Ford Focus DCT Ground Mod. Increase Driveability and Reduce Jerkyness 

This can help but there are more grounds on the focus. Under the air box there are two grounds, one for part of the wiring harness and another for the alternator. And you guessed it, they are bolted to painted metal. So when you do the ground up top, do the same for the other two, it'll only take a few more minutes.

Was a Suzuki outboard dealer for years, reminds me of a problem they were having with blowing ECM's. The repair was a separate ground wire specifically from the ECM to the battery ground post. Worked perfectly and was standard on that motor series for years after along with replacing the thumb screws on the battery posts with actual nuts. Forcing the idea of tightening the battery cables with wrenches instead of fingers.

Just did this to my 2014 Focus with 116K. Jerking shifting, gears not engaging, reverse mostly not reversing and in line for an infamously back-ordered TCM. Figured why not try this mod. Day 1: Amazing. Smoothest shifting I've had (got the car with 70k) and all gears seem to be working. I'll drive around tomorrow and over the weekend and see if it holds up, but honestly, I'm surprised it worked so well! Thanks!

Thanks man! Please make “More Ford service videos.” I have 3 and it’s always something. 🎉

great video! I found a way to fix the DCT's... swap the transmission for a manual, lol... Seriously, I successfully swapped the DPS6 automatic transmission in my 2014 Focus for the MTX75 manual transmission & reprogrammed the PCM, and everything works great as if the car was a manual from the factory (complete video series on my channel. Cost my about $1,700 for the swap, and totally worth it.

thank you for the info the engine light came on my 2014 Ford Focus the diagnostic machine said it was transmission problem I was about to take the car to transmission shop to get it fix watched this video from this wise man did the steps the the car runs very well I do not feel the jerking when you stop and go anymore fell like new CAR thank you very much I thing Ford need to hire you to train their Engineers

code p090c cleared. Worked like a dream. Remember also clean battery posts. Man glad you posted this.

Well I think someone is going to be really pissed about this video .WHO, Ford dealers. WHY, well they wanted to pull my trans and change a bunch of stuff at a cost of 2500.00 and you just screwed them out of a bunch of money from us old guys and our lovely wives with this video. YEP it worked like a champ for my 2015 focus and the ford motor company knows what this crappy ground is doing and most likely loving the money they make from it selling unnecessary part with labor. OK NOW I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TO YOU PERSONALY. THANK YOU AND IF I COULD I WOULD BUY YOU AND YOUR LITTLE GIRL DINNER FOR THIS AWESOME VIDEO. THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH.

Worked for me!! Thanks a million

So what I've learned from this, is that if Ford had just not painted these area's where the grounds go, none of this would really be an issue.... Good job maker of cars for over a hundred years

2012 Ford Focus, 145K Previously got "Transmission Failure" and no reverse. Also gear changes were very jerky. Did the 3 ground wires, disconnected the battery (also did the wideband oxygen sensor, to remove the CEL). Took it for a spin, revved it thru the gears - its a dream. Starts fine, drives fine, should easily make it to 150K then onto 200K.

AFTER hearing the disclaimer I said WELL must be a heavy mod, BUT after watching this LOL , I'd think with ANY better grounding then you're much better all around, BUT, I'm very surprised this cause ANY noticeable improvement but I do understand the logic.

You're suppose to change the dual clutch transmission fluid every 60k miles. 2 quarts, was $37 a piece at my local dealership. Only use oem fluid

This is exactly what ford said to do on their tsb. (Technical service bulletins)

Thank you it worked in my ford focus 2011 model. Cheers bro!!!

Theirs 2 more grounding ports underneath the air box filter... I also removed the paint from those👍

This is absolutely good information. My car was down for almost a month before I saw this video and performed the ground improvement hack. Everything’s better, shifting, fuel economy the entire way I feel about my car. Thank you sir for making this video!

3 ground wires 1 from the battery 2 on frame under airfilter case remove all paint from all 3 frame part to get correct grounds

I read the comments and see lots of positive response. I did this too but still tcm, clutch and tranny needed to be changed. So after the change i cleaned the grease , and redo again. New battery CCA 600+. Now so far already done almost 10k miles. Anyone had experienced lasting longer without changing the tcm and clutch?

Thank you!!! You saved me $2700 so I’m not having to swap the TCM!

Hi dear , if you can help me, I have focus 2016 1.5 eachoboost , the car not power full , while kick down or initial moving not that much response like luck of power

Thanks for the video!

