Yesterday we were called to Orford Just outside of Woodbridge in Suffolk to a 2013 ford fiesta with an automatic gearbox fault. The vehicle had been to a local ford dealer who diagnosed a faulty gearbox ECU (TCU). The TCU is the control unit that is in control of all gearbox functions.
Upon arrival in Orford we plugged in Ford IDS and ran a self diagnostic test that showed a number of gearbox related errors. We then checked out the firmware and software to ensure this was upto date, As we suspected the gearbox software / firmware was outdated and a newer version was available. We use a fully networked system that is connected directly to the ford servers that allowed us to “pull” the software and programme on site.
After we programmed the gearbox ECU we then had to perform a “setup” process that learns the clutch and actuator positions, This procedure is essential and often this alone will cure faults with a slipping clutch or harsh gear changes.
Upon the inital start of the vehicle no faults were present and after a test drive all was working well. The customer was quoted £600 from the local ford dealer to supply, fit and programme a new TCU to the automatic gearbox. We saved this customer over £400 !!! when compared with the main dealer.