Leaderboard

Regarding FORD Safety Recall 18S20 – Shift Cable Bushing Replacement affecting 2013-2014 Ford Escape, & 2013-2016 Ford Fusion, this failure mode also appears on certain models of the Ford Transit Connect. In my case, I have a 2015 XLT that experienced this failure. The original factory-original bushing is white. The replacement bushing outlined in the recall below is orange. This is a standard Ford part used on "small" chassis Ford vehicles and is common amongst vehicles using this type of transmission shift linkage. The Ford part number for the REPLACEMENT bushing is: DG9Z-7K340-A and can be found at most ANY ford dealership. I paid $5.10USD for it, and ended-up buying two just to have the 2nd one around in case this is actually a recurring problem (or in case I dropped the first one down in the engine bay accidentally during installation!). BACKGROUND: Please note that when I searched for a recall SPECIFICALLY covering this particular failure mode on the Ford Transit Connect I could not find any references to one anywhere. However, a very smart parts guy at my local Ford dealership in Lake Orion, Michigan knew of the problem on the Focus and Escape and had a small box right on his counter full of these replacement bushings. This told me that it's a failure common problem (despite not being specifically referenced to the Transit connect). I suspect that the original plastic bushing was molded from a material not capable of withstanding the constant pressures of the daily shifting cycle. As such, it would seem that if Ford went to all the trouble if initiating a recall action on a number of vehicles with this problem, they wouldn't simply have released the exact same "replacement" bushing, but would have molded it from a more durable material in order to prevent a recurrence. This has been my experience with OEM safety recalls as an auto industry engineer since the OEM is legally responsible for demonstrating to NHTSA that their planned repair solution resolves the safety concern prior to deploying that solution into the field. As such, it is unlikely that NHTSA would have approved an OEM-proposed solution that utilized a bushing the same as the one that originally failed from the factory (common sense?). Incidentally, when replacement parts are produced in a different color, that is usually an indication that they are a different material so that technicians don't erroneously install the wrong replacement part when effecting the repair. Visual cues are important in repair circumstances and used broadly in the auto industry so that quick visual reference can be made when assessing the completion of a safety repair. Here is a link to some of the detail of the recall. REPLACEMENT/INSTALLATION: I knew as soon as I saw the replacement bushing that it was an exact replacement, and as you can see from the photos below it is. To complete the repair, I first snapped the replacement bushing onto the transmission shift lever, then pressed the shift cable onto it. As luck would have it, that was the opposite of the replacement instructions I later found online for the Focus and Escape. regardless, it snapped right in and securely retained the shift cable once installed. The repair took me about 5 minutes and was a bit of a tight squeeze when attempting to get my hands past other 'obstacles' in that area of the engine bay. it was a little challenging holding onto and orienting the replacement bushing when attempting to push my hands past the intake snorkel and fuse box! But, again, it only took 5 minutes total to complete the repair. I hope you find this information helpful. Ken Here are a few photos of the actual linkage and bushing:

About a week ago my 2015 TC started struggling to start. It would crank a few seconds before actually starting. It seemed that each day it got a little worse. I also noticed that my fuel economy took a dump during that time as well. Additionally, when it would crank prior to starting I noticed the strong smell of unburned fuel in the garage. That's never a good sign. Yesterday, it cranked for about 15 seconds (a long time for any fuel injected vehicle to crank and not fire up) before it finally started. Once started, it didn't immediately respond to throttle input and it seemed to be searching for the correct engine RPM. After a minute it settled down and appeared ok to drive (throttle response returned). It was then that I drove it directly to my local repair shop who theorized that it was the engine temp sensor. Upon completion of their diagnostics, they found that my engine temp sensor was reading 117 degrees below zero. The implication is that it was telling the computer to dump more fuel into the engine to compensate for the extremely cold temperatures it was sensing. Obviously, the sensor was bad because it was clearly NOT 117 below zero outside. As such, one hour and $143.00 later it was fixed. (I felt $143.00 is a bit high for a repair of this type, but I needed to get back on the road ASAP and wasn't gonna squabble over the $50.00 I felt I should have saved!) It may be worth noting that the temp sensor is mounted in the head and doesn’t measure coolant temperature, but simply the temperature of the cylinder head itself. This is unusual in my experience, and explains why the dash temp gauge was already in the 'normal' range at only a quarter mile from my house each day (coolant simply doesn't heat up that fast -but cylinder heads do). Additionally, I suspect the throttle response got better when I started it earlier because -as the cylinder head heated up (the sensor is mounted in the cylinder head right between plug 2 & 3) the sensor started reading the combustion heat in the head and allowed more throttle input once the motor warmed up. It runs like normal now, and my otherwise great fuel economy has returned. The Ford part number for this temp sensor is: 8S4Z-6G004-A and can be found at most ANY ford dealership. They run about $53.00USD. I hope that some find this information helpful. Ken

