What's wrong with my 2010 Ford Focus - does it sound like the differential?

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › What's wrong with my 2010 Ford Focus - does it sound like the differential?

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761 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1177312 17-Nov-2014 12:35

TimA: Yeah, I would say a transmission fault. Please don;t get any work done on a new Ford at a 3rd party place. Void warranty left right and center and Ford will wiggle out of anything about it.

I bought it from a dealer second hand, so no warranty issues.

sxz

761 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1177313 17-Nov-2014 12:37

ckc:

Car problems aren't always easy to replicate exactly when you want it. You can't expect a mechanic to drive a car under exactly the same conditions for half an hour until you hope the problem returns. And it's especially true with hydraulics, where there are a number of internal and external seals and it's dependent on use and operating pressure. If an issue is intermittent, it may not turn up at all for ages.

Exactly my problem. The car is perfect 99% of the time.

sxz

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Ultimate Geek
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#1177314 17-Nov-2014 12:39

Bung: I think I'd be looking at the selector cable adjustment. Does the problem occur if you leave it in 3rd or 4th?

It mostly appears to only happen on hills with corners, switching between 2, 3 and 4. That said, it happened the other day pulling out of my car park accelerating hard while turning. Turning seems to be a factor, which is why I thought it could be a diff.

ckc

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#1177327 17-Nov-2014 13:01

Bung:
ckc: Okay, when you push the clutch in you're separating the plates that connect the engine and the transmission, so that's disengaging. When you release the pedal those plates are coming together, so engaging.

My guess would be that there's an issue with your hydraulic system or the springs that operate it.

When the car is in gear with the clutch released there's no need for hydraulic pressure. Older cars with external slave cylinders acting on a release fork had a free play adjustment to ensure that there was no release pressure on the clutch when the pedal was up.

I think I'd be looking at the selector cable adjustment. Does the problem occur if you leave it in 3rd or 4th?

Just because no active pressure is required to keep the plates together, that doesn't mean that there's no internal pressure required in the hydraulics.

But I do not think any of the symptoms described match gear selector cable problems.

ckc

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#1177329 17-Nov-2014 13:06

sxz:
Bung: I think I'd be looking at the selector cable adjustment. Does the problem occur if you leave it in 3rd or 4th?

It mostly appears to only happen on hills with corners, switching between 2, 3 and 4. That said, it happened the other day pulling out of my car park accelerating hard while turning. Turning seems to be a factor, which is why I thought it could be a diff.

It's weird that it happens on corners and that pushing the clutch pedal in fixes it.

Honestly, at this point take it to a decent mechanic or transmission specialist.

DravidDavid

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Uber Geek
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#1177354 17-Nov-2014 14:02

Does it happen to only seriously shudder/jolt when driving in the wet?

If so, it may be water getting in through the seal between a drive shaft and diff or gearbox binding up bearings. It causes shuddering, jolting and clicking when cornering.

Otherwise, a transmission problem is the most obvious cause at this point.

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sxz

761 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1177535 17-Nov-2014 19:44

DravidDavid: Does it happen to only seriously shudder/jolt when driving in the wet?

If so, it may be water getting in through the seal between a drive shaft and diff or gearbox binding up bearings. It causes shuddering, jolting and clicking when cornering. Otherwise, a transmission problem is the most obvious cause at this point.

No, nothing to do with the wet...

sxz

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Ultimate Geek
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#1177541 17-Nov-2014 19:45

ckc:

It's weird that it happens on corners and that pushing the clutch pedal in fixes it.

Honestly, at this point take it to a decent mechanic or transmission specialist.

Agreed, will provide an update in due course. cheers for your help

Dingbatt

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#1177738 18-Nov-2014 08:54

ckc: Yes modern cars have diffs. Diffs mean the wheels turn at different speeds. Hence the name.

Yes. Perhaps I worded it wrong. The point I was making is the diff is incorporated in the gearbox assembly of front wheel drive cars rather than a separate component. Things like torque steer that used to be minimized by tubes and clutches now seem to be resolved within the gearbox/drive. Things have moved on quite a bit since the days of the Morris 1100!

Just confirming the OP's car is a gen 2 manual Focus. For that reason it is not the shuddering fault that affects gen 3 powershift models causing the problem in his vehicle. Therefore I deselected the 'this is the answer' that someone had selected on the first page of the thread.

