[cute_boboi]

Yes, a small caveat though. With Manual transmission, one can switch to N while the vehicle is moving, letting it glide slowly before coming to a complete halt. You can't do that with most vehicles which come with Automatic transmission, especially the Focus with the dual-clutch I think. We will need to wait for the vehicle to come to a complete stop before we can switch from D to N. If the wait to switch from N to D is considerably long before the vehicle in front starts moving, say 4 to 5 seconds then it's still practical to switch to N. But if it's just 1 second before we need to switch to D again, then it's quite a chore with frequent gear changes.

Anyway I get your point. It is certainly wise to put the vehicle to N whenever possible.

No worries, now I'm on another dual-clutch, and I get stuck in jam most of every working day.

I understand your point. If it stop start every 1-3 seconds, I don't shift to N also. I just keep in D. But some point to take note for this:
- Once let go brake, must step a bit on accelerator. Do not let it "ride" the cluctch to crawl/creep. If you "ride" it... it is the same as "riding" the clutch-balancing on a manual in traffic jam. Clutch does not engage fully and this will boil up the transmission oil in dual-clutch. It will be worse if it is dry gearbox, heat up faster since no oil to disperse the heat.

For manual car, it will wear out the clutch plate very fast. FYI, I used to drive manual car (yes, stuck in KL city centre traffic jam - Jln Ampang, Tun Razak, Sultan Ismail - nightmare area) and my clutch did not wear out after 9 years, even the mechanic says my clutch is still good when I sell it.

Another question I want to ask is ... when he is doing this ... is the road quite flat ? or going uphill slope all the way ?


But for stops of 8-10 seconds or more, try to shift to N.

BTW, if the car can creep/crawl every 1-3 seconds, I don't call that traffic jam
I only manage to creep forward once every 3-5 minutes, and it can take up to 60 minutes to travel 100m

[jameshy]

I just got to know that a Focus owner has encountered several issues with his 2-month old vehicle. Firstly, he couldn't start the vehicle twice due to some complications in the battery. After the battery was recharged at the service centre, no more issues on that one.

However, just recently he got into trouble again with the vehicle, this time the transmission. He was stuck in a massive traffic jam recently and at crawling speeds he received a message on the display "Transmission Overheating Stop Safely". I presume in crawling speeds the transmission is constantly working or shifting between gears. Coupled by frequent brake application, this may have caused the message to come up. However, I am surprised that he can still drive the vehicle even though he has received this Transmission Overheating message. In the Owner's Manual page 92, it was mentioned that the user will not be able to drive the vehicle until the transmission has cooled down.

My question is, has anybody experienced this with your Focus when the vehicle is stuck in crawling traffic jam situations for say an hour or so?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Here is some explanation on this issue.

Ford's new dual-clutch transmission benefits from human-factors engineering, virtual sensing


Hope it helps and not confuse further.

[ryder]

No worries, now I'm on another dual-clutch, and I get stuck in jam most of every working day.

I understand your point. If it stop start every 1-3 seconds, I don't shift to N also. I just keep in D. But some point to take note for this:
- Once let go brake, must step a bit on accelerator. Do not let it "ride" the cluctch to crawl/creep. If you "ride" it... it is the same as "riding" the clutch-balancing on a manual in traffic jam. Clutch does not engage fully and this will boil up the transmission oil in dual-clutch. It will be worse if it is dry gearbox, heat up faster since no oil to disperse the heat.

For manual car, it will wear out the clutch plate very fast. FYI, I used to drive manual car (yes, stuck in KL city centre traffic jam - Jln Ampang, Tun Razak, Sultan Ismail - nightmare area) and my clutch did not wear out after 9 years, even the mechanic says my clutch is still good when I sell it.

Another question I want to ask is ... when he is doing this ... is the road quite flat ? or going uphill slope all the way ?


But for stops of 8-10 seconds or more, try to shift to N.

BTW, if the car can creep/crawl every 1-3 seconds, I don't call that traffic jam
I only manage to creep forward once every 3-5 minutes, and it can take up to 60 minutes to travel 100m

Thanks for the reply. The driver who got into this Transmission Overheating problem was driving on a rather flat road. It's along the Bukit Jalil highway heading toward Kinrara. He was stuck in a massive jam with the car stationary for long periods in D with the brakes applied. Guess that is where the problem arises.

