In the mid-70’s, the Ford Fiesta was designed to offer people a practical transportation solution, for very little money. Americans didn’t much care for subcompact cars at the time, so the little Ford went away after the 1980 model year. It remained a strong seller in international markets, but the Fiesta wouldn’t return to North America until 2011 (the car you’re thinking of was called the Ford Festiva).
What Transmission Do I Have?
When the 6th generation Fiesta finally debuted in early 2009, it brought a whole new standard of quality and equipment to the subcompact segment. Buyers could now get high-end features like voice-activated infotainment, and leather upholstery. A six-speed PowerShift dual-clutch transmission was also available, making the Fiesta the first affordable subcompact to combine the quick-shifting capabilities of a manual transmission, with the excellent fuel economy of an automatic.
Does something seem wrong with your Fiesta? Let’s look at some of the most common Ford Fiesta transmission problems, and see what you can do to get your car back on the road.
Ford Fiesta Recalls
No transmission-related recalls
Ford Fiesta Technical Service Bulletins (TSB)
2011-2014Fiesta – TSB 15-0090-15-0043 / 10058318
Problem:
According to Ford, certain 2011-2014 Fiesta’s that are equipped with the Ford DPS6 automatic transmission, may experience excessive transmission clutch shudder during light acceleration, and/or fluid leaks from the clutch housing. This is due to fluid contamination of the clutch, caused by failed input shaft seals.
Solution:
Depending on the severity of the damage, the clutch may be able to be cleaned, and both input shaft seals replaced. However, the clutch itself may need to be replaced as well.
2011-2015 Fiesta – TSB 44852 / 10057815
Problem:
If the above repair to fix clutch contamination isn’t done correctly, the new input shaft seals could swell and rupture, causing the same problem to occur again.
Solution:
When cleaning the bell housing and clutch assembly, allow ample time for the parts to dry before installing the new input shaft seals. Otherwise, the cleaning solvent can cause the new seals to swell and rupture.
2014 Fiesta – TSB 14-0063-14-0135 / 10056929
Problem:
Certain examples of the 2014 Ford Fiesta that are equipped with the 1.6L Ti-VCT engine, may display an MIL warning lamp, and store one or more of the following diagnostic trouble codes: P2610, P286F, or P06B8.
Solution:
The Powertrain Control Module (PCM) and Transmission Control Module (TCM) will need to be updated with the latest transmission control software, using IDS release 89.02 or higher.
What Transmission Do I Have?
How to Diagnose & Fix
- Check the OBD Codes
- Check the fluid level
- Test transmission pressure
- Drop the transmission pan
- Repair, replace or rebuild
What to Read Next
Related Forum Discussions
Over to You
[poll id=”12″] [poll id=”13″]What Problem Does Your Fiesta Have?
Let us know the year, mileage and problem you’re having as well as any trouble (OBD) codes you’ve found. If you’ve been given a quote or paid for a repair, we’d like to hear about that too!
Something loose in transmission not safe to drive needs a replacement for TRANSMISSION
2014 Ford Fiesta Problems
VIN 3FADP4BJEM132369 TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS
My car is making a loud noise rattling acts like it don’t want to drive forward the mechanic said that there’s something loose in the transmission I have to take care of my elderly mom she’s a cancer survivor can’t get her back and forth to the doctor I can’t go to my physical therapy and every Ford dealership in my area are booked and can’t get to it until December or January what am I supposed to do only had the car a year on a set income
Hi.i did scan and finded that in actuator A stock on.do I need replace both actuator forks A and B? Or just replace fork A is ok?.because fork B is ok and release .my car is ford fiesta dual clutch automatic .
2013 automatic transmission will not downshift when going uphill
Transmission light reads problem
Roaring noise. Stops when you put in Neutral
2014 ford festia every now and then it wont go into revers and it said transsmisson hot I love my car but im still paying for it and im scared its going to break down
I have a 2011 Ford Fiesta. If I’m at a stop sign or stop light and go to take off it shakes and shutters and I can hear an electrical sound. It’s very noticable and really embarrassing. It does this every single day. My engine light will come on every now and then, and it goes back off. No codes are being thrown. Sometimes I’ll go to take off and it won’t even move. Then finally it’s like it finds the gear and takes off and shutters and shakes. This is by far the worst car I’ve ever owned. I’ve had 2 recalls on it. One my doors stopped latching, and my driver side door popped open on me on the highway. I never received a letter in the mail over that. They told me that while I went up there for that reason. I had to literally hold it closed until I could make it somewhere with bungee cords just to keep my door(s) closed. Then I received another recall for an upgrade on my transmission, it doesn’t even act like they did anything to it. I’m so over this car, I’ve spent thousands of dollars and I still continue to have to get something fixed on it. Never buying Ford again.
