Ford C-MAX (2003 - 2010) - 2004 1.6 CDTi - CVT Gearbox

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Tue 5 Feb 2008 11:10
2004 1.6 CDTi - CVT Gearbox - sheilag
I have recently tried to part ex my 2004 cmax cvt 1.6 tdci but 2 dealers have refused to even off a price. They say it's because of the cvt box. The car is immaculate , full service history 24,000 miles in zetec trim. Has anyone expereinced this problem or had trouble with the box please?

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 05/02/2008 at 12:47

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Tue 5 Feb 2008 11:19
CVT GEARBOX - Collos25
A lot of dealers won't touch them because after market warranty companies don't like them,they have got a bad name with some reason that they seem to have more than there fair share of problems and are not easy to fix.Best place to exchange it will be a Ford dealers I personally would not touch one with a barge pole.
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Tue 5 Feb 2008 12:04
CVT GEARBOX - madf
Agree with Andy. Long and well known history of problems with CVT boxes.
Bargepole job.

Try to sell it privately and accept any offer within £2k of what you really want for it.

They are imo a very expensive repair waiting to happen. (That's if you can find anyone qualified to repair them... and exchange gearboxes I believe are not cheap).

As a private buyer I would not buy one. Full stop.

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Mon 16 Jun 2008 16:54
CVT GEARBOX - rjo
hi
I have a 04/2004 1.6 I duratorq 80kw (109 ps) with durashift CVT 1560 diesel.
late 07 I wrote on this site that I had the dreaded 'stuck in park ' problem and it cost £390 to replace the unit.
Also even worse the gearbox bust in a split second and with no joy at all from my garage or Fords I went to Stephens Engineering N13 5UU and Jason put a new gearbox in and it costs £1345 as against Fords price of £3280
I can highly recommend Stephens, well worth a call,tel 020-8889-8181
I know I am stuck with the car and sadly yesterday the transmission malfunction sign came up again.
But I read here to park and wait a bit and sure enough it was ok again.
Laugh , I had tidied the car up ready for a family wedding and had no tools on me at all, and even asked 4 Policemen in Jeep cars if I could borrow a screwdriver to release the gear change lever so that I could park, but they had not one!!
A kind man in a local garden lent me his penknife and at last I could park and turn the engine off.
So never got to the rehersal, hope I actually get to the real event
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Mon 16 Jun 2008 18:47
CVT GEARBOX - nottsruss
Our 04 plate with only 13000 miles on clock was so unreliable frigthened to go further than local shops , would loose power and die in most award situations , then fly by wire throttle link would not function ..... worse ford out and they know , 15 page diaognostic report and still couldnt pin point problems. Pug engine and cvt box are a disaster !!!
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Tue 17 Jun 2008 15:36
CVT GEARBOX - rjo
very disappointing.
well tomorrow I am paying over £100 to get a diagnostics report on my trans malfuction, so will let you know
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Wed 29 Dec 2010 14:11
CVT GEARBOX - rjo

thought I would update you on my 04 C-Max,now Dec 29 /10

well aprt from transmission malfunction coming up and I stop when suitable place, engine off,have a coffee,engine on and ok again,and also if when I park, the drive gear refuses to move to park i smack it over to manual then smack it firmly up tp park and its fine.

She does not like the narrow road humps and at the moment I am waiting for my friendly local mechanic to find the latest fault ,a limp home problem, not a fun drive home in foot of snowy sludge and rush hour.

I can't afford to part exchange,as I was naive enough to buy the car new with all the extras, but I love it, its great to drive and very very comfortable.

Ford were totally useless with help and after jan 05 did not use my sort of engine anymore.

Hopefully the car will see me out,but if not I would never buy a new car again.

Happy new year to all you C-Max Owners

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Mon 24 Jan 2011 20:42
CVT GEARBOX - Pavillion
With the passage of time the story of the CFT23 is becoming clearer, and whilst I have written a longer article elsewhere about the gearbox, perhaps this is a good time and place for a summary.

1) The ZF design of the gearbox is essentially sound, we know this because some examples have achieved high mileages without problem. Unfortunately it would appear that Ford was not very good at making the gearbox when it took over from ZF. Ford had significant production problems at Batavia, with some parts and assembled transmissions being virtually hand made, this lead to slow and unreliable production, and a lottery in terms of the customer getting a good gearbox.
2) The CFT23 was wrong gearbox for the 1.6 diesel engine as it is now widely know that the torque handling of the gearbox was less than the engine can develop. Ford should have used the CFT30 in the C-Max which would have been a better match.
3) The service interval at 75,000 miles is wildly optimistic. I and another person have both changed the fluid (at 23,000 and 62,000 miles) and found the fluid to be expired. The specified service by Ford is a fluid only change; without a new filter this is plain wrong.