Unfortunately, I don't know anything other than how mine failed, which was immediate and without warning (ti was never sloppy or felt unusual in any way). BACKGROUND: I was pulling into the parking lot at the gym, and while attempting to park, the shifter went into "Park" with substantially less effort than normal (which immediately drew my attention) and the car wouldn't stop rolling forward (because it wasn't in "Park" and was in-fact still in "Drive"). Also, the 'highlight' circle that appears around the gear you're in on the dash display disappeared altogether and didn't register any gear. I shut off the car and popped the hood and started nosing around for something obvious about the shift linkage. Sure enough, the cable had popped completely off the lever on the top of the transmission and was fully disengaged. Fortunately, once you squeeze your hand down past some of the other obstacles in the way the transmission shift lever can be easily shifted into "Park" by hand (thus, allowing me to now get the key out of the ignition). I then slipped the cable linkage back onto the stud sticking up from on the shift lever (that it's supposed to attach to) and was able to drive the next segment of my trip -now onto the dealership. Of course, I had to repeat the whole process again each time I shifted into gear. Suspecting (hoping?) that this was CERTAINLY part of a recognized safety recall on my now 4-year-old van, I was surprised that it wasn't. Fortunately for me (as mentioned in my first post), the Ford parts counter guy was familiar with this failure mode on other Ford vehicles and get me the correct part right away. Fixed in less than five minutes and on my way for under $10.00! I feel like I got lucky! Ken

Anything? Ho ho ho! Another option might be a simple DIY job with PlastiDip. Hit YouTube for some outstanding examples of work done using that. It'll stay where you put it, but once you're done, peel it right off.

+1 on the wrap. If you get a fairly new one, the wrap actually protects the paint. So when it's resale time, it looks better. And you can have anything you want on it.

My telling you he lives in LA wasn't 'helpful'?? Guess I shouldn't have bothered! Don

As luck would have it, there is more to this repair... I again stopped into the same Ford dealership for another issue and the parts guy who had assisted me with the above repair indicated that they'd just been alerted to the availability of a secondary repair part that needed to be installed in addition to the first. Apparently, this failure was the result of engine oil, grime, and transmission fluid attacking the base material of the factory-original bushing causing it to breakdown over time. Conventional wisdom would suggest that this would be a known risk/condition for all exposed parts under the hood of any vehicle, but apparently that slipped by the Ford engineers responsible for this particular design. Therefore, Ford has added a secondary piece that snaps over the end of the cable linkage thus providing a 'shield' of sorts for the replacement bushing from the contaminants that degraded the factory-original bushing. I know from personal experience that there are MANY plastic materials that are suitable for use in harsh environments that the bushing could have been molded from, but there might be other considerations preventing their use in the bushing. That point is further underscored by the release of an additional 'shielding' part that itself appears to resist this harsh environment better than the material the bushing is made from. Again, there might be other considerations preventing their use in the bushing. The Ford part number for the SHIELD is: DG9Z-7S004-A and can be found at most ANY ford dealership. I paid $3.98USD for it. Regardless, here are a few photos of the new 'shielding' part.

OK, just following up to let folk know how I did this. I couldn't find an ignition switched fuse in the passenger footwell so I routed the dashcam wire down the passenger side windscreen trim, out through the body in front of the door and into the engine bay. I piggybacked the rear windscreen wiper 15A fuse which is ignition switched. The dashcam now turns on with the ignition. On the whole this was a lot more work than I expected. If anyone knows a better way I'd like to hear it.

The fill check plug on the side is used when ATF is at 85 - 93 C. You will need some sort of scan tool or app to read the ATF temperature via the OBDII port. A popular setup is HS/MS Can OBDII dongle, via USB, to a laptop with FORScan. You can forget about trying to use a point & shoot thermometer, as you will get a lot of different readings, and none will be accurate to what the car's computer sees from the sensor in the transmission valve body. At the correct operating temperature, your ATF has closed the cooler bypass valve, is flowing in a complete loop through the cooling system, and has expanded. This is the correct fill level for the fill check plug. From what you have described, your ATF was not at the correct temperature when you opened the fill check plug. This will result in an overfill condition. Not entirely catastrophic. Excess hot & expanded ATF will probably purge from the vent cap. But the best idea is to now adjust the fluid level to where it is correct. Between you, me, the tree, and nobody else - I think that transmission engineers design automatic transmissions with a certain level of "oops factor". They know that some people will make a little mistake with underfill & overfill, or what if there is a fluid leak causing some fluid to be lost? Everyone will tell you that you should have the correct fluid level, and I agree with that. But you're probably safe by a quart within the correct fill level. Meaning 1/2 quart low or high would still be safe. Not ideal. But safe. After all, why is there a hashmark range on dipsticks? Otherwise, the dipstick would just have one line, or hole, and you better be at that exact level. The factory fill on this 6F35, as published in earlier versions of owners manuals, is 4 liters. Not 4 quarts. 4 liters. Fill with 4 liters. Drive until transmission fluid temperature is 185 - 200 F. Then open the fill check plug. If nothing comes out, then add fluid. If fluid is coming out, wait until nothing is coming out. Now reinstall the plug. I'm lazy,. My 3rd fill is 4 liters. I'm done. I add 4 liters of Mercon LV, and then drive it until the next transmission service. It's not right. It's just what I do. Don't consider anything I write to be advice or recommended. You do what you want to do. It won't be my fault when something goes wrong. You won't be able to say, "5150 told me to....."