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Gearbox Abit Stiff In When Cold


Avenger1978
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when engine is cold i have noticed changing gears is abit stiff to the engine warms up, then its fine.. nice gear change, is all mondeos diesels like that? or do i need to change gearbox oil?

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Could be as simple as gearbox oil aye. Can you change ok before starting the engine?

Mine got progressively worse when cold to the point where 1st, 2nd and reverse were near impossible with the car running. Would have to switch off at junctions, change gear, then restart until it heated up, and had a few third gear starts as well! Replaced the clutch master cyclinder, not a big job just in behind the clutch pedal, and this cured it. Have posted in a few threads on this forum and on TalkFord about it if you do a search.

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when engine is cold i have noticed changing gears is abit stiff to the engine warms up, then its fine.. nice gear change, is all mondeos diesels like that? or do i need to change gearbox oil?

i know as i have exactly same problem. I had my gearbox totally stripped down.i have new cables,dmf,clutch kit,slave. so the only other thing to be examined was the gearbox,and......

the bad news is your 1st/2nd gear synchro's are....knackered!!

what happens is when the synchro's get worn the oil doesnt do its job properly,& instead of the synchros getting a bit of friction in order to engage,they dont,as the oil just antagonises the problem even further.

Ive just spent £800 on a brand new gearbox from a ford dealers in southampton(ford direct wanted £2400!!!.the dealers ordered one in for a customer,he changed his mind so they were stuck with the box on the shelf,so sold me it at cost price).

the only fix for you is to have your gearbox stripped down,and renew parts needing renewed.most likely it'll be your 1st,2nd gear hubs/synchros(they need preloading etc,and to get it done,its NOT cheap).

bit of advice,look up a really good transmission specialist,a& ask if they preload the hubs etc,if they dont,walk away,& get someone who knows what theyre doing,as if you get em not loaded properly,the problem will reappear in few months.

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Could be as simple as gearbox oil aye. Can you change ok before starting the engine?

Mine got progressively worse when cold to the point where 1st, 2nd and reverse were near impossible with the car running. Would have to switch off at junctions, change gear, then restart until it heated up, and had a few third gear starts as well! Replaced the clutch master cyclinder, not a big job just in behind the clutch pedal, and this cured it. Have posted in a few threads on this forum and on TalkFord about it if you do a search.

Yes gear change is ok when engine is off, just feels the same as when cold.. im going to give it a oil change before i decide what next option is,maybe its never had a oil change or had one a very long time ago as the car is 8 years old

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If u can change gears ok thru clutch when engines off,its your synchros kaput. Ie i can change up mostly ok from 1 to 2 to 3,but when downshifting from 3 to 2,its very difficult. Its to do with the hub rotating speed and synchros not lining up with enough friction behind them.Think you'll find after u change your oil it'll be even worse. For worn sync probs transmission specialist reccomend using a 10/40 or 5/30 engine oil in gearbox as its not as bulky as fords own 75/90 stuff. If you put the ford stuff in it WILL get worse.done it,been there

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dying to know how your oil change went. I've got a brand new master cylinder,cables,DMF,clutch kit,slave cylinder,gear-stick ball etc,& still have bad 1st gear/2nd gear.

I cant wait to put my new gearbox in this week sometime. let you know how it goes.If i were you,I wouldnt change oil,it will make it much worse.Even Ford say new ford oil shouldnt be used for worn synchro problems,& if you put in 5/30 10/40 75/90 it'll be a right fekker to change,like mines when cold

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a couple of weeks ago when it was freezing cold, my car was hard to engage gear from first start/standstill in a morning, it has now vanished since the temperatures are above the minus mark.

I think my own problem may have been the cables etc etc contracting.....oil thick etc etc when it was that cold?

everything good now it has warmed up!

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its been 7days since i did my oil change, and what a difference especially when cold, the oil i took out was dark black and smelled really bad and really thin...I got abit paranoid from one of replys about my gearbox is broken, but i just think its not had a oil change in alot of years and oil wasnt doing its job properly

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thats because someone has already changed the oil. gearbox oil shouldnt change colour at all.the proper oil should be red. so when you say your oil was black and smelly,that means someone had already put the wrong oil in gearbox

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  • 7 years later...

I have a uk Ford Mondeo an old one with 100,000 on the clock. I have same problems getting into gear when cold....but i have it beat! I just put it into first or reverse gear  holding clutch down start engine and reveres or go forward...after that no problems gear change is fine straight way, it does improve as engine warms up too.

Btw my mechanic friend told me that mondeos go 12500 between oil change... But i prefer about 7500. 

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2 hours ago, Paul Edmunds said:

I have a uk Ford Mondeo an old one with 100,000 on the clock. I have same problems getting into gear when cold....but i have it beat! I just put it into first or reverse gear  holding clutch down start engine and reveres or go forward...after that no problems gear change is fine straight way, it does improve as engine warms up too.

Btw my mechanic friend told me that mondeos go 12500 between oil change... But i prefer about 7500. 

Hi, have you considered treating it to a  gbox oil change? 

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