Yes, I think shifting to N whenver the vehicle is stationary for long periods in traffic jams will prevent the Transmission Overheating message from popping up.

The car only managed to move forward(creep) in every 3 to 5 minutes? Damn, that is one bad traffic jam. 1 hour can travel only 100m? Heavens. I imagine that can only happen if it's a major accident upfront. I consider crawling along a long line of vehicles with stops in between 5 to 10 seconds to be a jam already. It's a common thing along the federal highway during peak hours.

[ryder]

Here is some explanation on this issue.

Ford's new dual-clutch transmission benefits from human-factors engineering, virtual sensing


Hope it helps and not confuse further.

That is a useful and interesting link. Thanks for that.

I find this particular excerpt interesting:-

"With a properly functioning transmission, excessive heat buildup won't occur during normal or even aggressive driving, Rich claimed. Various forms of abusive low-speed/high-load operation, however, can heat up the DSG clutch. The most severe buildup occurs if the driver uses the gas pedal to hold the car on a relatively steep upgrade, or even creep slightly uphill at perhaps 2-4 mph, Rich said."

Notice that the transmission overheating phenomenon will not occur with a properly functioning transmission during normal and aggressive driving. However, it was mentioned that abusive low speed/high load operation can cause the DSG clutch to overheat. I presume "abusive low speed operation" is continuous or erratic creeping of the vehicle in D coupled with holding of the brakes at prolonged periods. That may be the explanation of the transmission overheating in bad traffic situations. Not too sure what does "high-load operation" mean though.

The following write-up in the article is interesting:-

"The most severe buildup occurs if the driver uses the gas pedal to hold the car on a relatively steep upgrade, or even creep slightly uphill at perhaps 2-4 mph, Rich said. The virtual sensor can detect a "hold" and change clutch application torque slightly, so the car will start to roll back (although a warning message precedes that).

The objective is to induce the driver to apply the brakes, which disengages the clutch (producing neutral idle), cooling the clutch.

If the driver attempts to launch repeatedly in a 2-4 mph crawl-along and the clutch assembly is hot, the computer will inhibit launch to allow some cooling."

In the 1st and 2nd paragraphs above, it was suggested that there is a virtual sensor in the Focus that can automatically disengage the Hill Assist when the vehicle is on a slope to prevent overheating. Interesting. It was also further mentioned that the computer can "inhibit launch" if it detects that the clutch is overheating. Not too sure if all this operation is fully functional in our Focus models here in Malaysia.

[cute_boboi]

Thanks for the reply. The driver who got into this Transmission Overheating problem was driving on a rather flat road. It's along the Bukit Jalil highway heading toward Kinrara. He was stuck in a massive jam with the car stationary for long periods in D with the brakes applied. Guess that is where the problem arises.

Yes, I think shifting to N whenver the vehicle is stationary for long periods in traffic jams will prevent the Transmission Overheating message from popping up.

The car only managed to move forward(creep) in every 3 to 5 minutes? Damn, that is one bad traffic jam. 1 hour can travel only 100m? Heavens. I imagine that can only happen if it's a major accident upfront. I consider crawling along a long line of vehicles with stops in between 5 to 10 seconds to be a jam already. It's a common thing along the federal highway during peak hours.

Yeah, try advise the driver to shift to N and see if this problem occurs again.

How bad is the jam on certain days ? I get out from parking onto road, my display still shows -.-- L/100km after 30 minutes stuck in jam. LOL ... too little distance for the computer to calculate my fuel consumption.
The moment I reach enough distance 100-200m, it jump straight to the max that can display 49.9L/100km

[Kevin]

I believe an S-Max driver reported this same issue after a bout of hard driving up Genting. After letting the gearbox cool down, the message disappeared.

[Mr757]

Good info u guys posted here.

I mentioned previously that i got a scare of transmission failure warning when my car was 6k previously (pse check previous posting, lazy to find), and once i put in in p, was unable to shift out of p.

Shut the engine off, and on again, and no further problem till now (26k).

My type of driving rarely encounter traffic jam, though. And i drive an smax.