I own gen 3 Focus, love the car, hate the gearbox though. When it goes in for its next service it will be getting the seal replacement that is supposed to fix the shudder.

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Pulinski

131 posts

Master Geek
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#1177794 18-Nov-2014 10:20

sxz: 2010 Ford Focus, Manual, 1.8L Turbo Diesel. I have owned this car for 8 months. Lately I have noticed a problem, which the Ford Dealer cannot find or diagnose. They gave the car a clean bill of health. The problem: Every now and then there is a clunking, or grinding somewhere in the powertrain. As I am driving along it clunks, whirs, grinds, the car loses power, I then usually lift off the throttle or engage the clutch, and something seems to pop back in, then the car is fine again. This happens very rarely, usually only on long trips. We've slowly narrowed it down and it seems to only happen on windy hills. It doesn't happen seem to happen in town or on long straight roads. The clutch and gearbox both feel fine to me as all other times, so to me, it seems like the problem only happens when the diff is under pressure. Has anyone else had any experience with this? Because the local Ford dealer hasn't...

I took my 2009 Ford Focus away to the Coromandel last weekend. I am experiencing the same issue, but in a Automatic. It was purchased from a dealer in August.

While driving around corners especially while accelerating (hills), I get a distinctive whirring and then a clunk. I would happen randomly but often about 10 minutes would pass before it would occur again. The sound did not affect the car at all. Once I got to the Hauraki Plains and State Highway 2, I did not hear it again.

Where did you take it to be looked at?

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Pulinski

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Master Geek
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#1177828 18-Nov-2014 11:01

I am booked in at John Andrew Ford Auckland next Tuesday. So we'll have more information, hopefully.

In the meantime, I might try and replicate the problem by taking a drive in the Waitakares.

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sxz

761 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1177830 18-Nov-2014 11:12

Pulinski:
sxz: 2010 Ford Focus, Manual, 1.8L Turbo Diesel. I have owned this car for 8 months. Lately I have noticed a problem, which the Ford Dealer cannot find or diagnose. They gave the car a clean bill of health. The problem: Every now and then there is a clunking, or grinding somewhere in the powertrain. As I am driving along it clunks, whirs, grinds, the car loses power, I then usually lift off the throttle or engage the clutch, and something seems to pop back in, then the car is fine again. This happens very rarely, usually only on long trips. We've slowly narrowed it down and it seems to only happen on windy hills. It doesn't happen seem to happen in town or on long straight roads. The clutch and gearbox both feel fine to me as all other times, so to me, it seems like the problem only happens when the diff is under pressure. Has anyone else had any experience with this? Because the local Ford dealer hasn't...

I took my 2009 Ford Focus away to the Coromandel last weekend. I am experiencing the same issue, but in a Automatic. It was purchased from a dealer in August.

While driving around corners especially while accelerating (hills), I get a distinctive whirring and then a clunk. I would happen randomly but often about 10 minutes would pass before it would occur again. The sound did not affect the car at all. Once I got to the Hauraki Plains and State Highway 2, I did not hear it again.

Where did you take it to be looked at?

Fairview motors Hamilton - the Ford dealer. They took it for a drive (despite me telling them they wont be able to replicate it around town), looked in the engine somewhere (who knows where), plugged in the computer (whatever good that will do with a mechanical fault) and said the car was in perfect shape. They suggested I monitor it and bring it back if it happens again. Not sure how that helps if it only happens for 3-7 seconds at a time. Next stop will be a transmission specialist I think.

Mattmannz

471 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1177862 18-Nov-2014 11:45

Do these vehicles have a limited slip diff or some sort of torque vectoring system?

Gearbox faults are generally not intermittent however the symptoms you describe could be a particular loading/turning scenario that is causing the differential to play up. It would explain the noise and also the partial loss of drive.

Matt.

ilovemusic

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#1177890 18-Nov-2014 12:00

no lsd in a boggo 1.8 diesel, lol

will have some form of esp/traction control that can misbehave.

jpoc

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#1179400 19-Nov-2014 11:52

Pulinski:
While driving around corners especially while accelerating (hills), I get a distinctive whirring and then a clunk. I would happen randomly but often about 10 minutes would pass before it would occur again. The sound did not affect the car at all. Once I got to the Hauraki Plains and State Highway 2, I did not hear it again.

Where did you take it to be looked at?

That sounds like a wheel bearing or a CV joint.

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