Hello,

 

Was hoping some could share their experiences of having trouble engaging gears? 2016 1-litre 140 EcoBoost Black Edition on 52/53k miles, with a Mountune Short-Shift arm installed a few years ago by my local Ford dealership.

 

Over the last few weeks I've found the following scenarios when trying to engage gears:

 

1) Engine off - all gears slot in seamlessly with no clutch engagement;

 

2) Engine started, driving normally and fluids still relatively cold for the first few miles - 1st gear engages fine; 2nd, 3rd and 4th work OK, but with a slight reluctance to engage; 5th gear fine;

 

3) All fluids up to temperature - 1st gear engages as per normal; 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th gears going up the gearbox are difficult to engage/taking multiple attempts to slot into gear; When downshifting, 2nd and 3rd gears are the same, but 4th gear works fine;

 

No crunching at all when changing up or down; no whine from the gearbox; and no fluid leaking from the car onto my driveway (i.e transmission fluid) so my thinking is that if the gearbox seal had a leak, I would have seen the fluid on the ground by now.

 

Any ideas what it could be? Gear selector cables? Clutch cable? Clutch itself? Short-shift arm bushes dry and needing lubricating?

 

Got the car booked in for an MOT tomorrow, as well as my local dealership investigating the issue mentioned. Any questions welcome.

 

Thanks :)

I have similar problem with eco boost Fiesta. Drives faultless with smooth gear change then gear stick locks and will not move! 
Only way to regain control is switch engine off then back on. Gears then smooth! I ding it  dangerous as only happens rarely!

Ford garage (service contract) looked and car was on best behaviour.Perplexed and seriously considering getting rid!

 

9 minutes ago, Peter3 said:

I have similar problem with eco boost Fiesta. Drives faultless with smooth gear change then gear stick locks and will not move! 
Only way to regain control is switch engine off then back on. Gears then smooth! I ding it  dangerous as only happens rarely!

Ford garage (service contract) looked and car was on best behaviour.Perplexed and seriously considering getting rid!

That doesn't sound good! I don't know what to suggest as I'm not mechanically literate nor have I had experience or the problem you have - I hope it sorts itself out/gets fixed before it causes a bigger repair bill.

 

The car had its MOT yesterday - passed with an advisory for worn brakes - about 70% worn on the discs and pad thickness 0.8mm off the minimum thickness, which I don't think is bad going for 53k miles on the original discs and pads.

 

Was also in for the investigation into my problems mentioned above. They have diagnosed it as a worn clutch and quoted £815 for a clutch kit, flywheel and slave cylinder. Stings a little given how we are right after Christmas and nearing the time for insurance renewal, plus a service (and new discs and pads) in April/May. Not the end of the world financially, just unforeseen and annoying.

 

Perhaps my driving style contributed to the wear? I tend to lift off early and go down the gears and also pull away comfortably...

I have a 2014 Ecoboost, about 2-3 years ago a similar issue arose with the gears. Namely, I could not easily get it into reserve or third. They did some playing around and a bill of about 50 quid later it was all fixed. I think all they did was tighten up and oil a few bits here and there.

 

 

 

 

Remove the gearbox link cover . Clean it out and use some copper lube . Usually find it’s dirt and oil that causes the problem

815 for a clutch think that’s the going rate these days a used 3 jacks and 4 axle stands. And just had at it plenty of places online show how to take a box out

16 hours ago, fiestalux said:

I have a 2014 Ecoboost, about 2-3 years ago a similar issue arose with the gears. Namely, I could not easily get it into reserve or third. They did some playing around and a bill of about 50 quid later it was all fixed. I think all they did was tighten up and oil a few bits here and there.

 

 

 

 

That's good to know - any idea what items they tinkered with? The mechanic said he had checked the gear linkage/selector cables, shift arm bushings etc.

 

Can you remember the name of the place you took your car to? And whereabouts in the UK?

 

16 hours ago, Chaz84 said:

Remove the gearbox link cover . Clean it out and use some copper lube . Usually find it’s dirt and oil that causes the problem

Where would the gearbox link cover be found?

 

16 hours ago, Chaz84 said:

815 for a clutch think that’s the going rate these days a used 3 jacks and 4 axle stands. And just had at it plenty of places online show how to take a box out

Good effort there! Unfortunately I'm in no shape to be getting under the car due to a crippling back spasm; plus I don't have any tools, axe stands, a jack, nor am I in the least bit interested in diving in to something I know nothing about - but I appreciate your reply all the same.

Craig, I would love to recommend the place but I don't live in the UK, so I fear it would be a little useless. I quoted the price in pounds to make it easier for everyone.

As for what they did, I will see if I can find the bill and interpret it in my best mechanical French. 

I have to say the dealer I go to has always done an excellent job and for a fair price. It is also the only place I have been to where you need to almost crawl on broken glass before a salesman will come out of his office! 

Craig. Just a quick point, if you are looking for a decent Ford repair place, then it may be worth checking the reviews out on Google Maps. I have found these in the past to be useful.