It does works thanks for sharing!!

Did you ever think about adding a chassis ground,I bought one of these cars and it currently has shifting issue I just load tested the battery it's weak so I'm gonna try that and possibly this mod as well

I have a 2012 ford focus that does the shuddering when the weather gets hot and going up hill. I tried your trick today cant wait to see if it helped.

Thanks 👍 But the ford focus 2012 is the worst car 🚗 in the planet.. just because of the stupid transmission

Thanks! Great help!

I’m thinking on putting a 5 spd manual in my 2014 Ford Focus

The placebo affect strikes again!!!

i have a 2013 focus se 154000k on it i just tried this with all 3 grounds and for me nothing.

First off NEVER take the positive cable off first. Secondly the motor has to be grounded to the battery by some path or nothing would work at all. Whether it is another cable going from motor to frame, or the motor mount itself being bolted to the frame creating a path. But just that one negative cable is not working. That said, It won't hurt to create a better connection surface for the cable.

Has anyone tried it on Kuga? I have a 2014 with the powershift transmission. Ford and everyone else aren't even listing it as a problem but let me tell you it is. transmission warning light comes on, it loses it's s*** and I have to pull over, turn the car off, start it up again and off I go (until it happens again, which can be 3 times in one trip). It refuses to go into reverse when it happens as well. Hubby is going to give this a go on the weekend because seriously, we just cannot afford a new car.

It has 2 more grounds underneath the air breather box.

I just bought a 2018 with 10k miles 4 days ago and was unfortunately told about this issue and ima give it a try to see if it helps

Can your ford now predict gas mileage better?

This car "REALY" hates a dead battery. If your battery goes dead. You're F'd! There are 2 more grounds under the lower intake box.

My girlfriends 2014 focus se is slipping 1st and 2nd gear. It feels horrible and the car completely comes to a stop. I have a faulty transmission speed sensor that my mechanic friend told me but after watching I’m not sure what to try to fix first.

I'm a woman as seen from the picture lol, but point talk is, can I do it with this ease? Please reply and if you can do other 2 also because I don't know where are other 2 bolts to sand down??! Thank you

Might work bec you need a good ground even to turn over a engine.and paint does block contact.

I have problem in my ford focus 2006 its showing transmission Malfunction ans acculturation decried can u please let me know what is the problem i check with computer but there is nothing is the same this video think i have to do?

Puppies

The only 6dct250/dps6 ground mod capable of improving the transmission is when you modify the location of the entire unit by placing it in the ground with the other garbage we try to forget about

how would given it better ground make it worst.

If you turn off traction control it goes away in the 2016 SE I have

It happens to automatic Ford focuses to. I've got a Ford focus 2014 (SE) I'm debating to fix it.. Ford quoted me 2,500 and 2,000 for a shop that I go to. And I just finished paying it off 🥲

Just did this today and had very positive results. I have a 2016 Focus SE with 35,000 miles and it just started getting jerky when taking off from stoplights, and slipped into neutral once. I also removed the air box to do the same to the other 2 grounding points, doing all this with a disconnected battery. Whether this seems to work because of better grounding or because you reset your transmission in the process, or the combo - the end result is a good one. I also drove it through several rev cycles, letting it shift near red line, as was suggested here to remove any clutch plate glazing. Thanks for sharing this!

Shifts like a teenager who doesn’t know how to drive a manual. Feels like I’m floating the clutch. I really wish I had a manual instead.

This also helps your battery to charge at the correct voltage. Also eliminates headlights flickering when brake pedal is applied. This did smooth out jerky starts for me.

I have a 2012 with no forward movement and skipping in reverse. Cleaned ALL the grounds and got good reverse and some jumping and slipping in forward. Removed Servo and cleaned with Throttle Body cleaner and now it shifts perfectly. THANK YOU SO MUCH, they said $2.5k.

When I had a 2013 focus I found that it drove best when I did two things. 1. I treated the gas pedal as if I was shifting a manual transmission, when I wanted the car to downshift. For people that haven't driven a manual, what I mean is quickly lifting my foot off of the gas pedal (or just allowing the gas pedal to come up) when I intend to have the car change gears. 2. I made sure to keep my brake solidly engaged anytime I was on a hill until I was ready to move forward. With that said I was probably pretty lucky with mine I never had any significant issues. I did sell the car specifically because of fears related to the transmission.

