Hi everyone,

I’ve got a 2020 Ford Fiesta and I’m having an intermittent issue with the gears that I can’t get to the bottom of.

The car drives completely fine most of the time, but occasionally when I press the clutch and try to change gear, it either won’t go into gear or it goes in and then immediately pops back out. The clutch pedal feels normal and there are no warning lights.

I’ve had two different mechanics look at it, and both said they couldn’t find any faults. They’ve driven the car and it behaved perfectly while they had it. There are no visible leaks and no burning smell from the clutch.

The issue seems to come and go randomly — one minute it’s fine, the next it won’t engage gears properly, then it goes back to normal again.

Has anyone experienced something similar on a Fiesta, or have any idea what this could be?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

Ckutch/gearbox issues are by no means unknown - a bit more info here might be helpful to anyone trying to assist:

• Exactly what version is it? There were many engine options on ST line and 2020 was a changeover year between the original and the later revised engine, some with MHEV (mild hybrid).

• Have you had the car long? Has it always done this or only recently occurred?

• Silly one, but are you 100% sure you're fully depressing the clutch? No loose floormat getting in the way of the pedal?

Hi it’s just a standard st line 2020 ecoboost , not mhev . I’ve had the car 3 years it’s only recently occurred . Only happens when you drive for say 10+ minutes

& I actually don’t have floor mats down ! So desperate to get to the cause

How many miles has the car done? You say it goes in and pops out again at random so I would be looking at the gear selection mechanism Is the gear lever sloppy, by any chance?

Hi ! The car has done 38,000 so not exactly much

It doesn’t feel sloppy if anything if feels like it’s resisting being put in to gear. Just not sure where to go with it or what to look at since issue hasn’t been spotted by mechanics

Right then: this looks like incipient clutch hydraulic failure and the next thing I would do would be to look very carefully with a mirror and torch for any fluid in the area of the clutch pedal assembly inside the cabin. Slave cylinders tend to fail but usually the symptoms are there at startup, giving a failure to find first or reverse so I am GUESSING at the master cylinder if the gear linkage is othervise OK.

Logically, if there were a selector problem in the gearbox, I would expect it to be present at all times. The fact that it occurs after a number of clutch cycles from cold suggests to me a failing clutch master cylinder. I wonder: is there resistance to leave the current gear when you depress the clutch, notchy into neutral, perhaps? That would point to a disengagement problem which would add evidence to its being hydraulic failure.

I’ve had this checked out by 2 different mechanics , is this an easy spot if this were the case ? As they haven’t caught on to anything

But what you’re saying sounds about right

No, not necessarily. If the internal seal in the master cylinder fails, it is not certain to leak into the cabin but look anyway because if there is fluid present, then that will be the reason. It isn't particularly difficult nor expensive to change but I disapprove of guesswork so I would look for something to confirm my suspicion before trying it. If you do go for changing it, buy a new plastic pin as well because they have been known to break when removed.

5 hours ago, fperry222 said:

it’s just a standard st line 2020 ecoboost , not mhev

There are gearbox issues with the MHEV in particular, but not unknown on the Mk 8 Fiesta generally. Reports on here usually suggest "grinding" noises as an accompaniment, though. They also seem to involve specific gears.

It does seem to lean towards a clutch hydraulic issue. When it occurs, does pumping the pedal make any difference?

The first suspect in my experience would be the slave cylinder, but as already said that tends to cause issues when selecting first or reverse and would usually be there from start up. It would be similarly difficult to detect though, as, unlike the old days, it's located inside the bellhousing so again leaks would be hard to spot, and a much bigger job to change than it used to be. Worth a check under the car though.

(We used to hope a fault was the slave - easily accessible and cheaply fixed - how things have changed!)

As your mechanics have found, it's very difficult to diagnose a fault if it doesn't manifest while they have the car.