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Won't Go Into Gear!


ShinyAndy
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Just bought a 2008 mk2.5 Focus TDCI, had a strange problem last night where it was virtually impossible to get any gears. Now had another chance to check it out and it seems as though if the engine isn't running then you can easily select any gear fine, as soon as the engine is running and with the clutch down (obviously!) it is really hard to push it into any gears, it will eventually go in without any graunching or similar which makes me think the clutch must be ok but I have no idea what it could be.

Any thoughts?

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Clutch master cylinder perhaps? This happened me on the Mondeo. Couldn't select 1st, 2nd or reverse while the engine was running cold. Had no probs when it all heated up or with the engine off. Made cold starts, traffic lights etc 'interesting'!

I did a good bit of reading up when this happened and others managed to cure with simply changing the gearbox oil, others greased the linkages, others had kinked linkages, others changed clutch slave cylinder.

I had the clutch master cylinder changed though and it fixed it spot on. Clutch and flywheel had all been done previously by the way.

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Cheers, think I just need to get it to a garage so they can check it over. You can't select any gears at all and doesn't seem to make a difference if it's hot or cold. Seems crazy that the clutch/flywheel would fail at 56,000km but I fear the worst!

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Far from an expert myself mate so just throwin suggestions really from my own experience. As you say best bet is to get it a proper look over. That does sound early to have major clutch issues but I suppose it depends what fashion those miles were clocked up! Maybe expecting the worst is the best bet to soften any blow but I hope it's not the worst case scenario for you and maybe someone else could shed a bit of light for you also. As I mentioned, could be as simple/cheap as a box oil change! Fingers crossed anyway mate.

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I'd check the master and slave cylinders, clutch /brake fluid and reservoir for leaks or air ingress.

Ford clutches are difficult to bleed properly and air locks can cause the hydraulic thrust bearings to not exert enough force.

Saying that, get the thrust bearing checked if nothing else comes to light although that is the more expensive option as it's as much work as a clutch change.

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It was fine when I test drove the car last week and brought it home and it was fine when I drove it out last night, just on the way home that it started playing up. It's only just happened which makes me wonder if they did something (although no idea what) to make it OK to sell! Still, it was about 3K cheaper than it should have been here so that's probably why!

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having the exact same problem with my focus , it may well be the clutch pressure plate .

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Now I'm really confused, if I look in the owners manual (and with common sense) the reservoir for the clutch/brake master cylinder is easily accessible by the battery cover (LHD remember) as per this picture from the manual:

bay.png

On my car it's tucked right back underneath the windscreen facia/plastic trim thing which means it would be impossible to check/top up fluid. Now you can see the two screw holes where I presume it is supposed to be but if I look on eBay for replacement parts it seems some are directly on top (like mine) and some have a bit of pipe between the reservoir and the cylinder itself:

bay2.jpg

Is this right?

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Although this eBay auction picture suggests they are like that:

$(KGrHqR,!joE9Tpcbt)uBPWhUlLQlQ~~60_12.JPG

How the hell do you check/top up the fluid if that's the case?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update on this:

Garage saying it definitely needs a new clutch and saying it's got a DMF so will be 1000€ just for parts. I'm not convinced, between the time I posted this and getting it to the garage the car was mainly behaving fine. It seems like if the car was left for any time it would be hard to get it into gear but if I started the car with it in gear it would be absolutely fine when driving.

Would the car definitely have a DMF and if so at 56,000km would it really need replacing? Any idea what I should be looking for on eBay/Eurocarparts as there seems to be a loads of different types and with the car being a 2008 mk2.5 (1.8TDCI - 115ps version) I'm not sure what it would need?

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In short, YES your car does have a DMF, sounds early (ish) to go at your mileage but as already stated, you have no way of knowing how its been driven in the past... I recently had to replace mine, and dropped on a DMF & Clutch kit on eBay brand new for £200,,, add to that £75 for the concentric slave cylinder, and gave a mate £100 to throw it all in for me, with new gearbox oil for good measure, it cost me just short of 400 notes,,, not cheap by any means, but a hell of a lot cheaper than some people are paying.

PS, forgot to mention, its not worth changing the clutch without the DMF, As this part is usually to blame, or if not, will more than likely give up shortly after fitting the new clutch,,, so then you will have all the hastle (and expense) of basically doing the job again to replace the flywheel. Drive it right and the new kit should outlast you lol. Mine was on its original clutch and it had covered 110k miles.

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Where are they on eBay for 200 quid, the only thing I could find that came with a DMF was 500 quid?!

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It was with a company called BSMotors, as a company they buy complete engines in bulk, and sell them off in bits,,, they are brand new engines, so mine was the same make that it came out of the factory with. So I suppose it all depends on stock really mate.

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Just been and looked in my e-bay, the comapny is called BS Motors ltd, and the phone number is 0121 328 5222. I can't see any listed at the moment, but its worth ringing them to check, hope this helps, regards, Mike.

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Thanks Mike, will call them later.

Although even the parts2clear guys selling the complete Sachs kit for 500 quid is virtually half the price of the bits here

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Thanks Mike, will call them later.

Although even the parts2clear guys selling the complete Sachs kit for 500 quid is virtually half the price of the bits here

Thats the same make mine was when it arrived,,,, I did question price with them, stating it was less than half the price of anyone else selling the same item. Its just because it basically doesn't come it a box like from a shop, its been removed from an engine thats never been fitted to a car.... Mine's perfect :)

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  • 1 month later...

Just an update on this incase anyone has a similar issue.

Took it to another garage as wasn't convinced with the first one! They'd seen something similar a few months before and suggested that they firstly do a proper bleed of the clutch. Incredibly this fixed it and it's been absolutely fine ever since - even moved the bite point into a more normal position (still higher than any other make of car I've driven).

Money saved meant new Osram Night Breaker Plus H1 & H7 bulbs all round which came with Philips Blue Vision sidelights. What an incredible difference, I can see at night again! Next bit of cash goes on some replacement ST LED rear light clusters :)

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  • 3 years later...

can anyone help asap i have a ford focus titanium 2011 plate and it will not go into gear while driving but will go into gear when engine not on does anyone know what the problem could be?

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Thats the same make mine was when it arrived,,,, I did question price with them, stating it was less than half the price of anyone else selling the same item. Its just because it basically doesn't come it a box like from a shop, its been removed from an engine thats never been fitted to a car.... Mine's perfect smile.png

Did you manage to get this sorted Mike ?

Jamie

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  • 4 years later...
On 6/6/2012 at 11:41 AM, ShinyAndy said:

Just bought a 2008 mk2.5 Focus TDCI, had a strange problem last night where it was virtually impossible to get any gears. Now had another chance to check it out and it seems as though if the engine isn't running then you can easily select any gear fine, as soon as the engine is running and with the clutch down (obviously!) it is really hard to push it into any gears, it will eventually go in without any graunching or similar which makes me think the clutch must be ok but I have no idea what it could be.

Any thoughts?

I have the same problem with my 05 c-max

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Sounds like DMF  (flywheel failure) to me

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Sounds to me more like the clutch is dragging, i.e. not disengaging fully. A poster earlier in this thread said theirs was fixed by bleeding but if air is getting into the system it might need a new master and/or slave cylinder.

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  • 6 months later...

I am currently in that ***** , I doubt is a clutch, now brake fluid is leaking 

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