dpf units which will lover the cost but it will need regenerating and resetting at a dealer. The fluid fill (oil change i expect you had) is actually for the dpf tank which again should be filled every 3 years/37500 miles, and if it goes low the light will come on and stop the dpf system, and if continued to drive will cause permanent damage to the dpf as it will clog up.
As for the autobox, yes it can probably be repaired, its worth a quote but you also need to expect to have to replace the dpf so probably time to get rid of it unless she can pay the high dealer costs and autobox repair.
Im seeing alot of these cars popping up on ebay and getting traded in because of the high repair costs that no one can afford.
GeoffThat's a very complete answer, thank you.. but as I can ask a follow-up question..What does Vivien buy next? She does 30,000 pa, wants an auto and some comfort, plus reasonable economy (although she has no idea what economy she has been getting - typical lady).She can add 3K to what she gets for the Focus - so about 10K to spend? She would logically trade the Focus in for a second hand car from a dealer, with ideally modest mileage - but what do you suggest?The only mistake I made with my questionwas that it's a 2.0 Focus not a 1.6.Many thanks (on her behalf). I'll accept and pay if you'd be so kind to answer this one too.Malcolm
Hi, the 1.6 and 2.0 engines are completely different, and it would suggest they done an oil and filter change and a dpf regeneration, i would still expect there to be damage to this unit as the warning light came on a while ago and it wasn't attended to. To be honest my comments still stand though as if the dpf does fail and the auto gearbox is already failing i would suggest a new vehicle for the long term.
Has anyone suggested changing the gearbox oil at all?
As for a new car, is an autobox the only option as they do tend to go wrong past 100000 miles
Experience: 15 years motor trade, mot tester, mazda senior tech, ford tech, Nvq level 3