What should you do?
a) If you’re thinking of buying a C-Max 1.6 diesel automatic, don’t.
b) If you’ve got one and it is still working and you want to keep it, change the transmission fluid and filter as soon as possible. It is a DIY job, but a professional flush might be better.
c) If you’ve got one and don’t want to pay the cost of a fluid and filter change, sell it.

If you fall in to the “b” group above, it may still be that as a result of the service that you are advised or come to the opinion that the gearbox is likely to fail and should sell it, but at least you will be armed with some knowledge and a service of a few hundred pounds is still cheaper than a new gearbox. These are my personal opinions, but I’m confident that those who’ve been unlucky would agree.

Good luck,
Pavillion.
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Sat 29 Jan 2011 18:48
CVT GEARBOX - derby72

I have posted before about the problems with my daughters Cmax the latest letter from Ford tells me they can do no more to help because the car was taken from the dealership when they wanted to charge storage!

The letter agrees that a new gearbox is neaded even thought the car has done only 47000 miles, and as Pavillion posts there seems to be a recognised fault with these transmissions.

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Thu 3 Feb 2011 21:25
CVT GEARBOX - np@bristol

I am not sure whether my car Ford C-Max Focus Ghia 2.0 automatic(56 reg) has a CVT gearbox. It has done 28k miles. I have noticed that at uphill junctions when in D(drive) car rolls back before I pulll away the car rolls back. I have also tried this on medium uphill gradients and takling the foot off the brake the car rolls backwards in despite being in D(Drive) Is this a begining of the gearbox problem. Ford Garage tells me that this is normal and nothing to worry about

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Sun 29 Jan 2012 20:13
CVT GEARBOX - KazCook

Ford C- Max TDCi automatic on 2004 plate purchased from private dealer, September 2010, mileage 24,731. Test drove a 2008 model and loved the driving position, perfect for my back problems and did not think twice when I found a slightly older one for half the price!

May 2011 stalled at traffic lights. restarted. put into D stalled. over and over again until battery flat. AA rescued. - 7 fault codes inc. transmission. Local Ford garage repaired MAF sensor. Mileage 30,303

June 2011 stalled in school car park. Put into D stalled, over and over again. AA towed back to Ford garage and spoke to them describing symptoms and wrote gearbox on his report.. Car returned 2 days later said nothing wrong could be found. Mileage 30,704

6 Jan 2012 Car started on a return journey put into R stalled. Every gear tried but stalled everytime. Back to Ford Garage. This time needs the transmission replaced cost £2800. Mileage 36,604.

Legal advice taken. Complaint sent to Garage under Sale of Goods and Services Act 1982 in that they had failed to diagnose the correct problem(s) and allowed me to carry on driving causing the complete failure of the gearbox.

My case and lack of car is still ongoing but after receiving a call from the complaints manager at the garage who amongst other things said he had been in contact with "FORD" who had advised him that they could not help as 1. No known problems with the transmission on this car. and 2. I was not the original owner and therefore not their customer, which was fair comment.........until I googled transmission repairs for my car and the top answer was this forum on the honestjohn website!

I am now part of this mess and wish I could think of a way of tracing all the affected C -MAX owners driving around in thier "grenades with the pin out" or completely out of pocket in the past.

If anyone has any updates on their own C-max CVT problems especially Legal or contact with Ford please post. Cheers K.

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Sun 29 Jan 2012 20:35
CVT GEARBOX - rjp

With AutoLaw's help I am preparing to take action in the fast track of the county court. Part of our evidence will be an IAEA Assessor's report on the premature failure of C-Max CVT transmissions. We heard last week that Ford may now make a written offer it believes will prove acceptable to me. See http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=81143 for more details.

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Tue 7 Feb 2012 09:18
CVT GEARBOX - JW_LEES

Hi, I have read your post with interest, but regarding changing the CVT oil I have had a detailed look at the box & I cannot see any visible drain or filler points apart from the cooling hoses which go to the rad. what is the best way to do this & would the hoses need to be bled to get the air out ? Regards. John

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Wed 8 Feb 2012 19:12
CVT GEARBOX - Pavillion

Hello John,

I have written an article about the C-Max which should guide you, the link is;

www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/14179-cvt-hist...e

If you need more help leave another message here.

Pavillion.

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