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Gear stick stuck in first gear.


fladavid
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Hi. 

My wife was driving my 55 plate 2.0 petrol Focus, after she pulled away and went to change into second gear the gear stick wouldn't release from first gear position. She managed to limp it home. 

I just took a quick look under the gear stick shroud and the bar going directly forward towards the engine will move slightly forward and backward but not enough to get out of first gear. I detached the bar from the gear lever thinking the lever might be stuck but it's not. I started the car with the clutch depresssed and lifted the pedal and it wanted to pull away in first. 

Can anyone please tell me is this just the linkages, something inside the gear box or possibly the clutch. 

Thanks. 

David. 

20190107_193945.jpg

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It's not the clutch.  You would be able to pull it out of gear easily with the engine off if so.

It may be the linkages and definitely worth checking but sounds more like a selector in the gearbox has failed.

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Try popping the cable linkages off from the stick end (press in end buttons and pull off the ball joints) and see if the lever moves freely by itself.

Secondly reconnect at the lever end then pop the linkages at the gearbox selector end and try the stick again.

If the cables and lever move freely then it's a selector fault in the gearbox.

 

Sent from my SM-G965F (S9+)

 

 

 

 

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Hi. 

Tried the first part and the lever moves freely. Too dark out there at moment to look under the car. Is the other end easy to get at?

If it is a selector fault I take it I'm  looking at a lot of money?

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You should be able to see the gearbox end of the selector from the top of the engine bay.
If it's the inner workings of the gearbox or the selector pawls themselves then not cheap or easy.
Hopefully it's just a fouled cable which you'll be able to diagnose once you can pop the other ends off and work the gearstick around.
If the stick jams with the cables off from the selector then you'll know where to work on, if it doesn't jam then it's worst case unfortunately.

Sent from my SM-G965F (S9+)

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ive had trouble with mine now and again.sometimes it sticks then finally releases .

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Once I locate the other end in the engine bay is it worth spraying the cables or fixings with WD40 to keep them moving freely?

I'll try to find the gearbox connections in daylight. 

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Once I locate the other end in the engine bay is it worth spraying the cables or fixings with WD40 to keep them moving freely?
I'll try to find the gearbox connections in daylight. 
Just a little WD40 to free them up and spray grease to keep them moving.
The WD40 will strip the grease out if left by itself.

Sent from my SM-G965F (S9+)

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Just had a look from above and I can't locate where they are. I'm guessing they're somewhere to the right of this heat shield but could be totally wrong! Tried to look under the passenger side too but again couldn't see a thing. 

Any idea where the connections to the gearbox are? Don't know if the layout is different on the two litre. 

20190109_081438.jpg

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The cables are those two covered in silver sheath to the right of the exhaust there.  They end up roughly underneath the battery.

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So tracing back along them  towards the back of the car they should join the gearbox at the top or to the side?

I can't imagine I'm m going to be able to see them that far down without a mirror. 

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Don't trace them back, that's where they come from the gearstick.  Trace them forward/right under the battery, that's where the gearbox is on a FWD drive car.  They will connect right on top of your gearbox, towards the back of it.

 

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Oh yes what a ***** idiot I am. I'm thinking about my Taxi and the gearbox being behind the engine but it's RWD. Lol. No hope for me!

So I should be able to view them under the battery tray? Do these cables ever seize up inside the plastic sheathing causing this problem?

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Yep, you should be able to view them there but I don't know how good the access is on the 2.0 tbh, a mirror might still come in handy!

The cables can get stiff over time but I've not seen one seize solid yet.

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Went out this morning and found the culprit even though it's really hard to see and access with the battery above. 

The cable nearest to the front of the car has jumped out of the bracket that holds it so the cable was just flopping about. Once I screwed it back to the bracket the gears released again. The only issue I still have is the little galvanised spring you can see protruding from under the screw top onto the rubber sheathing. It doesn't look strong enough to be a major issue but obviously it shouldn't be sticking out like that. Does anybody know where it should be, I assume under the body of the screw top?

 

20190110_080304.jpg

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Anyone know where that spring should be?

Don't want to take the car out until I know I've assembled it properly. 

Cheers. 

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Weekend now so would like to assemble the screw cap, spring and rubber sheath properly so I can get back on the road again.

Any ideas gents how they go together?

Don't want to chance wife going out in it and the spring being in the wrong place causes a breakdown. 

Thanks. 

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Sorry, only just seen the update to this.  I'm not sure if that's going to be an issue or not though.  I'd suggest the threads in the cap have probably stripped so it may just pull out again.  Hopefully someone else has a more helpful answer.

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That's ok mate. 

The spring is very fine and flimsy so I'm assuming although it's there for a reason it's not anything that will hinder the cable working properly. I wondered if it's just there to hold the sheath in place up to the screw cap?

I undid the cap again and pushed the spring inside but as soon as I screwed it up again it popped out. 

Might just take a chance. 

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