I bought a 2013 Ford Focus Hatchback in August 2023 with 96k miles. Over the past few months, I’ve been noticing the well-known stuttering and skipping issues that others have mentioned. The dealership told me it was a clutch problem, and while it would have cost $2700, my extended warranty covered it. Now, the techs at the dealership have said this issue is likely to come back. My TCM warranty is good until June 2025, and my extended warranty lasts until August 2025. I’m really considering selling the car and buying something else, but I love it and it’s been great aside from this issue. Does anyone know of any long-term solutions beyond my warranty coverage next August?
Honestly, there isn’t a real fix for this. The parts are just poorly made, but it’s still a great car in other aspects. I’ve been driving my '16 Focus hatchback fast and mostly on highways, and so far, no problems. I reset the TCM and got the car to ‘relearn’ fast acceleration from a stop. That’s worked for me so far, and I’m at 145k miles now.
Just a heads up, the issue usually comes from actuators A and B getting dirty with dust and gunk. There are videos on YouTube showing how to clean them. You’ll need to spray them down with brake cleaner and WD-40, then rotate them to free them up. Another common trick is to ground the electrical system better because the paint can mess with the voltage. Look up some videos for more details. Good luck!
Exactly. A manual swap is pretty straightforward and would make your Focus much more reliable. Plus, in the higher trims, you still get the comfort and features of a pricier car.
It’s not a simple fix, but it’s a great idea. I love my 2012 manual Focus. If I had the time and money, I’d consider buying an automatic with a bad transmission for cheap and swapping it out for a manual. I could probably do it myself, but I don’t have the energy these days!
TCM failures are hard to prevent, but for the clutch, don’t drive like a grandma. These cars need a little ‘spirited’ driving. Don’t baby it, and try to avoid stop-and-go traffic if possible.
Fix it, sell it, and get something more reliable like a Honda Fit or Toyota Corolla. I had a 2017 Focus and had to take a big financial hit to get rid of it.
If you can get anything for it, take it. I had the same issue with mine, no warranty to cover it, and the fix would have cost 4-5k. I barely made it to the dealership and got $500 for a trade-in. I talked them up to $1,000 because I had new all-weather tires on it.
Mine did the same thing and then stopped shifting altogether. It turned out to be the clutch actuator, which is a cheap part. There are two of them—one under the hood and one under the car. I replaced the one under the car for about $30, and that fixed the issue.
I watched a YouTube video that helped with my 2017 automatic. If you don’t give the car more gas than other automatics, it almost always shudders from a stop. Now I let go of the brakes, let it roll, and then accelerate quickly from around 1,000-3,000 RPM. This has helped the transmission shift more smoothly.
I picked up from this forum that if you drive the Focus like a regular automatic, it’ll shudder. You need to treat it more like a manual. Start accelerating as soon as you release the brake so the clutch engages fully. You can’t drive this car indecisively.
There’s no way to prevent the clutch from eventually slipping, but you can reduce how often it happens. Avoid stop-and-go traffic if possible—letting the clutch slip heats it up too much. Also, don’t baby the car. The transmission actually prefers being driven aggressively. You could also look into Tom’s Tune, which makes the car more fun to drive and reduces the shudder. I sold mine at 260k miles, and it’s still going strong at 300k with its second set of clutches.
The long-term solution is to sell it. But if you drive it the way it’s meant to be driven, it’ll last. I’m at 120k miles and had the clutch replaced at 76k. Drive it hard when you can, especially on the highway.
You can help the issue by driving it hard occasionally (what people call ‘clutch scrubbing’). But there’s no permanent fix. This transmission is a ticking time bomb.