Ford Powershift gearbox - why hasn't there been a recall?

Ned

My powershift gearbox (52k miles) is on the blink after 10 months of ownership and having researched it and spoken to some local specialists, it's a huge, well-known problem and is a case of when it goes, not if it goes. Ford are very much aware of the fact it is a huge problem and have not been able to offer a solution, so it's still a case of the gearbox failing at any time resulting in a rebuild, which can then also fail at any time. At £4k + VAT per rebuild (including the clutch) it's ridiculously expensive. According to some reports, they knew it was a poor gearbox during production but carried on regardless. 

Considering it's a known problem, surely Ford should be offering some form of solution whether it's a free repair/replacement, a contribution to costs, or a discount at a dealership to rectify it? One of the specialists I spoke to says they are getting 30-40 calls a week about it!

ontheroad1970

Which car is it?  I believe the problem ones are the dry ones in the smaller cars

Rodders53

Has it been serviced according to the schedule?  Gearbox oil change especially.  By previous owners and at main dealers?  Ford may then consider something.  It seems to be every 3 or 4 years plus a mileage limit if reached earlier.

Had you done any 'due diligence' when choosing this vehicle before purchase?  The issue is well known, but many have had no problems even when towing with some vehicles fitted with the gearboxes.

Ford have gone back to their own made conventional torque converter boxes since around 2018/19 I believe.  I have managed to avoided the Twin Clutch Powershift with all three Galaxy's I've owned.

forgotmyname

They last fairly well if serviced at the correct interval and using the correct oil and filters.  It's something like every 30k miles or 3 years
and its fairly costly so often gets forgotten...  Owners think it's only done xx miles so it gets ignored even though the 3 year interval
has been reached.

Goudy

Ford nor any other manufacturer will issue a recall unless forced to.
That could be because of safety or mass legal action (typically in the USA).

Fords Powershift gearbox is actually a Getrag one. In smaller engine cars it's the DCT250. 
The Powershift name is just Ford marketing.
Larger engine cars, like the Galaxy was fitted with the DCT450 which had similar problems and ones of it's own.

It's been fitted by a few manufacturers (like Renault) and is just as unreliable in all but Ford obviously sold thousands more than all the others put together.

It's clutch pack is dry, like a normal manual car and it's this that is mainly the problem (though the clutch actuator can also cause problems). As with any clutch it's a wearable part and manufacturers tended to warranty it as such but what the manufacturers didn't want to tell owners is the pack usually fails when the input shaft seal leaks, contaminating the clutch and causing it to slip.

By this time though the cars are usually all out of warranty anyway, so they thought sod the owners (and still do).

The fix is a new clutch pack which is very expensive, new and uprated seals and a load of labour to do it, though you might be able to buy a recondition gearbox in exchange that might save a few quid if it's just the clutch pack and seals.

Getrag ditched the dry clutch system and replaced it with a wet clutch one, the 7DCT300.
The friction and drive plates all run in oil like a motorbike clutch.

The main identifier between the two Getrag gearboxes are the wet clutch came with 7 gears rather than 6 gears the dry clutch.
It's far more reliable (touch wood as I have one) and I think it drives much better than VW's DSG (which is actually Borg Warner).

knightstyle

As others have said has the gearbox oil been changed regularly?   We have owned a 2013 Cmax with powershift since 2015 and have now done 99k miles, some towing our caravan and the gearbox and engine still work normally.
This is because I have the car serviced regularly. The gearbox oil has been changed 3 times and is now due again. It is not a cheap job, over £200 so most owners do not bother hence the many failings.

Goldenyears

We owned a brand-new Fiesta with Powershift between 2013 and 2016 (10,000 miles). Comments about gearbox oil changes were not relevant to us. The first signs of trouble happened within a few weeks of ownership eg, tinkling noise under load and jerking.  After about 3000 miles we couldn't tolerate any more and had new clutch packs under warranty.  5000 miles later it started again so we had second clutch pack change under warranty.  There was no quibble from Ford about the warranty work, but we got rid of it, bought another brand with conventional auto and have not touched Ford since.  I think the last Powershift boxes on Fiestas must be just out of 5 year warranty now, so I would never buy a secondhand pre-2018 one.