Seriously it’s really works guys. I just tried yesterday. Almost a week my car was jerking. Now I’m driving peacefully thanks mate 👏🏻👍🏻

Absolutely correct. A corroded neg ground bolt can cause all kinds of problems. I'd add taking the ground cable assembly off and solder the ground wire to the lug instead of just the crimp, also sanding the washer on that ground bolt both sides and wire brushing the threads or buy a new one. This DID cause all kinds of problems with my 2013. A glitched computer can do ANYTHING. But removing the painted surface just below the lug is 100% better than the Ford design.

Well if this thing only has one main ground, i wondering if splicing in dedicated grounds to the shift motor will help???

Thank you it word and took 5 minutes. WOW Ford is paying out 500 million for paint on the ground !!!!!!!

I have the same problem with my 2012 Ford Focus, shuddering, and jerking when I take off from a full stop. however, it runs smoothly when I drive it in the morning for around 15 minutes, then after that is starts doing the shuddering. besides, it consumes fuel like a 6 cylinders car! (18 - 22 MPG) I think it's related to the transmission issue

I cleaned paint off 2011 fiesta ground today and car went from undriveable to shifting perfect. This guy is not bullshitting. I actually cleaned 3 ground connections.

Another modification that kinda goes along with this is upgrading the battery cables to something a little bigger. Starting with the ground cables (that is going to make the biggest difference) but it will certainly not hurt to upgrade the positive cable as well. Some people are also installing a secondary drivetrain to body ground and getting rid of the flimsy little strap style grounds that are notorious for oxidizing and turning all green and looking like shit.

I have a 2013 ford focus, last night I was leaving work and I couldn't reverse. Woo, something new to add to the list of things wrong with this car. I tried again this morning to see if she just needed to chill out, and still not reverse. She would go in to gear but when I pressed the gas she acted like she was in neutral. I did this and it worked. I started her back up and boom I can reverse. I appreciate you so much for posting this because if not I would have (excuse my language) been fucked. I cannot thank you enough.

Good video and explanation of the problem. On my 2 focus"s I also got a 18 or 24 inch cable from the auto shop. The ground plate on mine are spot welded to the strut tower. Although you cleaned the ground post it still has to travel through the small spot welds to the chassis. I run the extra cable from this ground post to the other ground points UNDER the air box. Remove your air box and there are at least 3 more ground cables attached, on mine one big to the trans/engine block and 2 smaller gauge. Remove sand clean and grease all off them. Attach your extra cable from the strut tower ground to the large chassis/engine ground.bolt. This doubles up and completes the circle. As an added bonus i then run a cable from one of the small ground to a bolt on the throttle body, bolted to a plastic manifold. The throttle body relies on a small wire in the wiring harness for its ground, so any resistance/corrosion can inhibit its response .The throttle body is insulated from the main engine block by the plastic manifold so the extra wire really helps. This is not just for powershift cars but all Focus models. The ground is marginal when new so any corrosion / resistance as the car ages totally stuffs up the electrical magic . As for powershift models some good videos available. as the shift motor ages(they are just like a wiper motor/winder winder) the carbon brushes wear down causing erratic shifting. A good diy rebuild to clean and put in new brushes. On powershifts if you do lots of stop start city crawling the clutches glaze up. If your in the country, deserted road, motorway on ramp, NAIL that sucker, rev it out and make the gearbox and clutches WORK. 4 or 5 full throttle accelerations from start can really make a big difference to shifting when back to normal driving . 1 Redline a day keeps the mechanic away.

The power shift transmission is a learning transmission. If you drive it slow, it shifts soft. If you drive it hard, it shifts firmer. With the A/C on, it'll shutter more taking off slow. Drive it hard through the gears on a open road a couple times. And it will stop shuttering. And i use the bottom on the side if the shifter when passing, it shifts it down faster. But you have to remember to push it when done passing.

This makes so much sense now. I have been replacing battery terminals and main fuses like crazy. I’m trying this ASAP. Thank you!

Why not add a ground wire to the engine block

This video was great! Good job! No extra bs! Straight to the point in a very easy learning valid informational way! Thanks for sharing

This is really true this is probably the third car that I clean the battery ground and the car works better a lot of the electrical components that need ground to operate they got fixed with this

Better add ground wire to engine and gearbox. I did this to my both MK2/MK3.

Thanks, I just bought a 2015 used Focus for $6.5k with 41k miles. I was real leary about buying it with all the negative news. At this time everything is fine. I think much of the tranny problems are also due to the way people are driving this type car. It is definitely not an automatic transmission and should be driven differently. I'm older and take things a little easier.

