2014 Ford Focus transmission slipping issue, any advice?

I bought a 2014 Ford Focus Titanium and while the car drives okay above 30 mph, the first couple of gears seem to slip, especially after the engine warms up. The previous owner never took care of the recall, so I’m stuck figuring it out on my own. I’d really appreciate any advice on what to do, short of replacing the transmission.

Here’s the 14M02 TCM extended warranty bulletin.

Madden said:
Here’s the 14M02 TCM extended warranty bulletin.

Thanks, I appreciate the help!

Either get the TCM recall done if it’s available or replace the clutches and actuators. From my experience, the latter fixes the issue more often than just replacing the TCM.

Oakley said:
Either get the TCM recall done if it’s available or replace the clutches and actuators. From my experience, the latter fixes the issue more often than just replacing the TCM.

Thanks for the suggestion!

@Linden
I’ve replaced mine twice. It’s around $800 in parts if you buy the Luk repkit, which includes everything you need.

Vero said:
@Linden
I’ve replaced mine twice. It’s around $800 in parts if you buy the Luk repkit, which includes everything you need.

I don’t have the confidence to do it myself, but yeah, it’s a good option if you’re comfortable with it.

@Oakley
I’m in the same boat—don’t have the skills or tools to do it. Ford quoted me over $3500, and I feel like they’re just taking advantage.

Linden said:
@Oakley
I’m in the same boat—don’t have the skills or tools to do it. Ford quoted me over $3500, and I feel like they’re just taking advantage.

Yeah, the dealer quoted me $3500 for the transmission computer, which wasn’t even the problem. The job isn’t that bad, but you’d need someone who knows what they’re doing.

Oakley said:
Either get the TCM recall done if it’s available or replace the clutches and actuators. From my experience, the latter fixes the issue more often than just replacing the TCM.

They won’t replace the TCM unless it’s failing and giving off a fault code.

@Skyler
Exactly, they need to see the codes. If you don’t have any codes showing, they won’t replace it.

Oakley said:
Either get the TCM recall done if it’s available or replace the clutches and actuators. From my experience, the latter fixes the issue more often than just replacing the TCM.

Does having a salvage title void the recall for the TCM?

@Parker
Nope, I have a salvage title and had mine replaced under the recall.

Quincy said:
@Parker
Nope, I have a salvage title and had mine replaced under the recall.

Nice! How long did it take?

Parker said:

Quincy said:
@Parker
Nope, I have a salvage title and had mine replaced under the recall.

Nice! How long did it take?

Dropped it off on a Tuesday morning and they had it ready by noon the same day.

They’ll usually go by fault codes to see if it’s a TCM issue. If it’s just slipping, they’ll probably say it’s the clutch and make you replace that first. Only after that, if there are still issues, will they look at the TCM unless you already have a fault code for it.

Your TCM should be covered under warranty regardless. It might be worth looking into that.