Re: Ford Fusion reverse gear

This is increasingly becoming a problem for ALL car manufacturers. The complexity of the electrical systems is increasing exponentially, and the knowledge of the dealer mechanics is not increasing at the same rate. On top of that, most of this stuff is designed to be replaced in large expensive modules, in order to make troubleshooting easier. This means even minor repairs become expensive, and even worse it means that board-swapping "changineers" can very rapidly turn a minor problem into an enormous expense.

Hell, look at Mercedes...... and don't even get me started on the newer BMW electronics...

--scott

I was talking to a guy I know today who bought a GMC p/u from me when I used to sell used cars. 100,000 miles and one tranny later, the thing is still going. He loads about 3 tons of scrap in it regularly to bring to the recycler's.

I said to him, pointing to my Scion, "Toyota occasionally makes a lemon, GM ocassionally makes a good one..."

Generalization, but GM would be in better shape if their paradigm more closely matched Toyota's...

Actually, the Rabbit was kind of hit or miss, too. For every 3 good ones there was one really horrible copy.

My tC is a 2005 with 26,000 miles. I'll get there sooner, but not by much...

I've opened two G5M's, and see no evidence to support synchronized reverse. Further proof is when you try to go into reverse immediately after pressing the clutch without letting the input shaft spin down. It grinds. Both of my G5M's did it. The FSM I have says it's got a sync'd reverse. I don't believe it. If you look at how the linkage works, there is a straight-cut gear that flips upward to link the input and output shafts and reverse the direction of the output in the process of doing so. There is no syncronizer on the reverse fork that I can see.

As far as the symptom that the OP is mentioning, it sounds like something went casters-up in the linkage inside the box. Might be easier to find a good used junkyard transaxle and put that into the car and fix the one you have as time permits. At only 30k the bearings and syncronizers -should- be in perfect shape, so the repair might be as simple as replacing one or two hard parts and resealing the case halves. The fact that the forward gears are still working is a very good sign. The G5M isn't terribly hard to take apart, I did mine with a a few sockets and a hammer and punch to remove the roll pin from the

Chris

Yup, on many transaxles the norm is to do away with any machined hub on the back of the side gears (probably saves a penny), so it is always wise to secure any unfamiliar differential side gear with a suitable pipe or what-have-you during axle removal. Bet you're an expert on that gearbox now, huh?! :-)

May Ford Focus has been flawless so far, with about 13,000 mi on it.

Evidence that Ford Foci have more problems than other cars, please.

Jeff

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The technology is excellent. At least until recently, the reliability of VWs has not been that good, however.

The technology is excellent. At least until recently, the reliability of VWs has not been that good, however.

You can use the word quality, or durability, or product integrity if you wish instead of "technology".. The fact is that VW, even now, is not as good as it should be.

Nothing is as good as it should be, sadly. The real world is just like that.

In the eighties and nineties, VW fell for the common German delusion that one should never use one part when five would do. This philosophy is very contrary to the original spirit of the VW Bug. Sadly it is a problem that is no longer exclusively German, either.

On the other hand, the British philosophy is that one should never use one part when a piece of rope would do. It is possible to go too far in the other direction as well.

--scott

ROTFLMAO....too true

I wouldn't rule out the 2000s either. As the cost of the VW product goes up (think Phaeton, Tourag or the Audi and Porsche lines in general) the amount of extra crap increases proportionally. It seems that most of the stuff that could be eliminated is what fails the most; my favorite being the $600 secondary air pump, a part no more advanced than a $25 hair dryer. For $600 they can't at least make the part durable? Don't forget the poorly designed turbo diesels (90's) available in even the cheapest of VWs. Add that they (VW) target the eclectic buyer that manages to 'like' the car a whole bunch but can't see fit to fix it when it fails. Then those cars become 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hand used car sales to either poor folk or people who will never ever fix their car under any circumstances. That's why VW sucks and why working on VWs for a living sucks.

Wow, 13,000 miles and nary a problem yet? That's amazing! You'll have to accept anecdotal evidence (shouldn't be a problem since you freely offer the same), but I see virtually every Focus nickel and dime their customers pretty badly, and a good number cause enough expensive problems to total the car (as they lose value very quickly that isn't too hard). It's tough to sell anything as their customers don't spend any money anyway. As I said in an earlier post, I think the Focus is actually a bit better in reliability and cost of ownership than most other Ford products, but that isn't saying much.

Some of my friends would add to your comment that owning them sucks too ;>)

As I have said, I have owned two Passats, both really good cars. My friends have gotten some lemons. They cant seem to make either a good, or a poor, product consistently.

Is that why Ford is out selling Toyota and besting Toyota in many of the customer surveys?

Take a look at what vehicles the currier fleets are buying. Currier car are run 24 hours, a days seven days a week, and easily run to 100,000 miles or more a year and they are not buying Toyotas. When the do choose a foreign car over Fords, they buy Korean cars. LOL

I applaud your friends' thoughts! The problem is, I've never met anyone who didn't think their VW/Audi was the greatest thing ever or at minimum a good solid car that was perfect for their needs. I guess they are the perfect cars to drive into the ground while never fixing anything.

Toyota owners are known to perform regular maintenance on their cars much better than many other makes' owners. LOL

Indeed, they make unreliable vehicles! The 2009 JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study shows them second from last! Only Suzuki is making worse. Not sure how Land Rover finally got out of last place this year...

Actually every manufacture is making great stuff today. What these surveys REALLY prove is that ALL vehicles are falling into the 2% failure rated for ALL manufactured products, if stated in percentages rather than a list.

If one surveyed only the worlds ten finest cars, one would be on the top and another on the bottom but they would still be the worlds ten finest car.

Get real. Any car will easily run to 250,000 miles if given the proper preventive maintenance.

What happens in the real world is the longer one own a vehicle the more poorly they have it maintained

Look at corporate fleet vehicles that are run for five year or 300,000 miles because federal corporate deprecation tax laws. They are extremely well maintained as a result