What are people generally doing with the gearbox oil these days? I have a MK7.5 from 2015 at 70K miles (which uses the IB5 if I'm not mistaken) and wondering whether the gearbox oil needs to be changed. I don't know if the clutch or gearbox oil has been changed by the previous owners.

Some gears are ever so slightly notchy (particularly 2 -> 3) when cold and it doesn't like going into 1st at 5mph. Not sure if this is normal as I don't have another Fiesta to compare.

Obviously there is no harm in changing the gearbox oil however, I'm afraid that the garage will do it incorrectly as I read there is no drain plug. I'm afraid they won't suck up as much as possible from the fill hole and fill it while the car is level. I heard that it shouldn't be drained using the bolt with the ball bearing at the end of it (located next to the selector mechanism) either which they could use to drain the oil.

Does the IB5 have a magnet for metal shavings or is this also another reason to change the oil?

Any advice appreciated.

I think, pardon me, that I would not expect to be changing down to first without giving the engine time to return to idle speed. Second to first is actually quite a ratio change and the gearbox speeds are quite high so can occasionally beat the synchromesh. If the box is better warm, then I suspect it is all right. (Owners of sixties Alfas always shifted first to third when the box was cold and I am told that certain early Ferraris were much the same, so you are in good company!) Regarding changing the gearbox oil, I wouldn't. It is quite different from engine oil and should last for the life of the gearbox so I would expect it to be good for 100 000 miles. I cannot see how replacing it would in any way affect the issues you are describing.

In my opinion, every manual transmission benefits from an oil change.

Personally, I always change the transmission oil when I buy a used car or every 5-Years. Every time I changed the transmission oil it improved shifting noticeably. Especially on the more modern transmissions that use low viscous transmission oils to improve fuel consumption.

Ford has the habit to put in barely enough transmission oil at the factory. I have seen many times that the oil level from the factory is actually below the prescribed level. So, even on a new car it is not a bad idea to check the transmission oil level and top up when needed.


Most later versions of the old IB5 transmission (approximately after 2011) do have a drain plug. The earlier versions did not.

I've never changed gear oil as a specific item. The clutch or a driveshaft will tend to fail around 8-12 years old so the gear oil can be changed at that point.

I did have a very bad experience before doing my own maintenance. Garage fitted a replacement gearbox and used the wrong oil. Within a few months the replacement box was wrecked and had to be replaced again. That time I provided my own OEM oil!

Recently I changed the transmission oil of our Focus MK3 ST.

My son bought it 4 Months ago and it is currently at 110.000 Miles. The old transmission oil was completely black. After changing the oil the car shifts much smoother. Especially when cold there was quite some resistance when shifting. This is now completely gone and it shifts exactly as smooth as my low mileage Kuga (which has the exact same transmission as the ST).

7 minutes ago, JW1982 said:

Recently I changed the transmission oil of our Focus MK3 ST.

My son bought it 4 Months ago and it is currently at 110.000 Miles. The old transmission oil was completely black. After changing the oil the car shifts much smoother. Especially when cold there was quite some resistance when shifting. This is now completely gone and it shifts exactly as smooth as my low mileage Kuga (which has the exact same transmission as the ST).

That is around the mileage I'd expect for a clutch or driveshaft change. Just seems a waste to do it separately to me.

Also worth noting the OP's car has an IB5 gearbox, which wouldn't have been smooth even when it was new. I have no idea how Ford got away with fitting them for so long!

I also replaced the clutch at the same time as a preventive measure. Apart from that I also replaced the input shaft seal and driveshaft seals.

I even changed the transmission oil twice. I steam cleaned/pressure washed the transmission after it was removed from the car and despite covering the driveshaft and vent openings, I wanted to be 100% sure that no water had entered the transmission. Apart from that I also wanted to change the oil again to get rid of as much contamination as possible.


You are absolutely right about the IB5 transmission. It should have been replaced decades ago. The IB5 is basically a further development of the old 4-speed BC5 transmission (which was a BC4 transmission with an added 5th gear). The design of these transmissions originates from the 1970's. The only reason why the IB5 transmission has been used for so long is because it was extremely cost effective to manufacture.

The MX65 transmission family (both 5-speed and 6-speed versions) however which was developed as a replacement for the IB5 is not much better and even has more problems than the old IB5 used to have.