So should I just have a ground kill switch and reset learning mode before driving every time?

It does not work for sure it just because the Battery was disconnected.

Well I have 2016 focus. And the duel clutch trans does exactly what it supposed too. Act like a manual with out shifting. Next issue!!!! They had a recall for that bolt to replace too by the way.

This is Machanic work not something for the average person to do.

I did it but didn’t work how ever…. My battery is bad so I need to replace it. And under the air filter cover and battery covers there 2 more ground cables u need to sand off as well this was something I found out while I was working on my car

Just did this for my sister-in-laws 2012 Ford Focus, she had trans problems for years and the dealer was useless. Last time in they told her she needed two clutches in the trans. They never even thought to check the grounds. I did the one by the battery and two under the airbox and now it works fine. Be careful other vids mistakenly smear dielectric grease over the cleaned up (to bare metal) grounding areas..don't do that!! use it only a a rust prohibitive after you tighten the nuts back down.

takes 10 mins. dosent matter if it works or not. good ground is good for 10 other reasons. there is heavy paint on that main ground and i cleaned it to bare metal car idle is better and a/c fan is stronger. tranny shifts better for now, like many said could be b/c of reset when disconnect battery. besides the paint the mount is pretty lite weight and cheap. so running a separate quality ground might be a good thing for some?? many of you have spent ton of money and had your car to dealer for tranny 3 to 4 times. so try it costs nothing and takes ten min. absolutely zero down side

This may help. Like others have said, the dual clutch glazes on these autos. Simply rev through the rev range in the first 3-4 gears multiple times in a row and it should clear up any jerking in the early gears. Ford TSB on this issue states to do this.

My 2013 fiesta 1.0 ecoboost has the dps6 transmission in it and it shifts ok but sounds horrible like metal scratching on metal

I am requesting your help from Dubai, I have a Ford Figo with DPS6 gearbox the car goes into all the gears perfectly and moves at idle but the the car wont accelerate in gear the car. The rpms would increase in park or neutral but not in drive or reverse. Can anyone help please? This problem started when the car was put on lift and shifted in drive then it was put down and gears stopped working.

i have ford focus 2014 automatic 2.0 since one month sometimes from 1st gear to second i have very bad jerk in m car so i have shown to many garadges and in the end its shown in the computer its a issue with clutch actuator.so i did replaced a new one now there is no issue with the jerk only the thing when i put it drive the car not moving unless i press the accelrator what is this issue

I can't believe that it worked I cleaned the paint off and up till now the gears are changing ok at 2,000 rpm , see how it goes 🙏

The flimsy (i.e. cheap) ground that Ford has been using on all of their cars is a known problem that also can cause problems with starter motor operation and ignition misfiring. Cars used to have ground cables attached to the engine and to the body. On my 2012 Focus I added a battery cable from the ground post to the engine. Used a 3 foot cable with lugs at both ends. The head has two unused threaded (metric) holes on the back side - attached the cable lug to the hole nearest the right fender (easiest to access). On the ground post used star washers between the two cable lugs and between lug and body sheet metal (also sanded the body sheet metal). Routed the new cable along the other cables running under the cowl at top rear of engine compartment (3 cable ties). Made a neat installation with plenty of strain relief at each end.

Will this cause a P2017 code?

846 Carbon Conductive Grease is good for the terminal to bare metal surfaces as it conducts electricity and helps prevent corrosion. After the connection is made then put on the dielectric grease as the waterproofer and to protect the showing bare metal from rust and corrosion. Not hijacking the video, just sayin.

I did this on my 2012 Focus when it was new and my transmission has been okay. 180,000 miles.

Nice info, my daughter has a 2015 Ford Focus hatch back with the jerky transmission. I'll have to let her know about this and it might help them out on this.

In electronics we call it ground bounce. When the current spikes from the motors running the ground voltage jumps making the electronics in the module see incorrect logic values among other things. Your fix is correct.