I have a 2011 Ford Fiesta. If I’m at a stop sign or stop light and go to take off it shakes and shutters and I can hear an electrical sound. It’s very noticable and really embarrassing. It does this every single day. My engine light will come on every now and then, and it goes back off. No codes are being thrown. Sometimes I’ll go to take off and it won’t even move. Then finally it’s like it finds the gear and takes off and shutters and shakes. This is by far the worst car I’ve ever owned. I’ve had 2 recalls on it. One my doors stopped latching, and my driver side door popped open on me on the highway. I never received a letter in the mail over that. They told me that while I went up there for that reason. I had to literally hold it closed until I could make it somewhere with bungee cords just to keep my door(s) closed. Then I received another recall for an upgrade on my transmission, it doesn’t even act like they did anything to it. I’m so over this car, I’ve spent thousands of dollars and I still continue to have to get something fixed on it. Never buying Ford again.
Loss or reverse and shudder early in acceleration
Makes a noise-like gears turning-when u turn key on-no reverse but has gotward
Turn key on trans.makes a noise before it cranks&then no reverse but u have forward-replaced neutral safety switch-same problem
I have a 2012 Ford Fiesta SEL and it has been giving me issues especially the transmission problems. At times it jerks when trying to speed up. Shaking. It has been doing this since I bought it. But Everytime I take it to the dealership. They say it doesn’t have a recall on it.
I have 2012 Fiesta hatchback. Manual transmission. I have under 60,000 miles. First transmission replaced at 50,000 miles. Advised current transmissions needs to be replaced after 9,000 miles. It makes high pitched whine; hard to get in reverse and comes out of 5th gear. Is there defect in these manuals like the automatic I keep reading about?
My 2012 ford fiesta drops out of reverse after a very short time
So far, my new 2019, Ford Fiesta se, automatic, has been ok! It’s averaging 36.7 mpg.
2014 fiesta hatchback. Engine shudder
2011 fiesta 1.6 automatic. Trans making crunchy noises while turning. Thought it was tire rub but no such luck. Drivers side tire when jacked up makes the noise when rotated
My 2014 fiesta has an issue when I push in the clutch and let off the break it wants to take off without letting out the clutch
Yes, exact same issue just started with my 2014 Fiesta, manual transmisson. I had to kill the engine to keep it from continuing to reverse out into a street. A d sometimes now will not go into first gear after stopped in neutral.
I have a 2013 ford fiesta and the transmission light came on and the wrench light ! It says on my dash, Transmission malfunction, service now ! What is going on ?
Same here. Over heated transmission? Car doesn’t back up. Working on this right now. What happened to yours? How many miles did yours have?
I have a 2014 fiesta. Battery (4yrs old) began causing lots of relay chatter, various warning messages, wrench on and off twice in a matter of minutes, check engine stayed on for 3 days, now off. I’ve been having to charge my battery(short periods) because it’s old and I’m broke because it gets to about 10 volts and won’t crank. (About a month of this) if I drive say 25-30 miles it will crank even if it sat at work all day(or home) I minimize all electrical usuage, ie daytime lights, dome lights, etc. remember, lots of relay chatter ok. Yesterday, 1-18-20, I heard what sounded like gear mesh/crunch for just a few seconds and found no visible damage under car. That was ten miles into trip. 20 miles left then 30 miles home and one more 30 to work the next day. Park on an incline (slight) 7 hours later, car rolled out but had zero transmission! D,r, standard! Nothing! Took the only relay under hood that exactly matched r3 or transmission module I think, it was cooling fan relay. Put fan relay in trans module place and car was drivable again. Drove 30 miles, without cooling fan relay(not recommended) with heater on and thank God a cool night and made it home. I have my last clutch or whatever repair ford will do for free in the morning. That’s what happened to me today! P.s. God is good!
Hey sorry for the late update. Overheated transmission for me turned into a broken clutch in my automatic transmission. Over a thousand dollars later…. car is working good as new.
Ford had a part warrantee for the transmission’s computer as the part was faulty, but the warrantee is for a certain amount of miles. In the end it was a broken clutch for my car and not the computer. Good luck to everyone out there.
Same with me I have a 2012 and it does not want to back up. Have you fixed yet?what was the problem?
What was it mine just started today
Did your battery die? If so…. you have a recalled tcm ford will pay to put another 1 in but if the extended warranty isn’t up…. I own a 2014 ford fiesta and it did the same thing cause my battery died my car would only go up to 4 gears and acted like it was in sport mode but was clearly messed up. It would randomly go into neutral when downshift…. I think you have 1 of 600000 recalled cars…. mine was. Hope this helps.