my cars a 62 plate 2.0 tdci focus estate. since it went in for a minor service and mot inc front pads i seem to be noticing its become harder to get into certain gears. reverse  1st  third  usually.  have to sort of adjust engine speed and manouvere gear in . garage said its impossible that anything they did went anywhere near the gearbox. having been googling this issue  and finding an assortment of answers inc clutch knackered  which im pretty sure it isnt    not putting clutch pedal to floor when changing   etcetc  i came across  worn or knackered lower gearbox mounting .  has anyone come across this?. if so is it easy to replace  . i really dont think its a knackered gearbox or clutch as it was as sweet as a nut prior to servicing. 

The lower gearbox mount doesn't seem to wear on these.  I replaced mine at ~45k and it was a complete waste of time & money lol. 

I did find the gearchange wasn't particularly smooth on the Mk3, and trying to get 1st gear at anything more than 1mph was impossible.  I ended up rolling up to junctions with the clutch down in 2nd, when it eventually was slow enough it felt very 'tight' and I could feel gears meshing together through the gearstick as it went in, although it didn't crunch at all.  I think the clutch and gearbox were just generally crap tbh, very disappointing compared to the Mk2 I had before, the gearshifter on the Mk2 was a bit more firm to the hand but it always went in smoothly.

If you do want to try changing it, it's very easy once the car is up on stands, just drop the undertray and then it's literally just 3 bolts to swap over, don't even need to support the engine as it's only a torque restrictor and not a load bearing mount.

thanks for that.  you always know what im on about.  im sure mine felt gud untill it went to garage.  but i may well be mistaken and not really noticed it.  .im like that after someones fiddled with it.

Yeah, I'm just a year ahead of you really, I tried to fix all of the same 'faults' on mine last year before admitting defeat and going German again instead...  

I think all cars have good days and bad days as well though, sometimes they feel nice & smooth and other days they feel rough and noisy...  But maybe that is just in my/our head!  

youre right again

On 5/9/2019 at 12:20 PM, TomsFocus said:

The lower gearbox mount doesn't seem to wear on these.  I replaced mine at ~45k and it was a complete waste of time & money lol. 

I did find the gearchange wasn't particularly smooth on the Mk3, and trying to get 1st gear at anything more than 1mph was impossible.  I ended up rolling up to junctions with the clutch down in 2nd, when it eventually was slow enough it felt very 'tight' and I could feel gears meshing together through the gearstick as it went in, although it didn't crunch at all.  I think the clutch and gearbox were just generally crap tbh, very disappointing compared to the Mk2 I had before, the gearshifter on the Mk2 was a bit more firm to the hand but it always went in smoothly.

If you do want to try changing it, it's very easy once the car is up on stands, just drop the undertray and then it's literally just 3 bolts to swap over, don't even need to support the engine as it's only a torque restrictor and not a load bearing mount.

The MTX75 box on my MK2 1.8 TDCi has the exact same 1st gear rolling issue i.e. unless I'm barely moving or at a total stand still, it really doesn't like going into 1st gear without a bit of "persuasion". 🙈

On 5/9/2019 at 12:20 PM, TomsFocus said:

The lower gearbox mount doesn't seem to wear on these.  I replaced mine at ~45k and it was a complete waste of time & money lol. 

I did find the gearchange wasn't particularly smooth on the Mk3, and trying to get 1st gear at anything more than 1mph was impossible.  I ended up rolling up to junctions with the clutch down in 2nd, when it eventually was slow enough it felt very 'tight' and I could feel gears meshing together through the gearstick as it went in, although it didn't crunch at all.  I think the clutch and gearbox were just generally crap tbh, very disappointing compared to the Mk2 I had before, the gearshifter on the Mk2 was a bit more firm to the hand but it always went in smoothly.

If you do want to try changing it, it's very easy once the car is up on stands, just drop the undertray and then it's literally just 3 bolts to swap over, don't even need to support the engine as it's only a torque restrictor and not a load bearing mount.

What engine did you have?

The 2.0 of the OPs is the MMT6, the same as a Focus ST. All the other engines use the B6 or IB5.

3 hours ago, alexp999 said:

What engine did you have?

The 2.0 of the OPs is the MMT6, the same as a Focus ST. All the other engines use the B6 or IB5.

Fair point, I had a 1.6TDCi with B6 trans, thought the 2.0 used the same.