Transmission Control Module (TCM) Shortage

[TooTallRon]

I am a happy owners of a 2013 Ford Focus Titanium purchased in mid-October 2012. It has only 57,600 miles and I was looking forward to keeping it for a long time for trips around town.

However, I experienced the dreaded Transmission Control Module (TCM) failure last week and the Focus in now at the local Ford dealer here in Beaverton, Oregon. I was told the repair will be fully covered by the Ford extended warranty. I was also told that no one really knows how long it will take because of the chip shortage and supply chain issues. In fact, the dealer has one Focus on the repair lot that has been waiting a year for the TCM.

I'm surprised there aren’t more postings about the TCM backlog issue on this site with some reliable information from Ford.

I'm looking for more information to help me better understand the situation and better estimate how long the Focus will be in the shop. Maybe someone here can help point me in the right direction.
Some questions that I would like answered:
1. Is anyone aware of an official Ford website or contact where I can read more and keep up with the TCM shortage and supply flow?
2. What is the real problem causing the parts delay? Is it a TCM design issue, chip shortage, or manufacturing labor issue for example?
3. How many owners are really waiting for the TCM? The Ford service manager indicated there may be a TCM shortage in the tens-of-thousands.
4. Are there any TCM's be produced? If so, how many per week/month?
5. Is there a delivery waiting list or something so I can estimate when my car can be back on the road?
6. Is this issue getting any priority within Ford?

Any pointers from the group are greatly appreciated.

 

[TooTallRon]

I called Ford Customer Service (800-392-3673) today to see if they could help and provide more information. The customer reps that I talked to were very curious and patient with all my questions. Here is what I learned or verified:

• The supply shortage is caused by a computer chip supply issue.
• There is a TCM shortage of over 50,000 units worldwide.
• The manufacturer produces about 3000 TCM's at a time, but Ford doesn't know when the parts will be delivered. In other words, it's not a consistent flow of parts.

I was assigned a case number which will speed up the process if I call back to get status. However, the service rep at the local dealer plans to send a status message every couple weeks or so. I will be paying for only comprehensive (canceled liability) insurance while the Focus is out of commission and will be covering the car since it will be stored outside. Not much else to do but wait.

By the way, my service rep told me that they have had three customers bring in TCM's from junked cars. The service department was not able to reprogram the car's computer to get the used TCM's working.