Tried it. Didn't work for me, sadly :( I have a Ford Focus 2012 with automatic transmission. I'm facing the same issue of jerking. Had its TCM replaced 15-20 days ago, but still has the same problem. But something which is very odd is, this problem is not there ALWAYS, and by that I mean, if I start the car for the first time in the day, the car will run okay, gear transmission is very smooth, no sounds or anything. Then I turn the car off, take the key out, lock it, and when I come back to it, unlock it, start the car, it starts the trouble of jerking, 1st gear sometimes feels okay but sometimes powerless, then when it shifts to 2nd gear it gives a big jerk with some noises, and same continues to happen. One thing that is important to note is that I've observed when this problem arrives, the car won't go to S (Sports) mode, I mean the gear lever will physically be at S but my display won't show S highlighted, that is when I know the jerk problem is back. Also if I try to move car at S (with the problem) it stays in the first gear and won't shift at all. Then to get rid of this issue, I have to park my car somewhere, switch it off, take the key out, and lock it with the remote key, few seconds later, I'd unlock it and start the car, then I check to see if the car goes to S mode, if it does, the problem is gone, for that very moment, it will keep on running smooth even on S as well as D, smooth shifts, no jerks, at all until my next stop where I'll turn it off and lock it. I had dropped the car at the garage from where I got the transmission module replaced 2 days back. Today I was told it is ready to be picked up, I went to pick it up, tried driving the car, everything felt normal, no problems at all, also tried switching it off and on, problem didn't come back, until night when I went on a ride again but used S mode with selective gear shifting, I stopped at a shop and when I came back, again the same problem as before. I'm not sure if it is the module itself, or there's something wrong with the ECU or anything. I can also share a video of what happens with the car. Also there is no check light on the meter. System information shows all systems are normal, too. Can anybody help?

He is right that fixes the shifting problem but this transmission got a recall on tcm or pcm 150 000 miles or 240 000 km go get a tcm installed by dealer

My wife's car has been acting up I just watched ur video an went an done it to hers an it fixed it I really appreciate ur video we called the dealer not long ago an found out her warranty just ran out 3 days before we called an they said there wasn't anything they could do I wad about to have a new transmission put it in but not now that's awesome buddy thanks alot

I got 160k miles on my powershift. Sometimes it’s jerky but still shifts smooth

I noticed that your video is 4 yrs old, and I was wondering if you still have the car and if so have you had any more problems with this issue” the reason I’m asking you is that I Have a 2012 Ford Focus Titanium Hatchback and for most of its now thirteen year lifespan it’s been garaged kept with only just over 32000 miles on it and I have just recently had this very same problem and of course it’s well out of the warranty area of its life, my Focus is an automatic and I have always pampered it never drove it hard at all, it’s still smells Brand new and is in excellent condition until this problem I really want to try this out because I do not want to have to take it to the dealership because they will try and rake me over the coals if you know what I mean, so any input or hope would be appreciated if you could let me know if this truly fixed the issue!

I'm not sure whether uploader see this command, but this actually works! Idk why dumb ford dealer try to make me pay $2k for this fix. Just did this method, drives totally fine. This is worth give a shot at least, highly recommended! Here's what I paid from walmart Wrench : $9 Grease : $3 or so Sandpaper : $2 or so Less than total 15!!!! Totally take it. If it doesn't work, still 15 bucks are not that much money. So try!

The reason this seems to work is because disconnecting the battery clears the adaptive learning. After awhile the car will learn all your bad habits and start shuddering all over again. I know because I tried it.

anyone around Denver work on these transmissions?

This worked AMAZINGLY for me. Thanks so much man!

8:02 “focusing in on” unintentional pun 😂

Volkswagen tranny ford dudads troubleshooting

There’s two under the air box as long also

Thank youi, great video, I'm the not so proud owner of the 2014 model, it has had the automatic transmission modules replaced 3x, most of the repair work was done in Florida. Ford kept the car for 3 months at one time and gave me a free rental for the period while I waited patiently I might add. I got mad one time at the dealer I bought the car from and they extended my warranty to 100,000 on the drive train, thank god. Sorry I know I'm being long winded here, but the last time they put a new trans module in [ they updated the software] and bingo it ran like top after that. YAY!!! Now I'm going to try this guys grounding trick. Other than these issues it's not all that bad a car. I get almost 42 mpg on a trip with synthetic oil btw. Anyway I hope this info. I have shared can help someone else!

I think I will try this, I'm almost sure that the shakes and some "clack clack" noises I get in some gear shifting (even after I have changed all the dual clutch kit and reprogrammed the TCM..) is due to this ground bad contact 🙄 I think also it's the same shit that makes the battery signal appear intermittently on dashboard 🙄

Did this with a new battery and ALSO found the Aftermarket radio was killing the battery installed a Socket Fuse and switch the radio off and it drives way better took me long enough to find a way to disconnect the radio directly at the source

Great vid .. 8:01 “this is the area we are Focusing on” Thanks for posting