Transmission Malfunction

smr · 30 May 2020 at 16:38

Hi,

Yesterday I was washing my car, and then cleaned the windows. Whilst cleaning the windows I think I must have had the POWER on, as I had to put the electric windows half way whilst cleaning and the doors were open giving the ding ding alarm sound. Must have been cleaning the windows and mirrors for around 20-30 minutes.

When I then finished I soon after got in the car and went to drive... but it wouldn't start. Eventually the power wouldn't work at all, so a mechanic came out and diagnosed it as being a dead battery.

He recharged it over night and came back this morning, said the battery is fine and all but may need replacing in this Winter.

He said there's a message on the display reading that there's a Transmission Malfunction but that it wasn't anything to worry about and said I could clear the message.

I've just been out for a drive and there's definitely something not right with it. The gears aren't shifting properly and revving really high, it feels like it won't get out of third gear or something and will just keep revving highly, I went on an A road and didn't want to go to 70mph as it would have been in the 5+ to 6k rev range.

It's an automatic gear box, 1.6 Ford Focus 2013.

Any thoughts?

Gaygle · 30 May 2020 at 17:58

Dead and dying batteries frequently cause these sorts of sensor issues. I imagine it's something to do with not being able to keep a steady voltage and all sensors work off varying a voltage or whatever.

If it's the original battery, it's probably due for replacement as 7 years is kind of the life expectancy of them. How many drives have you been on? You might find that the fault clears itself after a while when the battery gets more juice in it.

smr · 30 May 2020 at 18:01

Gaygle said:
Dead and dying batteries frequently cause these sorts of sensor issues. I imagine it's something to do with not being able to keep a steady voltage and all sensors work off varying a voltage or whatever.

If it's the original battery, it's probably due for replacement as 7 years is kind of the life expectancy of them. How many drives have you been on? You might find that the fault clears itself after a while when the battery gets more juice in it.

Just the one drive which was for about 15-20 minutes but it just didn't sound right and I was worried about the engine and gears as it was revving really high from say 2nd gear the RPMS were much higher than usual and then it would change gear to what seemed like 3rd/4th but didn't seem to go into a higher gear, just revved at 4k - 5k.

Gaygle · 30 May 2020 at 18:17

I'd go out a do a few trips in it. The fault may well clear with a few restarts of the engine.

Gaygle · 30 May 2020 at 18:21

You could also try this (see description also)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCVWYIPIPK4

smr · 30 May 2020 at 19:09

I've just been out again and there's no improvement. It just revs really high sometimes. Tried doing that reset as well and it doesn't appear to have worked. It can't be a fault mechanically with the gearbox as it was fine before my battery died.

vanpeebles · 30 May 2020 at 19:53

It's possible that it's learning its settings again if the battery was dead.

snapdragon69 · 31 May 2020 at 10:04

I would disconnect the battery again for a few minutes and reconnect cleanly, by cleanly, I mean instantly without bouncing and dragging the connection. Maybe the guy crashed a control module or got it stuck in an abnormal state when reconnecting. Did he recharge the battery off the car? Did he take the whole car away or just the battery? If the battery was charged on the car with it still connected, there is a small chance it over-voltaged and fried something.

Orionaut · 31 May 2020 at 10:56

smr said:
It can't be a fault mechanically with the gearbox as it was fine before my battery died.

That is a bad conclusion.

It may be the case, it may not, but you shouldn't assume it. Have you actually checked the transmission fluid level and condition?

smr · 31 May 2020 at 11:16

vanpeebles said:
It's possible that it's learning its settings again if the battery was dead.

How long does it need to learn its settings. I mean I can drive at 40mph at the moment and it feels like it's in between gears sitting high on the revs... and when I sometimes go from what seems like 2nd to 3rd it really revs high before changing.

smr · 31 May 2020 at 11:17

snapdragon69 said:
I would disconnect the battery again for a few minutes and reconnect cleanly, by cleanly, I mean instantly without bouncing and dragging the connection. Maybe the guy crashed a control module or got it stuck in an abnormal state when reconnecting. Did he recharge the battery off the car? Did he take the whole car away or just the battery? If the battery was charged on the car with it still connected, there is a small chance it over-voltaged and fried something.

What does bouncing and dragging the connection mean? He recharged the battery on the car over night and came back in the morning.

smr · 31 May 2020 at 11:19

Orionaut said:
That is a bad conclusion.

It may be the case, it may not, but you shouldn't assume it. Have you actually checked the transmission fluid level and condition?

Orionaut said:
That is a bad conclusion.

No but it recently had a full service at Ford around 5 months ago and it's just a coincidence isn't it that the battery died and now the gearings all hay wire?

Orionaut · 31 May 2020 at 11:52

Nevertheless, Check the fluid for level and condition.

It probably is an electrical issue related to the battery failure and the fluid will be fine. But as part of the diagnostic process. The basics should always be checked first.

The first thing to check with any Auto box problem is the fluid level and condition.

snapdragon69 · 31 May 2020 at 15:48

smr said:
What does bouncing and dragging the connection mean? .

It means when you attach the connector, you rest it on move it around to align it and it arcs and crackles. If it was charged on the car and was fine before, it could have been fried by excessive voltage, the owners manual will almost certainly tell you not to charge it this way. I would still disconnect and reconnect the battery and if no change, you will need to get someone to do a fault code scan. I doubt it is relearning it's adaptations as that will be stored in non-volatile memory.

smr · 1 Jun 2020 at 11:20

Took the Car to a nearby mechanic earlier this morning and he's fixed the fault by clearing the messages and resetting them or something, with a tablet plugged into the Car.