I’m new to driving, i’ve only been driving about a week and I own a 1.4 Ford Fiesta Zetec. I’m having some problems when trying to reverse… Whenever I come to reverse it, it makes a horrible noise? and I know it’s something i’m doing wrong. It’s definitely not in 4th gear by accident I don’t think, but it’s okay once i depress the clutch and try again. It doesn’t have the pull up reverse thing like some other fords, it simply goes into gear like the others. There’s nothing wrong with the car as I’ve just had an MOT done, so it’s definitely me 😞 Any tips?

This is normal for these cars due to the type of gearbox unfortunately.  There's no synchromesh fitted on reverse so it doesn't always slip in smoothly.  The best thing you can do is make sure you're totally stopped and with the clutch fully down before trying to select reverse.  Even doing that won't always mean that it's lined up though, so either double de-clutch as you have been doing, or select first and then try reverse again as that should help line it up.

Does it make a horrible noise and go backwards, or does it make a horrible noise and go nowhere?

On 1/7/2022 at 12:42 PM, Leah_D said:

There’s nothing wrong with the car as I’ve just had an MOT done

Hello Leah and welcome to the Ford Owners Club. As you get more experience you will come to understand how limited an MOT is, and the fact it means only the things that were looked at were in the eyes of the tester 'OK' at that moment in time.

Anyhow back to your reverse gear problem.

Fords that don't have the little ring to lift for reverse gear normally use the older method of 'lift'. In other other words you pull the gear stick up just before selecting reverse gear. Also it is quite normal on older cars that you have to put the car in neutral release the clutch pedal and then reapply it before going in to reverse. That's because the reverse gear is not synchromesh.

 

Agree with all the above. Sometimes just pausing for a second or so before selecting reverse (without having to release the pedal) can avoid the noise you're experiencing.  

I seem to recall that Fiestas / Kas are particularly prone to this quirk. 

Someone on the Fiesta forum might be able to assist.

I love this thread! At the risk of sounding exceptionally sexist, it's lovely that the lady has the confidence to admit she is experiencing an issue. Most men would just assume that their car was faulty as they would be under the illusion they are operating it 'perfectly'! I hope she has a long and safe motoring career...

My focus mk2 done exactly the same in reverse it's just a matter of waiting a couple of seconds with the clutch down before selecting reverse.