Well, update time. Car went in on Wednesday, having had the gear selector cables etc looked at. New clutch, flywheel, slave cylinder and gearbox oil replaced at a cost of £815. Drove 2 miles home and car felt as good as new; driven to work this evening and as it has gotten up to operating temperature, the stiff gear change has come back (albeit not as bad as it was).

 

Not laying blame with the Ford mechanic, just frustrated I've spent a fair bit of money when it looks like the problem hasn't been resolved. I have found this link: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/threads/fiesta-tdci-1-4-stiff-gear-changes.18351438/

 

I may see how much Ford will charge me to do the same as described in the link above, in the hope it does fix it. Chaz84 alluded to a fix in his reply - would this not have been spotted and cleaned by the mechanic during the clutch replacement? Or would I need to take it in specifically?

Well, another update. Car went back in today - initially the shift arm got a visual check and I was told it was fine; I insisted it be taken off and greased - the service manager then agreed to have it done. My Mountune Short Shift arm has heavy scoring marks on it and was devoid of any lubrication. Grease was applied, and I've picked the car up and gotten it up to working temperature - and it is working like new. Finally.

 

Hopefully no more updates needed on this issue, but we'll see. Hope this thread helps out anyone with the same issue - don't necessarily take as gospel that the clutch needs replacing or you'll be reamed for almost £1k; get a second opinion, search YouTube and this members forum too.

Edited February 16, 20215 yr by Guest
Spelling error

On 2/16/2021 at 5:43 PM, Guest said:

Well, another update. Car went back in today - initially the shift arm got a visual check and I was told it was fine; I insisted it be taken off and greased - the service manager then agreed to have it done. My Mountune Short Shift arm has heavy scoring marks on it and was devoid of any lubrication. Grease was applied, and I've picked the car up and gotten it up to working temperature - and it is working like new. Finally.

 

Hopefully no more updates needed on this issue, but we'll see. Hope this thread helps out anyone with the same issue - don't necessarily take as gospel that the clutch needs replacing or you'll be reamed for almost £1k; get a second opinion, search YouTube and this members forum too.

Does this remain resolved? We have the same issue with our 2016 Eco Boost. Only 31000 miles.  Local garage has twice cleaned and greased around the gear stick. Once the  engine has warmed up it sticks in 2nd gear so much I’m  currently trying to avoid using it and going direct from 1st to 3rd. Called 1 local Ford garage who want to start by charging us £126 for an hour of “diagnostics”. I’m not convinced that how will show up the problem. Plan to ring the other Ford dealer. Don’t want to pay for a new clutch when this post  suggests it won’t fix the problem anyway. 

Hi all

 

@Peter3 I realise I'm coming to this very late but we have the exact same problem with out fiesta ecoboost and just wondered if you ever managed to fix the issue and what the solution was? We've paid for a new gearbox and clutch to no avail. All seems fine when driving until suddenly I can't get any of the gears to engage. Turn engine off and gearstick is fine. It can happen multiple times in one journey and the only thing that fixes it is turning the car off and on again.

Equally we can go months without it happening at all. 

Any advice would be much appreciated!

LB

 

 

14 hours ago, LB3 said:

Hi all

 

@Peter3 I realise I'm coming to this very late but we have the exact same problem with out fiesta ecoboost and just wondered if you ever managed to fix the issue and what the solution was? We've paid for a new gearbox and clutch to no avail. All seems fine when driving until suddenly I can't get any of the gears to engage. Turn engine off and gearstick is fine. It can happen multiple times in one journey and the only thing that fixes it is turning the car off and on again.

Equally we can go months without it happening at all. 

Any advice would be much appreciated!

LB

 

 

Hi,

 

I typed the initial post on this thread.

 

It got sorted in the end, after a new clutch, DMF and flywheel etc did not work, but it was the gearbox cover needed taking off and the shift plate needing sanding and greased. Worked absolutely fine ever since. Get your mechanic/garage to do exactly that and it shouldn't cost more than an hours labour and the cost of some grease.

Hope that helps.

My son has a 21 plate Ecoboost ehev and has had 3 gearboxes and just 3 months after it was done its jumping out of second and grinding again from 1st to 2nd 

ford so far haven't been helpful and neither has Arnold Clark where the car was purchased from , I feel the car isn't fit for purpose any suggestions ?

3 gearboxes sounds more like user error than a manufacturing defect.  I'm not surprised Ford won't help.  Sell it and buy something with a more robust drivetrain. 

Useful posts here thanks, this on YouTube makes it look pretty simple. Lake of space and access here though, so will most likely pay someone to do it for me.

 

I have the same problem. After driving for about 15 min  it won’t go into gear  then all of a sudden it goes in   The first time it happened I thought I must of done something as I never had any mor bother for about two months    on one journey it happened  three times  I had to get pushed of the road then guess what went into gear 

has been to the garage they said it was perfect  went into gear no problem  I think it’s when the car warms up  this happens  but being a woman I don’t think the garage really believed me !!  the garage just said you only have 27thousand miles on the clock.   
my car is 64 reg 

any advise would be very grateful