Hi All,

My brother has recently bought a 3 door 56 plate Ford Fiesta 1.4 Freedom - The gears are fine for the first 20 odd minutes of driving but they soon become stiff if driven much more and in particularly if you stop. For some reason you can drive 15 miles with no problems but if you stop for 5/10 minutes when you come back the gears are just stiff. The gears have to be forced in and out instead of just slidding in/out when the car is first started and its very hard to find neutral... anyone have any ideas? Is this a common problem?

Appreciate any feedback

Thanks

You could try greasing the socket below the gear stick or the oil in the gearbox is low and it may need topping up

remove the plastic cover from front of gearbox. grease cables and pivot, see if that helps. may have a damaged cable somewhere

I've heard this to be a common problem on fiesta's and have experienced it myself. I believe it's the actual linkage on the gearbox itself been tight due to a sleeve/bushing binding, and is relatively easy to fix as it just needs dismantiling/cleaning until it is smooth and then greasing with copper grease. On the front of the gearbox theres a plastic cover which needs removing, cables need to be taken off and then the metal arm removed.

Heres a good link to what i think is you're problem http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=20780884 if you scroll down theres a picture and then a procedure for fixing it.

had similar problem on 08 ford fiesta,dismantled and cleaned linkage,going fine since